IORA annunced that the Federal Republic of Germany, through GIZ, will organize an Online Workshop entitled “Tackling Marine Litter: An Introduction to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)”, on 13 – 14 May 2025.
Inside IORA, the Working Group on the Blue Economy (WGBE) works on the topic of marine litter. In the first phase of cooperation between IORA and the BMUV Support Project Marine Litter, a Strategic Framework and list of activities was developed to integrate activities on marine litter prevention into their work plan.
In this Strategic Framework and list of activities, several proposals to work on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) were proposed. Amongst them, the provision of technical expertise for EPR implementation and training on the topic was foreseen. As an initial step to contribute to the WGBE’s work plan in this field, the BMUV Support Project Marine Litter, implemented by GIZ on behalf of BMUV intends to organize an introductory workshop on EPR for IORA Member States.
B. OBJECTIVES
The overarching objective to which this proposal contributes is to prevent waste generation and leakage on land, thereby reducing the amount of plastic waste that enters the rivers and oceans. For this purpose, the specific objectives of the proposal are to:
- Contribute to the WGBE’s Work plan on marine litter
- provide IORA member states an insight into the concept of EPR
- equip relevant representatives from the public (relevant Ministry working on marine
pollution and debris; Ministry of Economy) and private sector from IORA member states
with the knowledge about the different existing types of EPR to prevent plastic pollution,
as well as steps for implementation and resources needed - promote the regional and possibly international exchange, by inviting input from Member
States and international stakeholders to share their experiences with EPR implementation - Facilitate an interactive exchange among IORA Member States to voice and analyze the
needs and next steps to work on EPR - identify measures in the existing Strategic Framework on EPR that can be implemented in
2025
C. IMPLEMENTATION
The proposed concept for this workshop is as follows: - An introductory workshop for IORA Member States, which takes place on two separate
days with a duration of ~3 hours each.. - The workshop will provide an introduction into the concept of EPR, its benefit for
preventing plastic pollution, provide an overview of existing approaches, and the steps
and resources needed for implementation. - The workshop will also provide a space for interactive exchange on the needs of Member
States for building further capacity on this topic. - The workshop will be developed in close coordination with the IORA Secretariat, to use
synergies with their ongoing data collection efforts and make sure that it contributes to
and builds on existing efforts within IORA. - Member States and international stakeholders will be invited to share their experience
with EPR with the participants. This will promote regional exchange and peer-to-peer
learning. - Participants will identify measures or actions to be prioritized from existing action plans
in working on EPR inside IORA.
D. EXPECTED OUTCOMES
Member States are strengthened - in their basic understanding of the functioning of EPR
- in their overview of different existing approaches of EPR to prevent plastic pollution
- to assess the resources needed to implement EPR in their context
- to identify priority actions to be taken within IORA to work on EPR
- to make use of the already existing Work Plan of IORA
E. FUNDING
Germany as Dialogue Partner will provide support with respect to the organization and the cost of the proposed measures, through the BMUV-funded Marine Litter Support Project.
In view of the above, it would be highly appreciated if the IORA Dialogue Partners could nominate their participants to the online workshop, at the latest by 7 May 2025. Nominated participants are requested to register online on the following link:
https://greentechknowledgehub.de/form/private-event-registration?event=290