Extended Producer Responsibility: Mitigating Plastic Pollution Through Responsible Enterprises – A Case Study

This thesis delves into one of the most complex and notorious problems rapidly affecting most countries in the world: plastic pollution. It is at a point where it has become a significant global environmental challenge, but it is particularly prevalent in the Philippines. This thesis presents the level of plastic waste pollution and examines its impacts on various fields. It introduces the concept of producer responsibility as one method to offset growing plastic pollution. The study of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), underlining its scopes and implementations, investigates how organisations will be impacted, especially producers. This study aims to understand the role that enterprises must play and the responsibilities they carry. Looking at it through the lens of an Asian emerging market, a case study of the new EPR policy in the Philippines provides grounds to analyse challenges and successes of its effective implementation. Moreover, through a comparative analysis of different EPR principles and strategies from other countries, this thesis strives to gain critical insights into more effective methods of application by learning from others’ experiences. Recognizing that plastic pollution is a global threat and shared global responsibility of various actors, this thesis highlights different possibilities and insights that can contribute to the broader discourse of producer responsibilities, ethical practices in productions, and awareness spreading. It explores ways to mitigate the plastic pollution crisis using policies and legal frameworks.