Fiskeriretur and European Partners Call on the EU to Strengthen Extended Producer Responsibility
Experience from the first years of implementation shows that the scheme is working well, but also that there are areas where the legislation should be adjusted to ensure fair competition, higher recycling rates and more efficient waste management.
One of the key recommendations concerns the definition of who is covered by the extended producer responsibility legislation.
Under the current rules, fishers who import or manufacture fishing gear containing plastic for their own use may, in some cases, be exempt from the legislation.
This means that fishing gear can enter the market without ever contributing financially to its future collection and treatment, even though it will eventually become part of the waste stream.
This creates an uneven playing field for companies that comply with the legislation and contribute financially to producer responsibility schemes.
The organisations therefore urge the EU to close this legislative loophole so that all market participants contribute on equal terms.
The organisations also emphasise that the condition in which end-of-life fishing gear is returned has a significant impact on how much material can ultimately be recycled.
When discarded fishing gear is returned unsorted or contaminated with other materials, treatment becomes more expensive and resource-intensive.
The organisations therefore recommend introducing common minimum sorting requirements at the point of return, together with the possibility of recovering documented additional costs where gear is returned unsorted or heavily contaminated.
The objective is to maximise recycling while ensuring that waste management costs are shared fairly.
Denmark introduced extended producer responsibility for fishing gear containing plastic on 1 January 2025.
Results from the first year show that approximately 55% of end-of-life fishing gear is already being collected through the scheme. In addition, further quantities have been delivered to collection sites but have not yet been processed.
Most of the collected material is recycled, while the remainder is recovered through energy recovery.
The Danish experience demonstrates that extended producer responsibility is already contributing to a more circular management of end-of-life fishing gear.
The joint statement is based on the experiences gained from national producer responsibility schemes in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Ireland.
Its purpose is to provide constructive input to the upcoming evaluation of the EU legislation and to help ensure that future extended producer responsibility schemes support the circular economy, fair competition and effective collection systems.
FiskeriRetur will continue to follow developments closely and keep its members informed about the future revision of the EU rules.