While voluntary EPR/PS programs would be ideal, as noted by
MacBride (2012, p. 185), “Producers, for entirely rational reasons,
seek to avoid this responsibility whenever and wherever they can.”
Hence, EPR/PS are generally implemented through laws, taxes,
subsidies, advance recovery fees, disposal fees, product charges,
deposit/refunds, or product take-back requirements. However, subnational
governments may be constrained legally in their implementation
options due to national laws, limited taxing authority,
and limited control over foreign producers. In addition, subnational
governments can be constrained by administrative costs
of implementation. Regardless, EPR/PS remains a viable policy for
sub-national governments and can be useful if they achieve four
objectives: (1) reduce the amount of waste generated, (2) reduce
the amount of generated waste necessitating disposal, (3) target
specific wastes that have high environmental concerns and low
recovery rates, and (4) reduce the administrative/management
costs