Extended producer responsibility in the PV solar sector in South Africa

Published on 5th December 2024

Products in the PV solar sector are subject to extended producer responsibility (EPR) in South Africa and require both administrative and financial effort. Importers are also affected by the statutory producer responsibility.

In 2021, South Africa introduced a statutory extended producer responsibility (EPR) for selected sectors of the economy. These sectors include the Electrical and Electronic Equipment („EEE”) sector, which includes PV solar modules, inverters and batteries.

The EPR is a policy approach that makes manufacturers responsible for the waste that their products generate at the end of their life, i.e. in the post-consumer phase.

In South Africa, this responsibility not only applies to the traditional manufacturer, but also to importers due to the broad definition of the word manufacturer. The aim is for the person who places a product on the South African market to be responsible for this product.

The EPR imposes far-reaching obligations on manufacturers with regard to taking back goods, removal and collection, recycling and education and prevention work.

Manufacturers of products in the selected economic sectors must first register as manufacturers with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment („Department”). It should be noted that even though the EPR has received more attention recently, these obligations have been in place since 2021 and therefore a manufacturer must justify for the registration application why the manufacturer is only registering now. As a second step, manufacturers must either develop their own EPR program (a kind of business plan), which must be approved by the Department, or join a Producer Responsibility Organization („PRO”) registered with the Department. EPR fees are set by the PROs, which the member producers pay annually to the PRO. The EPR fee is based on the product type and the product quantity, i.e. the more products a producer brings onto the market, the higher the respective EPR fee. The PRO takes over the EPR tasks of the members in cooperation with the individual members. If a manufacturer decides to set up its own EPR program, this manufacturer must also provide a certain budget and have this approved by the department as an EPR fee.

For the EEE sector, which includes the products of the PV solar sector, the following sector targets currently apply, which the entire EEE sector (i.e. all manufacturers or the PROs) must achieve each year:

Year	take-back obligation (tons)	Recycling (tons)
1 (2022)	36.000,00	36.000,00
2 (2023)	47.000,00	47.000,00
3 (2024)	61.000,00	61.000,00
4 (2025)	79.000,00	79.000,00
5 (2026)	103.000,00	103.000,00

Manufacturers and PROs are also subject to comprehensive reporting obligations. In addition to performance reporting, internal and external audits and reports are also required.

If your company is active in South Africa and falls under the EPR obligations, or if you are planning to enter the market, we will be happy to advise and support you in all steps relating to EPR compliance.