Project acronym: DemoEPR

Project number: 101291731

Project value: €4.956.614

Duration 42 months, from 01/08/2026 to 31/01/2030

Website: https://demoepr.eu

Funding: European Commission (Union)

Coordinator organisation: SYKE – Finnish Environment Institute

For

ZEOS, this is an opportunity to connect experiences from Bosnia and Herzegovina with leading European practices, exchange knowledge with international partners and jointly develop solutions that will make EPR systems more efficient, transparent and future-proof.

The transition from linear to circular product value chains is one of the EU's most important sustainability ambitions. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has established itself as a key policy instrument in this process, but existing EPR systems have largely remained limited to recycling, failing to encourage higher-order circularity strategies, such as reuse, repair and redesign. The DemoEPR project seeks to overcome this shortcoming by bringing together a transdisciplinary consortium of industry representatives, consumer organisations and top researchers, with the aim of co-creating next-generation EPR solutions for ICT products (information and computer technologies) – a sector that is at the very heart of both digital transformation and circular economy challenges.

DemoEPR aims to transform extended producer responsibility (EPR) systems for ICT products from narrow-framework instruments, focused exclusively on recycling, into comprehensive mechanisms that enable the circular economy, encompassing the entire waste management hierarchy, including reuse, repair and refurbishment.

The role of the authorized operator ZEOS eko-sistem d.o.o.

ZEOS eko-system participates in the WP3, T3.4 work package (Digital tools for the pilot project within the Extended Producer Responsibility system), using its expertise in the collection of ICT equipment, record-keeping, analysis and use of new technologies provided by the system improvement partner.

Activities

ZEOS activities are organized through interconnected lines of work:

1) Collection of ICT equipment including optimization of collection and logistics costs

2) Analysis of operator needs to unlock device refurbishment and preparation for reuse

3) Through ZEOStation, the first repair and reuse center, implementation of a digital passport with the aim of determining important information on lifetime assessment, usage, repair options, type of critical raw materials, possible spare parts, etc.

4) Assessment of the impact of digital services and testing the effect of the direct impact of extended producer responsibility (PRO) systems on repair and reuse as an element of circularity.

Expected results

of the project

DemoEPR is expected to result in seven validated pilot projects demonstrating innovative EPR solutions for ICT products, while creating a reliable evidence base on the economic, environmental and social impacts of existing and future EPR systems. The results of different activities will be aggregated to create a roadmap for the European EPR.

Expected results from T3.4.

Improve the cost-effectiveness of the management of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system by enabling product circularity through the reverse logistics chain, integrating the obtained knowledge into policy making and examining the direct impact of the PRO system on reuse as an element of circularity.

Contact details:

Elma Babić-Džihanić, Assistant Director, elma.babic@zeos.ba, +387 33 628 606

Bjelonja Mahir, Marketing and Project Coordinator, mahir.bjelonja@zeos.ba, +387 33 846 317

Partners

1.      SYKE – Finnish Environment Institute

2.     Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) – Belgium;

3.     Tinexta Innovation Hub S.p.A. (TIH) – Italy;

4.    Fondazione CMCC – Italy;

5.     Lunds Universitet (ULUND) – Sweden;

6.    Avvale S.p.A. – Italy;

7.     Akademia Leona Kozminski (ALK) – Poland;

8.     Sauletekio Slenio Mokslo ir Technologiju Parkas (STP) – Lithuania;

9.    Swappie Oy – Finland;

10.  Jyvaskylan Yliopisto (JYU) – Finland;

11.    Green Disposal Oy – Finland;

12.   Alva-yhtiöt Oy – Finland;

13.  OCU Ediciones SA (OCU) – Spain;

14.  DECO Proteste Editores LDA (DECOP) – Portugal;

15.   Fairphone BV – Netherlands;

16.  WEEE Forum – Belgium;

17.   Recyclia – Spain;

18.   Erion Compliance Organization (ECO) – Italy;

19.  ZEOS Eco-system – Bosnia and Herzegovina;

19.1 ZEOS d.o.o. – Slovenia (AE)

20. Cyfrowe Centrum Serwisowe SA (CCS S.A.) – Poland;

21.   Ecowise Ekodenge Limited – United Kingdom;

22.  Ecosystem – France.