Cooperation with the Informal Sector – A Key Pillar for Successful EPR Implementation #1 | EPR without Displacement: Strategies for a Just Transition in the Circular Economy

The Global Action Partnership for Extended Producer Responsibility invites you to join the first session of its webinar series on Cooperation with the Informal Sector – Key Pillar to Successful EPR Implementation on January 29, 2026 in collaboration with Yunus Environment Hub!

EPR without displacement: Strategies for a Just Transition in the Circular Economy
January 29, 1PM CET
With Yunus Environment Hub
Watch the recording here

When introducing an EPR system – across any material stream – the challenge is not only technical or regulatory. It is about building on existing informal structures without displacing marginalized communities that depend on them for their livelihoods.

To kick off our webinar series, we are pleased to welcome Christina Jäger, CEO of Yunus Environment Hub (YEH). With deep experience at the intersection of environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and just transition, she brings a realistic, practice-oriented perspective on the challenges the informal sector faces during EPR implementation. Yunus Environmental Hub’s overarching mission combines environmental sustainability with social inclusion and principles of just transition, the very intersection that arises when new framework conditions are established due to the introduction of an EPR system.

Drawing on YEH’s extensive work and training of individual waste workers, social business entrepreneurs, and policymakers, Christina Jäger will share key insights into how EPR systems can professionalize informal actors, improve working conditions, and create pathways toward sustainable and dignified income opportunities.

Key topics to be addressed in this session include:

• Risks of EPR implementation on social inclusion and livelihoods
• Strategies for inclusive engagement of informal sector actors in EPR systems
• Opportunities to create sustainable livelihoods while achieving environmental objectives

Our Webinar Series on Cooperation with the Informal Sector

🌱 Between January and April 2026, the GAP for EPR is hosting a multi-part series on “Cooperation with the Informal Sector – Key Pillar to Successful EPR Implementation”! The series will explore challenges, best practices, and solutions for integrating informal actors across different material streams and geographical contexts, providing participants with actionable insights for designing more inclusive and effective EPR frameworks.

The views and opinions expressed in this webinar do not necessarily reflect the positions of the core partners of GAP for EPR, nor of PREVENT Waste Alliance members or official policy positions of the international organisations and governments involved.