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Advanced Technology Software (ATS) reaffirms its full support for South Africa’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations and the need for producers to meet all legal compliance requirements.
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ATS stresses that its E-WasteLink solution is not intended to compete with Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs), but to provide producers with an additional, fully compliant option that can significantly reduce their EPR costs.
Allan Werth, founder of ATS
“We agree completely that compliance is non-negotiable,” said Allan Werth, founder of ATS. “What we are making clear is that the legislation allows producer-owned EPR schemes, and there is more than one compliant way to meet those obligations.”
Evidence from international practice
International experience shows that producer-run or individual EPR schemes and fee-modulation approaches can deliver material cost efficiencies for producers. Analyses of European schemes and EPR case studies have found that individual schemes or competitive models can be more cost-effective for specific producers and product categories – with published studies and guidance pointing to producer savings in the order of tens of percent in some case studies.
In Germany, long recognised for progressive EPR and producer take-back options, producer-centred approaches and competitive PROs have driven efficiencies that industry and policy reviews describe as significant (commonly reported in the range of around 30% in comparable international discussions and case studies).
What ATS is offering
E-WasteLink is a comprehensive ATS programme and software solution built to help producers run their own EPR schemes in full alignment with legislation. It covers the full compliance lifecycle – data collection, weight tracking, reporting, audit records, regulatory submissions and contractual management – and is tailored to each producer’s product mix and real costs (rather than a one-size-fits-all fee). This producer-specific approach is one reason ATS can deliver lower overall costs for many companies.
ATS’s practical experience, with more than 20 years in e-waste recycling combined with a decade of local enterprise development, informs E-WasteLink’s design for South African conditions. In recent months ATS has engaged with local producers across three broad groups: those who accept high EPR costs as business as usual; those who fear fees threaten their viability; and those who are delaying compliance pending enforcement.
E-WasteLink is designed primarily to help the latter two groups meet their legal duties affordably and transparently.
Compliance remains the producer’s obligation
ATS emphasises that producers remain legally responsible for meeting EPR obligations regardless of whether they use a PRO or run their own scheme. That’s why ATS built E-WasteLink as a full compliance programme – not only software – with audit trails, budget and fee modelling, and regulatory reporting capabilities that align with government requirements.
Producers should carefully evaluate all options, and ATS encourages open engagement with regulators, PROs and independent advisors when choosing a compliance route.
A constructive invitation
Rather than rehash regulatory checklists, ATS invites CEOs of South African producers and stakeholders to examine the producer-owned EPR option as a legitimate, legally supported pathway that may reduce costs and increase transparency. ATS is ready to demonstrate, on request and with verified examples, how E-WasteLink helps producers meet compliance obligations while managing and reducing fees.
