Bans just whack-a-mole one product at a time. EPR forces companies to own the entire lifecycle, which redesigns packaging at the source and actually funds cleanup.
Extended producer responsibility hits the source: companies must pay to collect and redesign the waste they create. Bans are narrow; EPR changes the whole market.
Banning straws is a band-aid. We need extended producer responsibility laws to hit corporations in the wallet and force them to clean up the mess they created.
Extended producer responsibility laws make companies pay for the waste they create, driving real redesign and recycling at scale. Bans on single-use items just shift the problem without fixing production.
