On 15 November, ACR+ welcomed in its offices Faig Mutallimov, head of the Environmental Policy Division of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, during a study tour organised by the European Union Visitors Programme. Francoise Bonnet and Faig Mutallimov exchanged on the crucial role of decentralised authorities in the transformation process of our economies to reach circularity and on the experience drawn from the different EPR systems existing in the EU. The discussion focused in particular on the role of local authorities in EPR schemes for packaging since Azerbaijan is currently setting such a system. A gap analysis report for a draft packaging waste law has been published last year and the Ministry is now discussing the prepararation of a Road Map covering the next steps of the implementastion with different stakeholders.