Extended Producer Responsibility Gaining Momentum

Last week, the Product Stewardship Institute www.productstewardship.us announced that it was awarded $180,000 by the Connecticut Dept. of Energy and the Environment (DEEP) www.ct.gov/deep to “develop strategies that will guide the future of product stewardship and producer responsibility in Connecticut and the nation.”

Specifically, the institute will focus on developing laws outlining that state’s manufacturers’ responsibilities for sustainable manufacturing of carpet, batteries, packaging, pesticides, and fertilizers and for non-toxic and eco-responsible disposal, recycling, or reuse at the end of their useful life as part of “extended producer responsibility.”

Manufacturers are increasingly being tasked with designing and producing their products either without toxins or structuring a means to collect their own products at the end of their lifespans.

Connecticut is one of 32 states that has adopted extended producer responsibility legislation, according to the announcement. Current product stewardship laws in Connecticut focus on consumer electronics, paint, mattresses, and mercury-containing thermostats. Other producer responsibility laws across the U.S. address carpet, batteries, pharmaceuticals, fluorescent lamps, mercury-containing auto switches, and other products. In 2013 alone, 9 state or local extended producer responsibility bills passed or became law — the most in any single legislative year-raising the total number of laws across the nation to 26, according to the institute.

This reflects an increasing focus by state governments to put the responsibility for what happens to a product once it has reached the end of its useful life onto the shoulders of the manufacturer that has produced it, rather than on the consumer or the municipal trash collection agencies.

“Connecticut is again leading the nation in efforts to reduce the environmental as well as the financial burden of used and discarded products,” said DEEP Commissioner Daniel C. Esty.  “We look forward to working with PSI to develop strategies that will guide the future of product stewardship and producer responsibility in Connecticut and the nation. Recovering the materials in discarded products helps protect the environment, creates jobs, and boosts the economy.”

Manufacturers are likely to find it cost-advantageous to design products for which they don’t have to develop take-back programs. One auto carpet mat manufacturer that took a proactive approach to manufacturing its products for sustainable recycling and without toxic adhesives is Pretty Products. That company’s fantastic story is an example of how the good leadership of president Jeffrey Willis not only helped avoid having to implement a take-back program, it propelled the company to greater profits. Read “Eco-strategies drive mat-maker’s U-turn,” http://www.greenmanufacturer.net/article/machinery-and-equipment/eco-strategies–drive-mat-makeras-u-turn.