Business Support for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

CPSC is reaching out to all stakeholders to ensure that all voices are heard. Producers, manufacturers and retailers have unique perspectives about the process that must be considered if EPR is to be successful. Many businesses voluntarily support EPR through their own internal directives and innovative designs.

• Business Case for Product Stewardship
  

Producers and manufacturers can really make a difference because they control production. Here's how:

Green Design
Design products that can be more easily recycled.

Use Non-Toxic Materials
Use low or no toxicity materials that are not hazardous to human health and the environment.

Use recycled materials in the product and product packaging's design

Clean Production
Making sure manufacturing facilities and production methods reduce waste and reduce air and water pollution.

Conserve Resources
From design, to production, to packaging, to distribution, manufacturers can evaluate their processes to conserve resources such as energy, water, and fuel.

Offer the Product as a Service
Offer leasing whenever applicable. True, you can't lease everything, but there are so many products that consumers, especially buyers for business and government, really only want to use, rather than to own. Examples: electronics, office equipment, furniture, and vehicles. The key is to take it back at the end of the lease so the product can be refurbished or recycled.

Offer product leasing, like PitneyBowes, Inc.

Product Take-Back
Many products have special handling requirements at the end-of-life because they have toxic components or pose a danger to human health and the environment such as computers, televisions, batteries, fluorescent lights, sharps (needles, syringes, lancets, etc.) and mercury thermostats. Honeywell is a shining example of a business understanding and taking responsibility for its products. In fact, Honeywell one of the nation's largest manufacturers of thermostats, voluntarily helped sponsor California's mercury thermostat legislation, AB2347. See Thermostats

Companies Committed to Product Stewardship:

• Bentley Prince Street
  Zero Waste in the Carpet Industry

• California Retailers Association
  

  • Testimony by Pamela Williams in support of CIWMB's EPR Framework Policy 9/11/07
    "EPR is a trend that is sweeping the globe."
    

  • Letter to the Governor in support of AB 2347 9/10/08

• Caterpillar
  "Cradle-to-Cradle—Achieving the Vision Through Remanufacturing" 4/8/08
  2008 Caterpillar Sustainability Report

• Coca-Cola
  Coca-Cola opens world's largest bottle-to-bottle recycling plant —Waste Business Journal, 1/6/09

• General Motors
  Half of GM Plants to Be Landfill-Free By Late 2010 9/8/08

• Hewlett Packard
  HP Reduces Laptop Packaging 97 Percent for Wal-Mart 9/3/08

• Individual Producer Responsibility Works
  A European alliance of industry & NGOs.
  
  “Individual producer responsibility encourages competition between companies on how to manage the end-of-life phase of their products. This in turn drives innovation, such as in business models, take-back logistics and design changes, to reduce the environmental impact of products at the end of their life.”

• Marin Sanitary Service, CPSC Gold Partner

• National Electronic Manufacturer's Association (NEMA)
  EPR in the Electro-Product Industry 11/08 —Mark A. Kohorst, NEMA

• Peninsula Packaging Company, CPSC Silver Partner
  Hear Ed Byrne from Peninsula Packaging in Tulare County regarding their stewardship efforts to recycle more California plastic packaging. Finding Ways to Keep Waste Local | Hear the audio —NPR Marketplace, 1/6/09
  

• Pitney Bowes
  Company Diverts Millions of Pounds of Waste from Landfills through Product Take-Back

• Republic Services, CPSC Platinum Partner

• Sony
  Sony letter to New Jersey 12/7/07
  Sony Electronics Inc. wrote a letter to the New Jersey Senate in strong support for EPR legislation being considered. In it, Sony states:
  
  "It is Sony Electronics Inc. policy to take full manufacturer responsibility for all of the products that we have placed our brand name on. ...We urge you to adopt legislation that supports our efforts and extends this responsibility to include all electronics manufacturers and retailers. Sony internalizes the cost of recycling and request that any regulations require the same."

Business Resources for Greening the Supply Chain

• Terracycle is a company that works with companies to find ways to “upcycle” products and packaging at end-of-life so there is no waste! Watch the video on their web site which explains how it works.
  

• Business for Social Responsibility

• Ceres

• Environmental Packaging International - EPI is a consultancy specializing in product stewardship related to packaging, batteries, electronics, and other products. EPI assists clients in integrating aspects of compliance, such as data collection and reporting, into their supply chain management and product design.

• McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry

• Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange - For manufacturing assistance (as opposed to product evaluation), businesses should network with the pollution prevention (P2) community through websites like the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange or subscribe to the P2Tech listserv.

• Social Venture Network

• Stewards Edge - Consulting and management company in Canada focused on the design and implementation of packaging and product stewardship programs.

• Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI)
  As a technical assistance provider to companies wishing to go green for nearly 15 years, the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) Lab has helped hundreds of companies find safer alternatives to hazardous cleaning solvents.

Producer Responsibility in the Media

• Everything Old Is New Again: Why minimizing waste products and recycling is good for business 8/08 — Cerrissa MacNichols, NorthBay BIZ

Links

• B Corporation: B Corporations are a new kind of company which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.

• Sustainable Minds
  Providing on-demand, green product design software and information services

• Cutting edge news and a complete resource for green business and industry —GreenBiz.com
  

• Waste reduction tips for businesses —Grassroots Recycling Network
  

• Industrial assessments: free energy and waste assessments for manufacturers
  This service is provided by the Federal DOE through universities like UC San Diego and SF State Engineering schools
  

• Pure Strategies
  Helping organizations improve their environmental and social performance through cleaner production, sustainable materials, strong community relationships and transparent measures of progress