EPR Tool Kit
Producer Takeback for Discarded Products Promoted to Save Governments, Taxpayers Money
Our Tool Kit Is Now Available to Help Governments, Communities Learn How to Save Money and Produce Less Toxic Waste
A new policy that asks manufactures to take back their products when consumers are finished with them is gaining popularity because it saves taxpayers money and is significantly better for the environment than current waste management practices. To raise public awareness of this great practice, Clean Production Action has produced a tool kit that helps local governments and communities learn about the new system and how to implement it.
The policy, called Producer Takeback, or Extended Producer Responsbility as it is called in many countries, is a system in which manufacturers — not the consumer or government — take responsibility for reusing and recycling their products when the product is no longer useful or discarded. When the manufacturer is responsible, the cost of waste management becomes incorporated into the cost of the product and is borne by the user and the producer, rather than taxpayers as a whole, which is now the case.
“Local governments all over the country are in budget crises, but they still have to spend record amounts on waste management,” said Alexandra McPherson of Clean Production Action. “Producer Takeback is a way to help governments spend less on waste disposal. The thousands of dollars they save can then be used for other important programs such as education and parks. This tool kit helps local governments and communities learn the basics about Producer Takeback and eventually implement their own programs.”
Producer Takeback has been successful in Europe and is now taking hold in North America. As trash production in the United States grows, it also becomes more toxic. Since 1980 the tonnage of product waste land filled and incinerated in North America has grown by 19.2 million tons.
Traditionally, recycling has been part of the answer to the growing waste problem, but since 1997 recycling has stagnated at 27 percent and for some materials the rate is extremely low. Plastics recycling still only accounts for less than five percent of recycled products because many types of plastic are too difficult to recycle.
Producer Takeback can help to limit the amount of waste produced because it gives companies an incentive to redesign products, thereby using safer materials and making products easier to recycle and reuse. In doing so, it also reduces the number of landfills and incinerators, promotes efficient use of resources, and reduces the amount of dangerous chemicals in the air and water.
The EPR Tool Kit includes the following information:
- What is EPR?
- How EPR can help solve the waste problem in North America
- How EPR benefits local governments, taxpayers and businesses
- What to include in an EPR program
- How to implement an EPR program
- How to promote EPR
- Existing EPR campaigns and who to contact to learn more
- Examples of EPR programs in North America and abroad
To obtain a copy of the Tool Kit, please contact Beverley Thrope at .
