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Additional Information
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Extended Producer Responsibility Resources and Links
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Extended Product Responsibility Web site
EPA emphasizes extended product responsibility (vs. producer responsibility) that taps the ingenuity and responsibilities of businesses, customers, government, and others. Its Web site contains many examples of extended product responsibility for specific products (carpets, electronics, and packaging). Each product section has information on government initiatives, business initiatives, resources, legislation, and organizations.
Northwest Product Stewardship Council
The Northwest Product Stewardship Council (NWPSC) is a group of businesses, governments and non-profits working together to integrate product stewardship into the policy and economic structures of the Pacific Northwest.
The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University, Sweden
This Institute has published several papers on extended producer responsibility and has been one of the leading institutions defining EPR.
INFORM
Bette Fishbein of INFORM Inc., a nonprofit environmental research organization, has studied EPR extensively. See her publications:
The GrassRoots Recycling Network
The GrassRoots Recycling Network (GRRN) is a North American network of recycling and community-based activists who advocate policies and practices to achieve zero waste, to end corporate welfare for wasting, and to create sustainable jobs from discards. Its Producer Responsibility Web site includes:
The Container Recycling Institute
The Container Recycling Institute is a non-profit research and public education organization studying container packaging recycling and reuse. It is a clearinghouse for information on beverage container deposit systems and bottle bills in the U.S. and Canada.
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition Clean Computer Campaign
The Clean Computer Campaign aims for sustainability, accountability, and clean production in the high-tech industry. It has been a strong supporter and follower of the European Community Directive on Waste Electric and Electronic Products (WEE). WEE is a take-back initiative placing legal and financial responsibility on the producers of electronic and electrical goods throughout the lifecycle of their products. It will encourage recycling as well as clean product design.
Raymond
Communications, Inc.
Raymond Communications provides news, analysis, and forecasting on recycling laws in the U.S. and abroad. Its State Recycling Laws Update reports on regulations in the U.S. Its Recycling Laws International looks at laws in Europe and Asia including producer responsibility initiatives for packaging and a wide range of materials. This Web site also contains a Legislative Web sites page, which is a state-by-state guide to links to state legislation.
See ILSR's article by Neil Seldman, Extended Producer Responsibility: The Next Phase of the U.S. Recycling Movement (PDF format). This article reviews Raymond Communications' Take It Back! Pacific Rim Conference, held February 28-March 1, 2000 in Los Angeles.
Proceedings of the Workshop on Extended Product Responsibility
This workshop was sponsored by the President's Council on Sustainable Development and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (It was held at The White House Conference Center, Washington, DC, Oct. 21-22, 1996.) These proceedings include presentations on the concept of and strategies for EPR as well as 11 case studies of companies implementing extended product responsibility. Industry sectors represented include the automobile, forest products, consumer products, building cleaning and maintenance, plastics, telecommunications, office equipment, battery, and carpet industries.
Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, Product Stewardship information
Minnesota is one state that has imposed manufacturer responsibility for products such as lead-acid batteries and nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries. This article reviews the definition of product stewardship, the MN Office of Environmental Assistance's product stewardship policy and efforts, and case studies of businesses in MN pursuing product stewardship initiatives.
Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (United Kingdom)
This UK non-profit researches the environmental and social effects of packaging and aims to minimize these impacts. The site includes a Guide to Producer Responsibility Regulations introduced in the UK in March 1997 to meet the obligations placed on it by the European Community Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive.
Return to Sender: An Introduction to Extended Producer Responsibility
This 1998 book by John Gertakis at the National Centre for Design at Australia's Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology features case studies of how manufacturers are avoiding waste and recycling resources through product take back.
Centre for Sustainable Design (United Kingdom)
This organization facilitates discussion and research about eco-design and environmental, economic, ethical, and social considerations in product and service development and design. The Centre acts as a clearinghouse for innovative thinking on sustainable products and services.
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