The impact of these initiatives varies. Many policies and programs are too new to fully gauge the results they will have.
Resolutions simply calling for industry to take more responsibility for their products and packaging will have minimal impact. But they can serve an important role by garnering media attention and momentum in building national pressure for EPR. Similarly, incorporating EPR as a solid waste management strategy in local solid waste management plans can be an important first step in launching city or county sponsored projects. But without follow-up and dedicated resources, this step will amount to little more than rhetoric.
Networking with industry in a voluntary product stewardship approach
has already achieved some success in the Northwest and in Minnesota. The
Pacific Northwest Product Stewardship Council has helped at least one
Northwest apparel manufacturer -- Norm Thompson -- move further toward
its goal to phase out PVC within five years. In Minnesota, one result
of a six-county product stewardship project conducted in conjunction with
the state Office of Environmental Assistance, is Sony Electronics Inc.’s
October 2000 announcement to take back all Sony electronic products in
the state.(1) Voluntary product stewardship
efforts are facing some challenges too and, at least in Minnesota, legislative
alternatives may be considered in the near future.
Banning products that harm the environment and public health has had
mixed results. About 40 governments in the late 1980s passed laws restricting
polystyrene. Berkeley’s has been effective for a decade. But many
of the others were later repealed as a result of industry pressure. The
recent local bans on mercury thermometers will likely fare better. National
chain stores (including K-Mart, Albertson’s Inc., CVS, Walgreens,
Toys R Us, Walmart, Rite Aid, and Target) have decided to stop selling
the thermometers.(2) The campaign to
banish mercury from health care is spearheaded by Health
Care Without Harm, a coalition of 270 organizations in 24 countries.
Local government can ban more products that harm the environment and public
health, but it may take an organizational effort like Health Care Without
Harm to champion the cause.
The disposable packaging taxes in German municipalities have not survived legal challenges. McDonald’s and two other companies mounted a legal challenge in Kassel, based not on environmental grounds but on whether the communities had the right to impose the tax. These companies lost their legal battles at the local and state level, but the German Supreme Court eventually sided with them, suspending the taxes because local and state regulations have to mesh with policies of the federal government, which has the primary responsibility for waste laws. In Germany, the federal government puts more emphasis on cooperation with industry, so the taxes were repealed. Here in the U.S., the packaging taxes may work as the federal government does not have such authority over local and state waste or tax laws.
Deposit legislation on beverage containers is a tried and true technique for reducing local government’s financial burden of handling products once discarded and placing that burden on the industry responsible for that product. However, local deposit laws are not common and will likely face uphill battles against industry if proposed. Columbia, Missouri’s bottle bill became effective in 1977. It may not succeed if introduced in today’s climate. (A new national alliance, the Business and Environmental Alliance for Recycling, BEAR, is developing national draft model deposit legislation for containers.)
One local strategy that can have significant impact is developing purchasing protocols that encourage environmentally sound products and restricting contracts to these products. Green procurement represents a clear way government can share responsibility for the environmental impact of products and packages. Industry will not change unless it can be assured markets exist for its products. At the same time, by raising the bar on environmental protocols for products and services, government can spur industry to produce environmentally sound goods, thus leveraging EPR. Government initiatives that take the extra step of directly integrating EPR criteria into purchasing guidelines can leverage EPR more. The Northwest Product Stewardship Council, for example, has developed environmentally preferable purchasing criteria for computers. Among these criteria is "availability through leasing, allowing return to manufacturer at end-of-life."
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