The Northwest Product Stewardship Council

The Northwest Product Stewardship Council is an example of local governments working in concert with businesses and non-profits to integrate "product stewardship" into the policy and economic structure of a region -- in this case, the Pacific Northwest. In 1998, the City of Seattle joined with King County and Snohomish County in Washington and with Portland Metro (a regional government agency in Oregon) to form the Council. EPA Region 10 was also a founding member. The Council defines product stewardship as a principle that directs all actors in the life cycle of a product to minimize the impacts of that product on the environment.

The Council opted for a non-regulatory approach. It promotes the idea that by voluntarily adopting product stewardship, U.S. industries can avoid the regulatory approaches implemented in other countries.

The Council currently has no legal structure and operates as an unincorporated association of members. Business affiliates include Bank of America, Boeing, Starbucks, and Weyerhauser. It was initially convened by a Steering Committee, which continues to coordinate and oversee the activities of the Council.

Early on, the Council recognized that product stewardship was absent from the radar screens of business and industry, government, elected officials, academia, policy groups, and non-profit groups. In order to broaden input and build support, the Council first had to educate.

The Council developed subcommittees to meet its mission. The first subcommittee focused on outreach to facilitate dialogue about product stewardship with and among key local organizations, including small business associations, environmental groups, and economic development organizations.

In April 2000, the Council sponsored a regional product stewardship conference, Products and the Environment NW, held in Seattle. The conference educated participants and developed a series of next action steps.

Current Council projects include:

• Environmentally Preferable Computer Purchasing Program: The Council has documented purchasing guidelines that characterize environmentally preferable attributes of IT (information technology) equipment. It has available a Guide to Environmentally Preferable Computer Purchasing. It is also working with large-scale Northwest-based users of computers (such as Starbucks, REI, Microsoft, and area municipalities) to learn about their purchasing protocols, and to encourage them to build environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) guidelines into their purchasing specifications. A third activity is working with equipment manufacturers to identify what EPP criteria are already being met with their products, and to encourage further integration of EPP principles into design processes for future products.
• Retail Apparel Product Stewardship Demonstration Program: Numerous apparel industries are headquartered in the Northwest: Columbia Sportswear, Eddie Bauer, Filson, Hanna Anderson, Nike, Nordstrom, Norm Thompson Outfitters, and Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI). With the assistance of this project, a number of these companies are sharing information, reusing in-store fixtures, eliminating PVC, looking at alternative fabric sources and textile take-back, and recycling.
• Tires and Product Stewardship Project: Representatives from the Northwest Tire Dealers Association have been working closely with consultants to develop an industry supported approach to the tire problem. The team reviewed tire programs in place elsewhere and is developing a program that will increase the availability of end-of-life options for tires in the region. One initiative, for instance, will focus on designing tires with increased recycled content and reduced environmental impacts.
• Medical Industry Waste Prevention Roundtable: This program brought together health care professionals from the region’s hospitals and biotech laboratories. It sponsored a series of in-depth, half day seminars on managing plastics and chemicals, exploring alternative products such as durables and reusables, and purchasing environmentally preferable products. One result of the seminars is an attempt to re-establish a recycling program for polypropylene wrap, a sterilization and draping material often used in hospitals. Kimberly-Clark, the manufacturer of this product, has agreed to pay a processing subsidy of 3¢ per pound of new material sold to institutions. Hospitals can then use the money to help cover their costs to collect, sort, and transport the wrap.

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