PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP AND EXTENDED PRODUCER
RESPONSIBILITY: DEFINITIONS AND PRINCIPLES
Reducing Economic, Environmental, Health, and Safety
Impacts from Consumer Products
The growing product stewardship movement in the United States seeks to ensure that those who
design, manufacture, sell, and use consumer products take responsibility for reducing negative
impacts to the economy, environment, public health, and worker safety. These impacts can occur
throughout the lifecycle of a product and its packaging, and are associated with energy and
materials consumption; waste generation; toxic substances; greenhouse gases; and other air and
water emissions. In a product stewardship approach, manufacturers that design products and
specify packaging have the greatest ability, and therefore greatest responsibility, to reduce these
impacts by attempting to incorporate the full lifecycle costs into the cost of doing business.
The terms product stewardship and extended producer responsibility (EPR) are often used
differently by stakeholders involved in the product stewardship movement. The purpose of this
document is to harmonize terminology in the U.S. and to guide development of policies,
legislation, and other initiatives by governments, companies, and other organizations. By
speaking the same language, we can have a constructive public discussion.
We use the following definitions for product stewardship and EPR. Since we define EPR as a
legislative approach, we believe it requires further clarification and therefore developed the
subsequent Principles of Extended Producer Responsibility.
Product Stewardship is the act of minimizing health, safety, environmental and social impacts,
and maximizing economic benefits of a product and its packaging throughout all lifecycle stages.
The producer of the product has the greatest ability to minimize adverse impacts, but other
stakeholders, such as suppliers, retailers, and consumers, also play a role. Stewardship can be
either voluntary or required by law.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a mandatory type of product stewardship that
includes, at a minimum, the requirement that the producer’s responsibility for their product
extends to post-consumer management of that product and its packaging. There are two related
features of EPR policy: (1) shifting financial and management responsibility, with government
oversight, upstream to the producer and away from the public sector; and (2) providing
incentives to producers to incorporate environmental considerations into the design of their
products and packaging.
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PRINCIPLES OF EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY
The following EPR Principles include key elements that should be included in all EPR
legislation. Although these Principles will be applied differently by different jurisdictions, they
are aspirational and considered best practice to achieve maximum results.
• Producer Responsibility
o Producers are required to design, manage, and finance programs for end-of-life
management of their products and packaging as a condition of sale. These programs
may or may not use existing collection and processing infrastructure. Programs
should cover all products in a given category, including those from companies no
longer in business and from companies that cannot be identified.
• Level Playing Field
o All producers within a particular product category have the same requirements,
whether they choose to meet them individually or jointly with other producers.
• Results-based
o Producers have flexibility to design the product management system to meet the
performance goals established by government, with minimum government involvement.
o Producer-managed systems must follow the resource conservation hierarchy of
reduce, reuse, recycle, and beneficially use, as appropriate.
o Products must be managed in a manner that is protective of human health and the
environment.
o Producers design and implement public education programs to ensure achievement of
performance goals and standards established by government.
o All consumers have convenient access to collection opportunities without charge.
• Transparency and Accountability
o Government is responsible for ensuring that producer programs are transparent and
accountable to the public.
o Producer programs, including their development and the fate of products managed,
provide opportunity for input by all stakeholders.
• Roles for Government, Retailers and Consumers
o Government is responsible for ensuring a level playing field for all parties in the
product value chain to maintain a competitive marketplace with open access to all, for
setting and enforcing performance goals and standards, for supporting industry
programs through procurement, and for helping educate the public.
o Retailers only sell brands within a covered product category that are made by
producers participating in an industry program, and are responsible for providing
information to consumers on how to access the programs.
o Consumers have a responsibility to reduce waste, reuse products, use take-back and
other collection programs, and make appropriate purchasing decisions based on
available information about product impacts and benefits.
ENDORSEMENTS
As of April 27, 2012
We, the undersigned, support these definitions and principles to clarify discussions and to
facilitate the establishment of more Product Stewardship programs and Extended Producer
Responsibility policies in North America.
Businesses
Peninsula Packaging Co. (Packaging Producer)
Reliance Carpet Cushion, Inc. (Carpet Cushion
Producer)
Close The Loop, Inc. (Recycled Product Producer)
Terracycle (Up-cycler)
Amazon Environmental (Paint Recycler)
Los Angeles Fiber (Carpet Recycler)
Covanta (Waste to Energy Company)
Marin Sanitary Service (Waste Hauler)
AkkuSer (Battery Recycler, Europe)
Stewardship Organizations
Call2Recycle
Encorp Pacific (Canadian)
Government Councils
California Product Stewardship Council
New York Product Stewardship Council
Texas Product Stewardship Council
Colorado Product Stewardship Council
Massachusetts Product Stewardship Council
Nebraska Product Stewardship Coalition
Rhode Island Product Stewardship Council
Vermont Product Stewardship Council
Governments
Alameda StopWaste, CA
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District, CA
Chittenden County, VT
City of Seattle - Seattle Public Utilities
City of Santa Monica, CA
Clallam County Solid Waste Advisory Committee,
WA
Delta Diablo Sanitation District, CA
Illinois Counties Solid Waste Management
Association (ILCSWMA)
METRO, OR
New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation
South Short Recycling Cooperative, MA
Tampalpias Community Services District, CA
Non-Profit Organizations
Natural Resources Defense Council
Sierra Club
North American Hazardous Materials Management
Association (NAHMMA)
Solid Waste Association of North America
(SWANA), California Chapters
Sierra Club, Connecticut Chapter
California Resource Recovery Association
As You Sow
EcoCycle (Boulder CO)
Intervale Associates
MassRecycle
Michigan Recycling Coalition
Midwest Environmental Law & Policy Center
Natural Resources Council of Maine
Product Policy Institute
Product Stewardship Institute
Teleosis Institute
Texas Campaign for the Environment
Consulting Groups
Gracestone, Inc.
Kathy Walsh, LEED
Peg Hall Consultancy
Special Waste Associateshttp://www.scribd.com/doc/92309001/PRODUCT-STEWARDSHIP-AND-EXTENDED-PRODUCER-REhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/92309001/PRODUCT-STEWARDSHIP-AND-EXTENDED-PRODUCER-RESPONSIBILITY-DEFINITIONS-AND-PRINCIPLEShttp://www.scribd.com/doc/92309001/PRODUCT-STEWARDSHIP-AND-EXTENDED-PRODUCER-RESPONSIBILITY-DEFINITIONS-AND-PRINCIPLES