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Extended Producer Responsibility
What is Extended Producer Responsibility?
Extended Producer Responsibility or EPR is a central
tenet of product stewardship. EPR means the
companies who make a product have a responsibility
for their goods at the “end of life”
Extended Producer Responsibility shifts the financial burden of these programs
Government Businesses
This public money can than be better spent on education or infrastructure rather than managing unused paint or old tires
Extended Producer Responsibility
The Old Way:Government- managed
programsGovernment responsibility
Visible ‘deposits’ customers saw on their receipts (ex. tires)
The New Way: Businesses manage
costs Businesses responsible
Cost of safe management included in the product’s cost (like marketing costs)
This public money could be better spent on education or infrastructure rather than managing unused paint or tires
How does it work? Here’s one example of a program in Nebraska as one model for how it can work: Call2Recycle
Call2Recycle
.
.
.
In this program individual battery manufacturers pay a license fee to Call2Recycle(essentially splitting the costs between the different manufacturers)
License fee
Then Call2Recycle handles all the administration & pays all costs associated with collecting & recycling batteries
Municipals
• Existing collection sites serving as collection sites are reimbursed
• New sites are set up
retail• retail locations serve
as collection points at no cost to them
Call2Recycle
Call2Recycle reimburses collection sites
Make same changes here as on the fact sheet.
This is just one model and there are a number of models already operating in Nebraska & across the United States
We can learn from programs that are already in place
Another take-back program operating in
Nebraska: Compact Florescent Light (CFL)
All Home Depot stores in Nebraska, and several other hardware stores accept used
CFLs in kiosks the front of their stores
Here’s how it works:
Customer
purchases CFL in a hardware
store
Light bulb is used at home
Hardware store collects returned
bulbs & sends them to a
recycling facility
Recovered materials can
make new bulbs
“We believe that The Home Depot is a true member of the communities where we live and work
and we demonstrate our leadership by making the environment a core part of our business – from
the products we offer to the programs we support and especially our commitment to saving energy
with CFL bulbs,” Annette Verschuren, The Home Depot.
Bulbs can be returned to any
store that collects them
1 2 43 5
Isn’t this going to cost more?
You are already paying for it.
Taxpayers pay all WM costs
Producers share WM
costs
Current System
EPR System
EPR shifts waste management costs from the public to the private sector
EPR doesn’t necessarily change the way consumers handle their goods when they no longer need them and it doesn’t necessarily require an entirely new infrastructure.
Many EPR programs continue to use existing collecting infrastructure and reimburse municipalities collecting their goods.
EPR shifts waste management costs from the public to the
private sector
We are all both taxpayers and consumers, but with EPR, we shift the responsibility to the manufacturers to internalize the costs of managing their products.
meaning that your tax dollars can go to
meet other needs in the community –
besides cleaning up after people’s consumer products.
EPR is already happening
Many major retailers are already taking back
goods they sell Reasons retailers have embraced these programs:
- to get more customers into the store
- to build customer loyalty by offering additional services
- because they recognize the environmental need to keep their products out of landfills
Take Advantage of Existing Programs
Another Bright Idea
Use these companies’ collection programs Use Nebraska’s Programs:
The Bucket ProjectNebraska Materials Exchange
National Programs:Call2RecycleThermostat Recycling Corp.End of Life Vehicle Solutions
But what can we do now?
1. Take advantage of voluntary programs
already exist
2. Urge major retailers who have take-back
programs in other parts of the country to
start one where you live