What is Extended Producer Responsibility?
What if?
What if berries and eggs came exclusively in compostable containers? What if Amazon picked up its used packaging when delivering a new order? What if tire and mattress manufacturers had an end-of-life take-back program reducing ‘fly dumping’? What if municipal recycling was funded by manufacturers and producers instead of you, the taxpayer?
These are all examples of possible Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy in action.
I’m paying for what?
Currently, it’s up to you, the consumer, to minimize and properly dispose of your waste. It is also on the consumer to pay for waste disposal through waste-hauling fees and municipal taxation.
Producers and manufacturers bear no responsibility for the packaging they impose in the delivery of a product or the disposal of a product at end of life.
EPR is a strategy to place a shared responsibility for packaging and end-of-life product management on producers and other entities involved in the product chain instead of the general public. It places primary responsibility on the producer, or brand owner, who makes design and marketing decisions. It also creates a setting for markets to truly reflect the environmental impacts of a product, to which producers and consumers can respond accordingly.
Passing responsibility to producers as polluters is not only a matter of good environmental policy but also the most effective means of achieving higher environmental standards in product and packaging design.
Why is this important to know?
Multiple states have started to pass EPR legislation, with California leading the charge. While the state of Illinois has been slow to enact EPR, there are discussions underway, and LWV Chicago’s Environmental Action Committee is participating in those discussions. When the day comes that good EPR legislation is up for a vote, your help will be needed to get it passed.
In the meantime….
Don’t forget that Pumpkin Smash is on November 5! Go to a Pumpkin Smash event to compost your Jack-o-Lantern in the most fun way!
Leave a comment below, or contact the Environmental Action Committee at environment@lwvchicago.org.