5 More slides on EPR and how it works

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

The Old Way:Government- managed

programs

Government responsibility

Visible ‘deposits’ customers saw on their receipts (ex. tires)

This public money could be better spent on education or infrastructure rather than managing unused paint or tires

The New Way: Businesses manage

costs

Businesses responsible

Cost of safe management included in the product’s cost (like marketing costs)

Extended Producer Responsibility

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 across the United States

We can learn from programs that are already in place

Another take-back program operating:

Compact Florescent Light (CFL)

All Home Depot stores, 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

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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

Use these companies’ collection programs • Call2Recycle

• Thermostat 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