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About NWPSC

About the Council

NWPSC Mission & Objectives

The Northwest Product Stewardship Council (NWPSC) is a coalition of government organizations in Washington and Oregon that operates as an unincorporated association of members and is comprised of a Steering Committee, Associates and Subcommittees. View and print the NWPSC mission and objectives.

Council Mission

The mission of the NWPSC is to work together and with other governments, businesses and nonprofit groups to integrate product stewardship (producer responsibility) principles into the policy and economic structures of the Pacific Northwest.

The Council is working to shift Washington and Oregon’s product waste management system from one focused on government funded and ratepayer financed waste disposal and waste diversion to one that relies on producer responsibility in order to reduce public costs, increase accessibility to services, attain higher environmental benefits and drive improvements in product design that promote environmental sustainability.

Product Stewardship

Product Stewardship is an environmental management strategy that means whoever designs, produces, sells, or uses a product takes responsibility for minimizing the product's environmental impact throughout all stages of the products' life cycle, including end of life management. The greatest responsibility lies with whoever has the most ability to affect the full life cycle environmental impacts of the product. This is most often the producer of the product, though all within the product chain of commerce have roles.

See the NWPSC brochure for more information about the council.

Product Stewardship (PS) and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) are terms used interchangeably to describe a long-term solution to manage waste products by shifting the responsibility for collection, transportation, and management of products away from local governments to the manufacturers (adapted from the 2007 Sonoma County Extended Producer Responsibility Implementation Plan).

Objectives

The objectives of the Northwest Product Stewardship Council are to:

Provide effective leadership on product stewardship initiatives in the region.
Assist in coordinating product stewardship efforts in the Northwest and with national product stewardship initiatives whenever possible.
Educate elected officials and other decision makers on the benefits to local government of product stewardship.

Functions of the Council

The Council may conduct conversations, educational activities, and projects in any or all of the following areas:

Provide: networking opportunities and information sharing
Research: programs and policies
Organize: educational events, publications, and forum for discussion and action
Demonstrate: pilot programs that promote product stewardship
Understand: options, varied approaches and viewpoints
Coordinate: projects and partners
Train: through technical assistance and outreach

The Council and its members focus their efforts on products based upon the following criteria:

The cost to local governments for the handling and disposal of the products;
The quantity of the products entering the waste stream;
The toxicity of the product throughout the lifecycle of the product;
The potential for private sector participation in voluntary product stewardship programs and activities;
The potential for mandatory action or legislative support to encourage the development of product stewardship programs;
The potential for innovation in design that results in an environmentally-sound and sustainable product.

Learn More

For a history of the council, its early projects and the role it plays in progressing product stewardship concepts in the United States, read the article published in Pollution Prevention Review, Autumn, 2000, The Northwest Product Stewardship Council: A Lever Long Enough?

Hear David Stitzhal, coordinator of the Northwest Product Stewardship Council, discuss how product stewardship policies can lead to greener design on KUOW's Jan. 20, 2008 "Weekday" show, titled Planned Obsolescence and Greener Gadgetry.

Learn about how the talent and dedication of NWPSC's members play a key role in advancing NWPSC's mission. Sego Jackson, NWPSC member, is one of the many individuals continuing to contribute to NWPSC's success. Read about Sego's work on behalf of NWPSC in the article published in Seattle Magazine, March, 2007, The Green Guide, which nominated him an Eco-Hero in the region.

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