Northwest Product Stewardship Council


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What is 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. The greatest responsibility lies with whoever has the most ability to affect the life cycle environmental impacts of the product. The mission of the Council is to integrate product stewardship principles into the policy and economic structures of the Pacific Northwest. Learn more about the Northwest Product Stewardship Council.

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Pharmaceutical Take Back Bill

Washington Substitute SB 5234, creating a statewide program for the collection, transportation, and disposal of unwanted medicines, was re-introduced in Jan. 2012 and is in the Senate Rules Committee waiting for a floor vote. See the Take Back Your Meds website for more information, including reporting on prescription-drug abuse in Washington state by KCTS 9 and InvestigateWest, and a list of law enforcement and health organizations which support legislation.

Product Stewardship Hearings in Washington State Legislature

The 60-day, 2012 WA State legislative session began Jan. 9. The Legislature’s website allows you to view and track committees and bills. Watch or download audio and video from TVW, which also has a tracking feature. The Northwest Product Stewardship Council will post regular updates related to product stewardship legislation throughout the session.

Batteries: Adopting the Washington small rechargeable battery stewardship act: Senate Environment Committee heard SB 6148 Jan. 24 at 10am (TVW video); and House Environment Committee heard HB 2450 Jan. 20 at 1:30pm (TVW video); substitute HB 2450 was passed out of the House Environment Committee, with amendments, on Jan. 31 at 1:30pm.
Carpet: Creating jobs by increasing recycling of discarded carpet: Senate Environment Committee heard SB 6341 on Jan. 11, and was passed out of Committee, with amendments, on Feb. 3 at 8am. See the Council’s summary of the legislation. Watch the 50-minute hearing on TVW.
Paint: Developing a paint stewardship program: Senate Environment Committee heard SB 6145 Jan. 24 at 10am (TVW video), and was passed out of Committee, with amendments, on Feb. 3 at 8am. See the Council’s summary of the legislation.
Product Stewardship Briefing: Council members and industry briefed the Senate Environment Committee on product stewardship efforts Jan. 10, 8-9:45am (TVW video).

Product Stewardship in Oregon Legislature

The 35-day, 2012 OR State legislative session began Feb. 1. The Oregonian’s website allows you to view and track bills. Watch or download audio and video from the legislature. The Northwest Product Stewardship Council will post regular updates related to product stewardship legislation throughout the session.

Extended Responsibility: How EPR is Spreading

Recycling Today features Victor Bell, of Environmental Packaging International, on how Everybody has been talking about EPR, but do you understand how it would work in the United States?, from Dec. 14, 2011.

Council Releases Product Stewardship Report on Packaging

The NWPSC released the Analyzing Product Stewardship Policies for Packaging and Printed Paper in Washington State (PDF 1.9MB) report on July 22 at the Product Stewardship Strategies for Local Governments conference. Developed by the NWPSC to stimulate dialogue among stakeholders, the report provides an overview of the current recycling system in Washington State and examines ways to increase the rate of packaging and printed paper recycling. For more on the report, visit the NWPSC Packaging and Beverage Containers Activities page.