Policies & Legislation

Product Stewardship Legislation

The Northwest Product Stewardship Council promotes the concept of product stewardship and producer responsibility in policies and legislation. Product stewardship legislation in the United States has been introduced and passed at the state level. Local governments, which are responsible for waste management, have passed resolutions supporting product stewardship and producer responsibility. Product stewardship policies generally include the following items:

• Manufacturers are made responsible for implementing and paying for an environmentally sound system to collect and manage their products that contain hazardous and toxic components once the product is discarded.
• The products and materials that are targeted for takeback should be defined.
• The waste management costs are shifted from local government to the manufacturer. Manufacturers establish a front-end financing mechanism whereby the costs of managing the discarded products are included in the price of the product. No taxes or fees are administered by government agencies.
• The collection and recycling system must be convenient for all that use the system.
• Manufacturers are given an incentive to phase out hazardous and toxic components, to design products that can be easily recycled and to develop markets for the recyclable materials.
• Government provides a level playing field for manufacturers by adopting legislation and performance requirements.
• Collection and recycling measures and timetables for meeting performance goals are established. Manufacturers are responsible for tracking and reporting progress toward goals.
• Standards are established for recyclers and processors to ensure that the materials are handled in an environmentally sound manner.
• Governments provide oversight and enforcement.

Product stewardship policy approaches initially started with a focus on individual products, but has gradually moved towards a framework approach. Product Stewardship Framework is an alternative to the current piecemeal approach of laws that address individual problem products like fluorescent lamps and batteries. The framework approach establishes consistent principles, clearly defined roles for all parties, and a transparent process for adding new product types. For current legislation both on product specific categories and framework, use the menu on the left.

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