Legislative Concept: Product Stewardship

Transcription

1 Legislative Concept: Product Stewardship A. Proposed Policy It is the policy of the State of Oregon to promote waste prevention and resource efficiency through Product Stewardship. Product Stewardship, one tool to achieve waste prevention, is a policy by which those that design, produce, and use products accept responsibility for the environmental impacts of a product over its life cycle from design to end of life. The greater ability of the party to influence the life cycle impacts, the greater the degree of responsibility. A process for selecting priority products, setting targets, establishing timelines, and measurement shall be established in Oregon to move toward greater product stewardship. B. Product Stewardship Goals The primary purpose of Product Stewardship is to achieve waste prevention and resource efficiency through full cost accounting, product design changes, improvements in product manufacturing, distribution and use as well as achieving increased reuse, recycling, and composting. The goals of the Product Stewardship policy are to: 1. Ensure all involved in producing, selling, and using products bear greater responsibility for the full environmental impact of the product from a life-cycle perspective. 2. Reduce or eliminate the amount of toxic and hazardous constituents of products. 3. Use materials, energy, and water efficiently at every stage of the product's life. 4. Increase recycling and composting for selected materials at end of product's life. 5. Internalize cost of end of life management into costs of producing and selling products so that government and solid waste generators do not pay those costs. The approach to reach these goals should ensure parties who are responsible for addressing environmental impacts of products have the flexibility in determining how to best address those impacts. In addition, the approach will facilitate working collaboratively with other states and industry to pursue product stewardship activities. C. Targets Within one year of passage targets shall be set for each priority product (listed in E below). The targets will include waste prevention, reuse, toxicity reduction, recycling, and 1

2 recovery as applicable for the priority product. A timeline for reaching the targets shall be set along with logical consequences if targets are not met. D. Procedures and Responsibilities 1. The Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) shall by rule add or remove from the list priority products. 2. The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ ) shall form a "Product Group" for each priority product composed of appropriate interested parties including but not limited to manufacturers, retailers, product users, non profits, local governments, and recycling and solid waste management service providers. The Product Groups shall create an action plan that includes specific targets, timelines, implementation processes and consequences if targets are not met. 3. The manufacturers or industry groups responsible for meeting the requirements shall report annually to DEQ on progress toward meeting the goals. 4. DEQ shall report to the Legislature in 2003 on the progress of the Product Group process. If the Product Groups do not implement their action plan and achieve their targets, the DEQ, in its report to the Legislature will make recommendations for achieving the targets. E. Priority Products 1. The following products are priority products based on criteria listed below: Electronics (CRTs, CPUs, VCRs, cell phones) Mercury Containing Products (Thermometers, Thermostats, Automotive Light Switches, Fluorescent Light Tubes) Carpet 2. Beginning in 2002, the EQC, by rule, may add or remove from the list of priority products. The EQC in consultation with interested parties shall use the following criteria to select priority products. The products must demonstrate one or more of the following characteristics: Contain toxic or hazardous constituents or contains a PBT or a PBT is discharged as a result of its manufacture; Are banned from MSW disposal; Pose a threat to safe or efficient operation of a solid waste facility or the solid waste system; Place significant economic burdens on the state or local government for end-of-life management because there is a significant amount of the product in the waste stream or because of the nature of the product makes it difficult to manage in the existing system; Possess significant potential for increased reuse and recycling. 2

3 F. Examples of Options to Reach Targets Industry has the flexibility to select a method to meet the established targets and dates. Below is a list of some options industry could utilize to meet targets. 1. Eliminate Toxins: from the product and from any discharge related to the production of the product. 2. Reduce Resource Consumption: reduce material resources consumed or wasted per product output. 3. Leasing: producer never terminates ownership. 4. Deposit/Refund: payment is made when product is purchased and is fully or partially returned when the product is returned to a dealer or other facility. 5. Product Take Back: producer is given responsibility of meeting recovery or collection targets via a regulation unless other conditions such as participation in a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO). 6. Utilization Requirement: producer meets minimum recovery targets for recycling their own materials. 7. Promote Repair/Durability: provide manuals and parts for products to improve reparability and durability. Product Stewardshippolicy6.doc 11/29/00 agb/jmw 3

4 **DO NOT CITE** DISCUSSION DRAFT REACHING SUSTAINABILITY IN OREGON BY 2025 Background for Waste Prevention and Extended Product Responsibility Policy Recommendations A. Why do we need to update state waste policy? 1. Waste generation is still on the rise generation was 3.1 million tons compared to 4.3 million tons in Annual per capita generation increased from 1 ton in 1992 to 1.3 tons in More significantly, for every ton of materials/products used and discarded, about 71 tons of manufacturing, mining, oil and gas exploration, agricultural, coal combustion, and other discards and toxins are produced. 5. Current waste policy is based on the premise there is a shortage of landfills and landfill space. This is no longer an issue, Oregon has adequate disposal capacity for the foreseeable future. 6. All around us we see limits to our natural abundance. Salmons runs are dwindling, forest health is declining, we face to limits to water supply and the amount of waste our waters can assimilate. 7. Increasing waste generation raises concerns about: a) being wasteful of finite resources; b) environmental impacts, particularly toxic impacts, related to the manufacture of products and their end of life management. 8. In May, 2000 Governor Kitzhaber, through Executive Order EO 00 07, directed the State of Oregon to develop and promote policies and programs that will assist Oregon to meet a goal of sustainability within one generation-by In September, 1999 Governor Kitzhaber issued Executive Order EO for the elimination of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic pollutants. The order is aimed at eliminating the release of the most threatening chemical substances in Oregon's environment by Achieve zero release of substances like mercury, dioxins and furans, and alkyl-lead. 4

5 It is now our challenge to not only implement the two Executive Orders but to help make sustainablity and elimination of toxic impacts a reality by incorporating this policy direction into state waste management policy. B. How do we update state waste policy for Sustainability? A Long Term Goal of sustainability is 100% efficiency, i.e. the elimination of waste. This means: materials and energy continually recirculate through ecosystems. goods and services are produced with a minimum investment of natural resources and energy. No toxic impact on health and the environment. End of life options for products are limited to reuse, repair, compost, and recycle. Build incentives into the economy that promote waste prevention and extended product responsibility. Short Term Objectives for sustainability are: Increasing resource efficiency and waste prevention in the production and use of materials and products. Reducing toxicity in the manufacture and use of products Increasing the reuse and longer use of products Waste prevention (WP) and extended product responsibility (EPR) policies are powerful tools to move Oregon toward sustainability and achieving these objectives. C. What does a Waste Prevention Policy for Sustainability need to do? 1. Shift the emphasis to materials management "upstream" when a product is being designed, manufactured and packaged for consumption and not solely on the material after it has become waste. 2. Emphasize reduced waste at the source in the design and production of products and the delivery of services. 3. Reduce resource consumption and waste generation associated with the delivery and distribution of products. 4. Maximize the useful life of products through more durable and repairable products. 5. Reduce the amount of waste generated. 6. Reduce the amount of natural resources such as water and energy that are consumed in the product manufacture and delivery process. 7. Define measurable goals, accountability for results, and a limited role for government. 5

6 D. What does an EPR Policy for Sustainability need to do? 1. Place responsibility and accountability with actors in the product chain for all environmental impacts of a product over its life cycle from cradle to cradle. 2. Provide incentives to design products with less (or different) material input, and are also easier and more economical to reuse, recycle, and recover. 3. Change the traditional balance of responsibilities for end of life management of materials and products - under present policies that responsibility and cost is born by government and the public. Changing the balance so that the manufacturer bears some of that responsibility influences the design and production of products to be less toxic, more durable, and more resource efficient overall. 4. Reduce the amount of waste requiring disposal. 5. Reduce raw materials used (amount of raw/virgin material input per unit of production). 6. Reduce solid waste management costs for cities and towns. 7. Reduce toxic contamination of the environment. 8. Internalize the end of life costs so they are reflected in product prices. 9. Support the achievement of recycling goals. EPR is an important link between product design and waste generation. Producers reevaluate decisions concerning materials (and chemical) selection, production processes, design, packaging, and marketing strategies in order to reduce their costs at this new level of responsibility. EPR builds the end of life product management into a company's bottom line. The objective is to send the correct economic signals and then leave the industry free to innovate. eprpp6bullets.doc 9/7/00 2:20 PM agb/jmw 6