NRC CONVENTION: Looking to Europe and Canada for Solutions

This is the question that panelists Catherine Wilt of the University of Tennessee Center for Clean Products, Victor Bell of Environmental Packaging International and Edward Boisson of Boisson & Associates sought to address during a the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) 22^nd Annual Congress & Exhibition.

Wilt began the session by defining product stewardship as the degree of responsibility that manufactures bear for the environmental impacts of their products throughout their lifecycles. She said this includes upstream impacts inherent in material selection, the production process and the downstream impacts that result from product disposal.

She then defined the benefits and drivers of the product stewardship model, which include placing the costs on the producers and consumers of the goods rather than on the taxpayer; incentives toward green design and product innovation, cooperation efficiencies, declining government resources and the waning public support of recycling.

Boisson offered examples of organizations and government agencies within the U.S. that have embraced product stewardship. The list he cited included EPA, Product Stewardship Institute, Solid Waste Association of North America and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, NRC, Container Recycling Institute and Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. “In the United States, virtually every stakeholder group has endorsed product stewardship in some fashion,” he said.

Boisson said the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) offers a shining example of a successful product stewardship initiative in the U.S. CARE was formed in 2001 and has a 40 percent recycling goal.

“Many companies are taking a leadership role in their industries,” he added.

Bell provided examples of programs at the global level, which include packaging fees in 28 countries, packaging design requirements, battery fees and WEEE feeds in 11 countries. However, Bell says all of Europe’s programs are different, which creates problems.

Canada’s efforts at product stewardship include Ontario’s Waste Diversion Act, passed in June 2002, which governs electronics, batteries and scrap tires as well as blue box waste. Bell said that Canada is the first country to have a tax on junk mail and anything else that goes into the blue recycling box, even bills that arrive in the mail. Bell reported that fees could start as early as January 2004.

Quebec passed Bill 102, which is similar to the Waste Diversion Act, in December 2002. Currently, the implementation regulations are being drafted and will determine the material types and responsible parties involved. The program will be responsible for 50 percent of waste management costs, Bell said.

Wilt said she does not think these models can work in the U.S., though they do have a role in how we build product stewardship, which she sees as the next phase of environmental management.

She added that these models do not translate to the U.S. in part because those countries have institutionalized the precautionary principle, which means they err on the side of caution if something could potentially harm the environment. She said this points to key cultural and governmental differences between Europe and the U.S.

“Environmental principles in the U.S. are driven by crisis management,” Wilt added. We also have a bottom-up approach to environmental management that begins at the grassroots level and rises up to government, while in Europe and Canada, these ideas originate at the government level and filter down, she said.

Wilt said that the “smaller is better” approach should be taken when discussing product stewardship. Everyone cannot be at the table to discuss implementation of the concept or nothing will ever get done. The threat of imminent legislation is also a motivating factor for industry, she noted.

Boisson said that a surprising number of people agree with the concept of producer responsibility, they just use different language.

He said he believed the European and Canadian models can work in the U.S., as they are not one monolithic model, but a variety of approaches. “The devil is in the details,” he warned.

Before product stewardship can take off in the U.S., Boisson said better information on costs and a coordinated, strategic approach is needed. Leadership from industry is also necessary, he said, urging market leaders to endorse or at the very least not oppose the stewardship concept.

The NRC Congress & Exhibition took place in Baltimore Sept. 15-17.