Product stewardship

Last updated

Product stewardship is an approach to managing the environmental impacts of different products and materials and at different stages in their production, use and disposal. It acknowledges that those involved in producing, selling, using and disposing of products have a shared responsibility to ensure that those products or materials are managed in a way that reduces their impact, throughout their lifecycle, on the environment and on human health and safety. [1] This approach focusses on the product itself, and everyone involved in the lifespan of the product is called upon to take up responsibility to reduce its environmental, health, and safety impacts. [2]

Contents

For manufacturers, this includes planning for, and if necessary, paying for the recycling or disposal of the product at the end of its useful life. This may be achieved, in part, by redesigning products to use fewer harmful substances, to be more durable, reusable and recyclable, and to make products from recycled materials. [3] For retailers and consumers, this means taking an active role in ensuring the proper disposal or recycling of an end-of-life product.

Those who advocate it are concerned with the later phases of product lifecycle and the comprehensive outcome of the whole production process. It is considered a pre-requisite to a strict service economy interpretation of (fictional, national, legal) "commodity" and "product" relationships.

The most familiar example is the container-deposit legislation. A fee is paid to buy the bottle, separately from the fee to buy what it contains. If the bottle is returned, the fee is returned, and the supplier must return the bottle for re-use or recycling. If not, the collected fee can be used to pay for landfill or litter control measures. Also, since the same fee can be collected by anyone finding and returning the bottle, it is common for people to collect these and return them as a means of surviving: this is quite common, for instance, among homeless people in U.S. cities.

However, the principle is applied very broadly beyond bottles to paint and automobile parts such as tires. When purchasing paint or tires in many places, one simultaneously pays for the disposal of the toxic waste they become. In some countries, such as Germany, law requires attention to the comprehensive outcome of the whole extraction, production, distribution, use and waste of a product, and holds those profiting from these legally responsible for any outcome along the way. This is also the trend in the UK and EU generally. In the United States, the issue has been confronted via class action lawsuits that attempt to hold companies liable for the environmental impact of their products. Thus far, such as litigation or proposed accounting reforms such as full cost accounting have not gained much traction for the product stewardship concept in the United States beyond the realm of academe and corporate public relations (derisively referred to as greenwashing).

The demand-side approach ethical consumerism, supported by consumer education and information about environmental impacts, may approach some of the same outcomes as product stewardship.

Certified Professional Product Steward

Product stewardship professionals can seek certification as a Certified Professional Product Steward (CPPS) from the Board for Global EHS Credentialing. The CPPS is the first credential of its kind, providing product stewards with the opportunity to distinguish their expertise and build professional credibility within the field.

Legislation

Australia's Product Stewardship Act 2011 provides a framework for managing the environmental, health and safety impacts of products, and in particular those impacts associated with the disposal of products and their associated waste. The framework includes voluntary, co-regulatory and mandatory product stewardship. The passage of the legislation is said to have delivered on a key commitment by the Australian Government under the National Waste Policy, which was agreed by Australian state governments in November 2009 and endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments in October 2010. [4]

The Act supports the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme (NTCRS) through the Product Stewardship (Televisions and Computers) Regulations 2011. The scheme has recycled approximately 230,000 tonnes of electronic waste since its inception. This review is an important opportunity to continue to update and improve the NTCRS.

The Minister’s Product List is established by the Act, and is updated annually. The list informs the community and industry of those products being considered for accreditation or regulation under the Act.

A review of the Act was mandated to take place five years after implementation, and this was initiated in March 2018. [5]

Extended producer responsibility

Product Stewardship is often used interchangeably with extended producer responsibility, a similar concept. However, there are distinct differences between the two, as suggested by the semantics of the different terms used.

While both concepts bring the onus of waste management for end-of-life products from the government to the manufacturers, Product Stewardship further extends this responsibility to everyone involved in the life-cycle of the product—not only manufacturers, but also retailers, consumers and recyclers. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste management</span> Activities and actions required to manage waste from its source to its final disposal

Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitoring and regulation of the waste management process and waste-related laws, technologies, and economic mechanisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Service economy</span> Economy mainly driven by sales of services

Service economy can refer to one or both of two recent economic developments:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extended producer responsibility</span> Strategy designed to promote the integration of environmental costs associated with goods

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a strategy to add all of the estimated environmental costs associated with a product throughout the product life cycle to the market price of that product, contemporarily mainly applied in the field of waste management. Such societal costs are typically externalities to market mechanisms, with a common example being the impact of cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmentally friendly</span> Sustainability and marketing term

Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes, are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that claim reduced, minimal, or no harm upon ecosystems or the environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Container-deposit legislation</span> Return of beverage containers for refund

Container-deposit legislation is any law that requires the collection of a monetary deposit on beverage containers at the point of sale and/or the payment of refund value to the consumers. When the container is returned to an authorized redemption center, or retailer in some jurisdictions, the deposit is partly or fully refunded to the redeemer. It is a deposit-refund system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic waste recycling</span> Form of recycling

Electronic waste recycling, electronics recycling, or e-waste recycling is the disassembly and separation of components and raw materials of waste electronics; when referring to specific types of e-waste, the terms like computer recycling or mobile phone recycling may be used. Like other waste streams, reuse, donation, and repair are common sustainable ways to dispose of IT waste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glass recycling</span> Processing of turning glass waste into usable products

Glass recycling is the processing of waste glass into usable products. Glass that is crushed or imploded and ready to be remelted is called cullet. There are two types of cullet: internal and external. Internal cullet is composed of defective products detected and rejected by a quality control process during the industrial process of glass manufacturing, transition phases of product changes and production offcuts. External cullet is waste glass that has been collected or reprocessed with the purpose of recycling. External cullet is classified as waste. The word "cullet", when used in the context of end-of-waste, will always refer to external cullet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reuse</span> Using again

Reuse is the action or practice of using an item, whether for its original purpose or to fulfill a different function. It should be distinguished from recycling, which is the breaking down of used items to make raw materials for the manufacture of new products. Reuse—by taking, but not reprocessing, previously used items—helps save time, money, energy and resources. In broader economic terms, it can make quality products available to people and organizations with limited means, while generating jobs and business activity that contribute to the economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste minimisation</span> Process that involves reducing the amount of waste produced in society

Waste minimisation is a set of processes and practices intended to reduce the amount of waste produced. By reducing or eliminating the generation of harmful and persistent wastes, waste minimisation supports efforts to promote a more sustainable society. Waste minimisation involves redesigning products and processes and/or changing societal patterns of consumption and production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cradle-to-cradle design</span> Biomimetic approach to the design of products

Cradle-to-cradle design is a biomimetic approach to the design of products and systems that models human industry on nature's processes, where materials are viewed as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms. The term itself is a play on the popular corporate phrase "cradle to grave", implying that the C2C model is sustainable and considerate of life and future generations—from the birth, or "cradle", of one generation to the next generation, versus from birth to death, or "grave", within the same generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battery Directive</span>

The Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators and repealing Directive 91/157/EEC, commonly known as the Battery Directive, regulates the manufacture and disposal of batteries in the European Union with the aim of "improving the environmental performance of batteries and accumulators".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Dot (symbol)</span> License symbol of a European recycling network

The Green Dot is the financing symbol of a European network of industry-funded systems for recycling the packaging materials of consumer goods. The logo is a trademark protected worldwide—it is not a recycling logo.

Paint is a recyclable item. Latex paint is collected at collection facilities in many countries and shipped to paint-recycling facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic waste by country</span>

Electronic waste is a significant part of today's global, post-consumer waste stream. Efforts are being made to recycle and reduce this waste.

Electronic waste in Japan is a major environmental issue. Although Japan was one of the first countries to implement an electronic waste recycling program, it is still having serious issues. In this day and age, e-waste disposal has become of major importance due to the increasing demand for electronics on a worldwide scale. In 2013, the Japanese government reported that roughly 550 thousand tonnes of e-waste was collected and treated in Japan, which only equates to about 24-30% of total e-waste. Not only does e-waste harm the environment if untreated, it also becomes a fiscal loss due to the material lost that could have been salvaged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic waste in New Zealand</span>

Electronic waste in New Zealand is an environmental issue being addressed by community and government initiatives.

Resource recovery is using wastes as an input material to create valuable products as new outputs. The aim is to reduce the amount of waste generated, thereby reducing the need for landfill space, and optimising the values created from waste. Resource recovery delays the need to use raw materials in the manufacturing process. Materials found in municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste, commercial waste and industrial wastes can be used to recover resources for the manufacturing of new materials and products. Plastic, paper, aluminium, glass and metal are examples of where value can be found in waste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appliance recycling</span> We should recycle every plastic and polymer things

Appliance recycling is the process of dismantling scrapped home appliances to recover their parts or materials for reuse. Recycling appliances for their original or other purposes, involves disassembly, removal of hazardous components and destruction of the equipment to recover materials, generally by shredding, sorting and grading. The rate at which appliances are discarded has increased due in part to obsolescence due to technological advancement, and in part to not being designed to be repairable. The main types of appliances that are recycled are televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, and computers. When appliances are recycled, they can be looked upon as a valuable resources; if disposed of improperly, they can be environmentally harmful and poison ecosystems.

Sustainable Materials Management is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire lifecycles. It represents a change in how a society thinks about the use of natural resources and environmental protection. By looking at a product's entire lifecycle new opportunities can be found to reduce environmental impacts, conserve resources, and reduce costs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste management in Australia</span> Waste management in Australia

Waste management in Australia started to be implemented as a modern system by the second half of the 19th century, with its progresses driven by technological and sanitary advances. It is currently regulated at both federal and state level. The Commonwealth's Department of the Environment and Energy is responsible for the national legislative framework.

References

  1. ↑ Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Energy, Product Stewardship, accessed 29 September 2019
  2. ↑ United States Environment Protection Agency, The United States Environment Protection Agency
  3. ↑ The National Chemical Emergency Centre Archived 2007-05-28 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Australian Government, What is the Product Stewardship Act 2011, accessed 29 September 2019
  5. ↑ Australian Government, Review of the Product Stewardship Act 2011, including the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme Consultation paper, published March 2018, accessed 29 September 2019
  6. ↑ Waste to Wealth Archived 2012-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.