Recognizing that Germany was a pioneer in the late 80s/early 90s for
introducing the "Polluter Pays Principle" for waste, their
packaging recycling program is a bust. When I was working for the
Recycling Council of British Columbia in 1992, we sent a former
Greenpeace activist over to Germany to look at the DSD program close up.
She came back and shared her frank assessment at a conference. The
program has got away with messy recycling that flooded the market with
dirty commingled packaging.
The industries that use packaging in Canada recognized that this is a
good way to appear "green" without incurring any cost (they
simply raise the prices of their products). Hence Ontario adopted the
German approach (except watered down: producers are only required to
cover half the net cost of recycling, leaving the lion's share of the
costs on the public).
We have taken a different approach here in British Columbia. Rather than
lump all "packaging" together and end up collecting a jumble of
rubbish, we regulate one type of packaging at a time. We started with
beverage containers (37 years ago) and now we get upwards of 75%
recycling of those containers ~ (the "bottle bill" was the
first EPR program). Since then we've been focusing mostly on EPR for
products (esp HHW), but we require paint companies to take the packaging
too. Same goes for used oil.
We did our best to get packaging included in the e-waste program that
starts up today in BC, and I think it's only a matter of time until that
happens.
Another important category of packaging is those big plastic and paperbox
containers used by the producers of detergents and household cleaning
products. We are telling government we think they should bring those
companies (Procter & GAmble, Unilever, etc.) to the table and require
them to write a plan for how they will take back their
packaging.
I predict this will be the regulatory model once EPR finally rolls out in
North America. From the producer's perspective, the packaging is part
of the product. The producer should be responsible for the packaging,
even if the product is "used up." And it's easier to put the
focus on the producer when you look at one product-type at a
time.
BEst,
Helen.
At 04:36 PM 8/1/2007, Anne Peters wrote:
[sorry
re double posting]
Resa,
The strongest packaging/policy model I'm aware of is Germany's Green Dot
program. Ontario has a similar policy/program called Stewardship
Ontario. To sell products, e.g, a computer, in those places, the
first importer must register, estimate the weight of plastic and paper
fractions, and pay surcharge on a per-gram basis. The surcharge varies
depending on material type.
The fee is payable to a 3rd party organization, which in turn pays for
the share of the recycling costs in the region incurred by the
packaging.
It would be fantastic if NYC could do something like this!
Let me know if you need more information. [We met 3 summers ago in
NYC, at a CTBC meeting, hope you're well.]
Regards,
Anne Peters
Gracestone, Inc.
Boulder, CO
303.494.4934 vox
303.494.4880 fax
Jacobs (Glansberg), Linda wrote:
I use
the smaller concentrated detergent ever since I purchased a front-loading
washing machine. There is a notice on the machine itself that you
should only use "he" detergents. The smaller bottles are
all labeled "he." It amazes me how little detergent I
need every time I pour it in. I think these new machines are in
part driving increase in the smaller bottles
(PS - sorry Resa, that this discussion is
delivering nothing of value in the way of packaging policy models!)
Linda (Jacobs)
Glansberg
Environmental Services
Unit
Empire State
Development
30 South Pearl
St.
Albany, New York
12245
Hours:
MT,W,F, 8 am - 4pm,
(518) 292.5346
(518) 292-5886 fax
ljacobs@no.address
http://www.nylovesbiz.com
- -----Original Message-----
- From: Chaz Miller [mailto:CMILLER@no.address]
- Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 3:29 PM
- To: Public and non-profit recycling market developers
- Subject: RE: [jtrnet] Packaging Policy Models
- Amy
-
- Interesting piece of information about All. Did Whalen say anything in his presentation about consumer acceptance of the highly concentrated product?
- As I recall, Proctor and Gamble vigorously promoted concentrated liquid detergents as a reduced package in the early 90's. To get the product to sell, they had to change consumer ideas about product size and had to convince potential buyers that a small amount of concentrated detergent was more effective than a larger amount of "non-concentrated" detergent. I don't know how successful they were, but I don't think the product is available any more. And their cold power Tide, which benefits the environment by eliminating hot water, doesn't seem to be a big seller.
- Out of curiosity I went down to the local grocery store and looked at the detergent section. The new All is there. The bottle label prominently touts the benefits of being triple concentrated - it boasts it is "small and mighty". The label brags about the easier, smaller bottle size and that you don't need as much detergent to do the job. The copy is good, but I don't know how carefully the average shopper reads the label. The price is better than many competing, non-concentrated products. And most importantly, the product was on the "best" shelf - the one that is at "average person" eye level and as a result, has the best sales.
-
- Chaz
- From: bounce-676149-474849@no.address [mailto:bounce-676149-474849@no.address]
- Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 11:35 AM
- To: Chaz Miller
- Subject: Re: [jtrnet] Packaging Policy Models
-
- Hi, Resa:
- Congratulations on the new job!
- Walmart is has done a lot to reduce packaging. I heard a presentation recently by John Whalen with Blu Skye, a consultant to Walmart. He said Walmart worked with Unilever to concentrate and compact their bottles of All detergent. With a 3x concentration, the "Small and Mighty All" saved:
- 478.1 million gallons of water
- 20.7 million gallons of diesel fuel
- 2.79 million truck trips
- 128.9 million pounds of plastic resin.
- In addition, because more units of the detergent can be stocked on the shelves at one time, it cut down on product out-of-stocks by 50%, and saved over $91 million in labor costs. Walmart is asking all of its suppliers to compact their bottles now.
- Amy
- --
- Amy Perlmutter
- Principal, Perlmutter and Associates
- Fellow, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, UMass
- 23 Avon Street
- Cambridge, MA 02138
- 617-354-5456
- ----- Original Message -----
- From: radimino@no.address
- To: Public and non-profit recycling market developers <mailto:jtrnet@no.address>
- Cc: radimino@no.address ; radimino@no.address
- Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 9:49 AM
- Subject: [jtrnet] Packaging Policy Models
- Hi there -
- I am researching policy/legislative proposals to encourage reduction, reuse and recycling of packaging materials. I'd appreciate information on any models that are out there. Thank you -
- Resa Dimino
- Special Assistant
- Commissioner's Policy Office
- NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
- AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com <http://www.aol.com/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000437> .
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