[GreenYes] First Local Government in No. America Sheds Responsibility for Product Waste

["Bill Sheehan" <bill@no.address>]

Posted at http://www.enn.com/?id=breakingnews 

and www.solidwastemag.com

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Local Government Returning Responsibility for 

Discarded Products and Packaging is Best 

Solution, According to Product Policy Institute

 

December 16, 2005 - By Product Policy Institute 

 

ATHENS, Ga. - The response to the first 

unilateral action by a local government in North 

America to return all responsibility for the 

management of product waste to senior levels of 

government was applauded by the Athens, Georgia-

based Product Policy Institute today.

 

Product waste is all the manufactured goods and 

packaging or made stuff discarded in our society 

which local governments are typically 

responsible for managing or regulating. Product 

waste is contrasted with organic waste or grown 

stuff such as food and yard trimmings.

 

The local body, Kootenay Boundary Regional 

District (KBRD) in British Columbia, Canada, 

wrote provincial Environment Minister, Barry 

Penner in August. In the letter, KBRD Board 

Chair, Rick Hardie, acknowledged British 

Columbia's leadership in the use of Extended 

Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies, but said 

that KBRD's goal of achieving Zero Waste would 

be difficult if not impossible to reach unless 

EPR is extended to a broader range of products.

 

"The underlying problem," Hardie said, "is that 

Regional Districts have been given 

responsibility for managing the discards of our 

consumer society without being given adequate 

authority to do so in a way that doesn't impact 

the local taxpayer."

 

At their Dec. 15 meeting the KBRD Board heard 

the Minister response: agree that product waste 

is an appropriate definition for the ultimate 

scope of EPR programs which would leave local 

governments with the responsibility to manage 

only materials such as: garden or food waste for 

composting; organic based waste; and demolition, 

land clearing and construction refuse, Minister 

Penner wrote.

 

"The Board is very pleased with the Minister 

commitment to expand EPR programs in British 

Columbia to encompass all product waste," said 

Raymond Gaudart, Resource Recovery coordinator 

for KBRD. "Over time this commitment will 

relieve taxpayers of the ever increasing cost of 

managing consumer discards and will provide an 

incentive to manufacturers to design their 

products with recycling in mind. Kootenay 

Boundary will continue to press the province for 

timely expansion of EPR programs."

 

This is the start of a new trend we will see 

much more of," said Vancouver-based Helen 

Spiegelman, president of PPI.  "Municipal 

recycling and landfilling of products is not 

only costly to taxpayers; it is welfare for the 

producers of wasteful products and actually 

encourages production of more waste."

 

Both letters are posted at www.productpolicy.org/resources  

 

About The Product Policy Institute



The Product Policy Institute (PPI) is a 

nonpartisan research and education nonprofit 

organization promoting policies that advance 

sustainable production, consumption and waste 

management in North America. PPI is working with 

local governments to develop policies and 

programs that conserve resources and reduce 

local taxes by transferring responsibility for 

product waste management back to the makers of 

products and their customers.

 

Contact Info: 

Helen Spiegelman

President Product Policy Institute

604-731-8464

hspie@no.address 

 

Raymond Gaudart

Kootenay Boundary Regional District

250.368.0232

zerowaste@no.address 

 

 
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Product Policy Institute
P.O. Box 48433
Athens, GA 30604-8433  USA
Tel:  706-613-0710
Email:  infoProductPolicy.org
Web:  www.ProductPolicy.org
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