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EPR, packaging, and plastics

Recent headlines related to producer responsibility, packaging, and plastics (March-July 2018):

California enacts first drugs and needles stewardship law in the nation

The California legislature passed Senate Bill 212 ("pharmaceutical and sharps waste stewardship") in August and the governor 

LightRecycle Washington Sept. 2018 update

logo of LightRecycle WashingtonFrom January through June 2018, Washingtonians recycled 651,689 mercury-containing lights, weighing over 306,000 pounds, via LightRecycle Washington. LightRecycle, a manufacturer operated product stewardship program run by nonprofit PCA Product Stewardship Inc.

Vermont Product Stewardship Council celebrates 10 year anniversary

Founded in September 2008 by Vermont local governments, the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), and Upstream to jointly solve problems related to the management of problematic consumer products and packaging, the Vermont Product Stewardship Council (VTPSC) is celebrating 10 years of successes: "the passage of five of the state’s eight extended producer responsibility (EPR

The explosive problem with recycling iPads, iPhones and other gadgets: they literally catch fire.

September 11, The Washington Post: "But ultimately, this is an environmental problem of the tech industry's own design. And it's time they own it."

EPR laws hold manufacturers responsible for the afterlife of their products

At an August 2018 Portland meeting of recycling businesses and government staff, Waste Management's Pacific-Northwest-British Columbia area recycling director, Matt Stern, said:

Rethinking recycling: could a circular economy solve the problem?

July 15, 2018, The Guardian: "With more funding and product stewardship, the recycling crisis could turn into an opportunity."

"There’s nothing like a crisis to spur on the search for a solution.

A case for producer responsibility

June 5, 2018, Resource Recycling: "With so much focus on the recycling crisis, we tend to overlook the root cause of the problem: the glut of short-lived consumer products and packaging.

Involve business in ocean plastics pollution issue

July 10, 2018 Vancouver Sun: "The [Canadian environment minister Catherine McKenna] says she wants business leaders involved when she and her counterparts from other G7 nations gather in Halifax this fall to discuss how to reduce the flow of plastic waste into the oceans.

Our plastic pollution crisis is too big for recycling to fix

June 9, 2018 The Guardian: "For years, we’ve been conned into thinking the problem of plastic packaging can be solved through better individual action. We’re told that if we simply recycle we’re doing our part. We’re told that if we bring reusable bags to the grocery store, we’re saving the world.

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