What Should EPR for Packaging Look Like?

What Should EPR for Packaging Look Like?

• Susan Hubbard, Principal, Nothing Left to Waste, CRADLE2 Steering

Committee - Minneapolis, MN

• Eric Lombardi, Executive Director, Eco-Cycle - Boulder, CO

• Susan Collins, President, Container Recycling Institute - Culver City, CA

• Gary Liss, Grassroots Recycling Network (GRRN) Board member, Chair of GRRN EPR Committee - Loomis, CA

• Usman Valiante, Partner, Corporate Policy Group, Ontario, Canada

• Matt Prindiville, Associate Director, Product Policy Institute - Rockland, ME

EPR for Packaging: 101

Background, Perspective, Insight

Matt Prindiville

March 7, 2013

Bright spots:

• Several US Cities > 70% diversion rate

• California: 65% diversion rate

• Container Deposit Laws = 80% avg. recycling rate

Problem: “Design for the Dump”

* Source - US EPA Municipal Solid Waste: Facts and Figures

Problem: Packaging Waste

All Other Waste

Recycled48%

Wasted52%

* Source - US EPA Municipal Solid Waste: Facts and Figures

Packaging + Printed Paper

Printed Paper14%

Packaging 30%

All Other Waste

56%

* Source - US EPA Municipal Solid Waste: Facts and Figures

Problem: Low Recovery Rates

US Paper Recovery

Rate

US Aluminum Recovery Rate

US Glass Rcovery Rate

US Plastics Recovery Rate

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

62%

49%

33%

13%

27 million tons = 178 lbs./person

640 million trees = 915,000 acres

Enough aluminum is discarded annually to produce 25,000 Airbus 320 planes

Costs to our Communities

• Avg. Tipping Fees = $50/ton

• Avg. Collection Costs = $85-$250/ton

• Landfilled or Incinerated: 165 million tons

• 1/3 packaging

Bottle Bills: the Original EPR

• Early 1900s: Started Voluntarily by Beverage Industry• Refillable Glass Containers

• 1974: First Bottle Bill Passed in Oregon • Today: Ten State laws• Eight run by Beverage Companies = EPR

• 80% Average Recycling Rate

•

76 EPR Laws in 32 States

Industry: 60% of PET by 2018

Industry: 50% of PET, Glass and Aluminum by 2018

Company: 50% of PET, Glass and Aluminum by 2015

As You Sow: Shareholder Resolutions

“We’ll support EPR for Packaging in exchange for your bottle bill.”

2010: False Choices…

16-Month Stakeholder Dialogue:• Brands• Domestic Manufacturers• Government Officials• Public Interest Groups

Building Business Support

Nestle Waters

Developing Policy Rationale

Supporting Legislation: RI, MN

EPR Ecosytem: Business

• Brands: Mostly Opposed or “On the Fence”

• Retailers: Keep Recycling out of our Stores

• Manufacturers: Desperate for Clean Material

• Haulers/Processors: Don’t Want to Lose Control

EPR Ecosystem: Government

EPR Ecosystem: Public Interest

Phase 1 (by 2015)• Packaging• Printed materials• Mercury containing lamps• Other mercury-containing products• Electronics and electrical products• Household hazardous and special wastes• Automotive products

• Phase 2 (by 2017)• Construction materials• Demolition materials• Furniture• Textiles and carpet• Appliances, including ozone-depleting substances (ODS)

Canada EPR Action Plan

CHANGE Coalitions

24 EPR Laws

Chem. Reform

Multi-State Mercury Campaign Mercury Phase-out13 EPR Laws

CRADLE2 = 57 orgs in 23 states

• Get the Policy Right

• Organize in Battleground States

• Engage the American Public

Packaging Strategy

1. Establish producer responsibility as the primary approach for managing each type

of discarded packaging

2. Drive source reduction and phase out the use of non-reusable and non-recyclable packaging

3. Prohibit incineration of packaging materials

4. Set high environmental standards and let innovation happen

5. Set and enforce reuse and recycling targets by commodity type, not in aggregate.

Packaging Platform

6. Require accountability and transparency, and ensure the public’s right to know

7. Provide convenient, no-charge options for consumers to reuse or recycle packaging

8. Include packaging from multi-family, public space, events, restaurants, and office and institutional settings, not just single-family households

9. Ensure clean streams of materials and require recovered packaging to be put to its highest and best use

10. Build on high performing reuse and recycling infrastructure, and grow American jobs and promote local economic development

Packaging Platform

Matt PrindivilleAssociate Director207-902-0054matt@productpolicy.orgwww.productpolicy.org