Building Capacity for Product Stewardship

This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

What is product stewardship?

a principle that everyone

involved in the life cycle of a

product has a responsibility to

reduce the health and

environmental impacts of that

product

This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

How many products do you use in 1 day?

In one week?

In one year?

This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

The average American throws away 1,600 pounds of trash each year

That means by age 25 you’ve thrown away

40,000 pounds

This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Photo courtesy: George Hall

By the time you’re 50 you’ve thrown away the 80,000 pounds – or the weight of a Boeing 737

And that’s just one person!

This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

For one, it adds up to a lot of stuff. Last year alone

we threw out: 2.7 million tons of appliances

1.79 million tons of electronics

3.3 million tons of tires

This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Unfortunately, the full impact of the

products we buy is much larger than

what we throw in our garbage can.

This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

We can’t see the full impacts of the products we buy

1. Before we buy them

2. After we throw them away

This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Over 1/3 of U.S. greenhouse gas emissionscome from products and packaging

This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Product stewardship means looking at the impact of a product:

from the time it is raw materials

until it is discarded

Raw Materials

Manufacturing Transportation Retail Use Disposal/Recycling

everyone has a role to playfrom those who make it

to those who sell it

to thosewho buy it

Producers

Distributers

Retailers

Consumers

Waste Management

Responsibility:To produce goods that are safe for their customers & the environment

This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

everyone has a role to play

from those who make it

to those who sell it to

thosewho buy it

Producers

Distributors

Retailers

Consumers

Waste Management

Responsibility:- Buy and use the best product - Dispose or recycle all goods responsibly

everyone has a role to play

from those who make it

to those who sell it to

thosewho buy it

Producers

Distributors

Retailers

Consumers

Waste Management

Retailers and other businesses have a unique ability to educate their customers and their suppliers about opportunities to reduce unintended environmental and health impacts from their products, and to help provide solutions for collection and recycling.

This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.