Extended product responsibility

Fishbein, B., Extended Product Responsibility A New Principle for Product-Oriented Pollution Prevention, Industry Program to Collect and Recycle Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd) Batteries, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA530-R-97-009, Washington, DC, pp. 6-1-6-32, 1997. 

This section outlines three emerging trends that ditectly affect the manufacturer s responsibility for environmental impacts extended product responsibility, extended services, and environmental information reporting. The first trend calls for producers to prevent pollution associated with their products over the products life cycles. For the second trend, rather them solely selling products, some manufacturers are expanding their business to offer service packages that include the use of their products. In the third trend, the availabUity and mandatory reporting requirements for environmental information for customers are increasing. These trends are discussed in the next three subsections. 

There is a trend in Europe and East Asia toward product life cycle responsibility legislation that requires manufacturers to minimize environmental impacts from materieils extraction to manufacturing to distribution/packaging to repair to recycling to disposal. Essentitilly, extended product responsibility shifts the pollution prevention focus from production facilities to the entire product fife cycle (Davis et al. 1997). For example, proposed legislation may require that memufacturers not only recycle in-plant wastes but also recycle their discarded products (Denmark Ministry of the Environment 1992 Davis 1997). The evaluation of life cycle stages and impacts are discussed further in Section 4.3. 

The automotive industry is under pressure, in various countries, to make automobiles more recyclable, and to use more recycled materials in automobile manufacture.For example, European Union regulations require that only 5% of automobiles, by weight, be landfilled beginning in 2015. Many countries are incorporating, either by regulation or voluntarily, the philosophy of extended product responsibility on... 

Fuel cell recovery is now and can in the future be voluntary or mandatory. Voluntary systems, sometimes called extended product responsibility , can mean the reuse and remanufacturing of components back into a company s products as an integral part of the company s business model. It can also mean the development of a close business relationship with material recyclers. Experiences in the automotive industry provide some insights into voluntary systems. Whereas the... 

Product stewardship is a way that everyone who designs, makes, sells, uses, and recycles or disposes of products can help protect safety, health, and environmental quality. It is a concept that calls on everyone in the product life cycle to share responsibility. It is also known as extended product responsibility, product stewardship calls on those in the product life cycle—manufacturers, retailers, users, and disposers—to share responsibility for reducing the environmental impacts of products. 

In the past, product-related standards in the European waste law were rare. This changed with the triumphal success of everyday electronic gadgets and the associated increase in e-scrap. The EC Directive 2002/96/EC - better known as the WEEE directive - aimed to combat the increasing amount of e-waste from electrical and electronic devices [8]. Goal is the avoidance, reduction, and environment-friendly disposal of increasing amounts of electronic waste through extended producer responsibility. This goal has been hindered by a number of pollutants that are included in the devices (RISKCYCLE). 

The definition starts by pointing out the service-oriented character of the ChL business model. This is linked to the innovative shift in payment basis from product based payments to payments based on functional units. The extended producer responsibility referred to in the definition results from the ownership of the chemical not being transferred from the supplier to its customer. Remaining the owner of the chemical, the supplier is responsible for... 

Addressing the final stage of the lifecycle of a product, extended producer responsibility and the Commission s Prevention and Recycling of Waste Strategy [241] place demands on companies and local authorities to take-back certain products42. This may be especially important to ensure the correct disposal of used consumer... 

Silveira GTR, Chang S-Y (2011) Fluorescent lamp recycling initiatives in the United States and a recycling proposal based on extended producer responsibility and product stewardship concepts. Waste Manage Res 29(6) 656-668... 

Doppelt, B., and Nelson, H. Extended Producer Responsibility and Product Take-Back Applications for the Pacific Northwest. The Center for Watershed and Community Health, Portland Portland State University, March 2001. 

Integrated and Environmental Management Systems (ie. ISO 14000, EM AS, EFQM), Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Product Development Process (PDP), etc. 

One response has been the emergence of alternative supply chains that focus on the extended product. Dell sells direct over the telephone or through its Internet site. Dell has also lowered overhead and improved cash flow by using supplier capital to finance its business. In the recent downturn, Dell fine-tuned its pricing to match the markets it serves. So, a laptop for the small business user, healthcare customers, and state and local governments had three different prices — 2307, 2228, and 2072, respectively. Also, these prices change frequently based on overall demand and changes in supplier prices for components. 

However, many fall short of achieving either of these situations. In fact, base product and extended product management are likely to be in separate company functions. Base products might be the responsibility of R D, engineering, and manufacturing departments, while marketing and sales shape extended products. 

Several other countries around the world have also adopted mandatory extended product (or producer) responsibility (EPR). Examples include Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Brazil, and Peru. 

Extended Producer/Product Responsibility and Product Stewardship... 

Many countries have applied the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) to disposal of materials, including plastics. Under this philosophy, the manufacturer of a product (including packaging) is responsible for the ultimate recycling and/or disposal of that product. Government sets recycling requirements but leaves it to industry to formulate and manage the systems required to meet those requirements. 

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