News

The NWPSC welcomes Peter Thermos, new NWPSC Coordinator, to the team!

In June 2016, the Metro Vancouver solid waste advisory board (PDF) agreed to write a letter to the British Columbia Minister of Environment "requesting an amendment to the B.C.

Recycling two-thirds of municipal solid waste (MSW) can reduce annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 4% in the European Union or by 6% globally, according to The Circular Economy as a Key Instrument for Reducing Climate Change, a new study conducted by CE Delft and commissioned by KIDV.

In March, the Governor of Massachusetts "signed into law a bill that made Massachusetts the first state in the nation to require drug companies to safely dispose of unwanted medications as part of a comprehensive drug abuse prevention strategy," according to a news release from the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI).

In March testimony before a Rhode Island House committee (YouTube video), Jamie Rhodes of Upstream articulated the fairness and choice that extended producer responsibility (EPR) would bring to existing recycling systems:

CEO of Miller Paint Steve Dearborn urged the Legislature to pass Washington HB 1571, to create a statewide paint recycling program, jobs and low cost quality recycled paint. Dearborn, in an op-ed in The Olympian Feb. 3, 2016, called the current paint disposal method of drying and throwing away latex paint "wasteful and harmful to the environment."

At the request of PaintCare, the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) evaluated the performance of the first two years of the PaintCare program in California, and released two reports highlighting "how the industry-run PaintCare stewardship program benefits retailers, residents, contractors, and local governments." Key findings include:

Oregon was the first state to pilot the industry-run PaintCare program in 2010. PaintCare has since refined the program and partners with local communities to tailor to their needs. Jeremy Jones, West Coast Program Manager of PaintCare, emphasized that:

Washington legislators toured MetroPaint in Portland, Oregon in October 2015. MetroPaint processes more than 255,000 gallons of unwanted paint each year into an affordable recycled paint, which is sold in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. MetroPaint processes paint collected through the PaintCare Oregon product stewardship program.

At the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) 2015 annual forum in Boston Dec. 8-9, experts from the United States, Germany, Belgium, and Canada discussed issues regarding zero waste, extended producer responsibility (EPR), product stewardship, and the circular economy. 2015 marked PSI's 15th anniversary and the steady growth in the product stewardship movement in the U.S.