News

Noting recent reports, Bill Sheehan highlights the differences between packaging EPR programs in Canada and Europe, in an April 15, 2014 column for UPSTREAM (formally Product Policy Institute): Why Do North American EPR Packaging Programs Include Printed Paper?

PAC NEXT and the Product Stewardship Institute released a report on extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging (PDF), which examined eleven programs in Canada, Europe and Australia.

Former founder and CEO of MBA Polymers Mike Biddle said his company does not operate in the US because of the lack of a secure supply of plastic waste, unlike the predictability and robust collection system provided by Europe's extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws, according to a Feb. 26, 2014 article in The Guardian.

A Feb. 18, 2014 article in TreeHugger explains the tension between recyclers and incinerators in Germany over the successful Green Dot recycling program.

The Mariners became the first professional sports team recognized for their commitment to using responsible e-Stewards certified electronics recyclers, according to a Feb. 10, 2014 article in Recycling Today.

A Resource Recycling article from Jan. 15, 2014, highlights the difference between two approaches under consideration in Minnesota.

"A more holistic approach is needed" to track and manage the flows of rare earth (or technology) metals used in modern technology, according to a Dec. 31, 2013 article in the journal Nature.

The president and CEO of Waste Management, David Steiner, wrote in a Dec. 30, 2013 Waste 360 column about the challenges facing the modern waste collection and recycling infrastructure and industry, calling for "a shared responsibility for recycling." Steiner notes the challenge of "the changing waste stream, which has resulted in very different types of materials in the recycling stream...

A Dec. 15, 2013 New York Times article on electronic products, conserving with consumer technology, and product design for recycling spoke with EPEAT and the Green Electronics Council, WRAP in the UK, Phonebloks, Greenpeace, and the Information Technology Industry Council.

NPR's All Things Considered ran a story on Jan. 3, 2014 on Alameda County, CA's drug take-back law and the pharmaceutical industry's lawsuit. Alameda County Supervisor Miley, CPSC's Heidi Sanborn, and a representative from PhRMA about the Medicine Take-Back Ordinance were interviewed.