Los Angeles’ Sustainable Future
The City of Los Angeles recently adopted a producer responsibility resolution in partnership with the California Product Stewardship Council and the Green Cities California initiative.
The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) resolution is part of RENEW LA (Recovering Energy, Natural Resources and Economic Benefit from Waste for Los Angeles), adopted as City policy in 2006. “I am pleased to join the California Product Stewardship Council’s efforts to promote EPR principles and advocate for products that use less packaging, minimize waste, reduce toxicity, and are easy to recycle or remanufacture,” said City Councilman Greig Smith.
What is it?
L.A. will start to look a little greener with more EPR policies.
“Producer responsibility” places financial and physical responsibility for the proper management of their products throughout their life cycle on manufacturers. A result of EPR is that these policies require producers to not only be accountable for ensuring their products are reused or recycled responsibly, but also to design and purchase goods that:
- Are more durable and reusable
- Minimize packaging
- Are easier to recycle
- Made from recycled materials
- Less toxic
Los Angeles joins a growing number of other cities and counties who have already adopted the Producer Responsibility resolution, including the cities of Fresno and San Jose, and the counties of San Bernardino and San Francisco.
The Big Picture
Beyond what’s happening in Los Angeles, product stewardship councils in Vermont and British Columbia recently joined their counterparts in California, Oregon and Washington to support the “Joint Framework Principles for Product Stewardship Policy.”
The purpose of the Joint Framework Principles is to guide local, state and federal policymakers in developing comprehensive product stewardship legislation. Products targeted by product stewardship programs are usually those that are toxic, difficult and costly to recycle, have a large carbon footprint or are otherwise harmful to the environment or people.
“When producers are held responsible for channeling their discarded products safely back into useful service, they have an incentive to design products for reuse, disassembly, repair and recycling,” said Nicole Kohnert, Co-chair of the British Columbia Product Stewardship Council.
Many states have introduced or passed laws that direct manufacturers of a specific product, like electronics, to establish collection and recycling programs for those products. A framework approach sets up one piece of legislation where multiple products can be added over time, making it easier to expand these resources as programs grow.
