Up Bear Creek / 7feb26013 / Producer Responsibility Organizations

Baled aluminum block at a PRO facility

We used to call them recycling centers. But eleven European packaging waste management groups -- ”Producer Responsibility Organisations” -- have issued a manifesto on Extended Producer Responsibility for how best to manage waste with the packaging industry and the public … 1) EPR organizations should be owned by the obliged companies and run on a not for profit basis … 2) There needs to be strong governmental support and monitoring … 3) There are many advantages of having one rather than multiple organizations in each country [that’s for the European Union, in U.S. substitute “state”] … 4) The EPR organization needs to be set up in a way that ensures sustainable financing … 5) The EPR organization should contribute to packaging optimization and waste prevention … The eleven organizations have announced that a new association will be launched in spring 2013 in Brussels to carry out the EPR principles outlined in the manifesto ... Imagine if we could get producers to take responsibility for their packaging in this country and help support the recycling of the waste stream they create in order to sell their products.