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Vermont Product Stewardship Council
Press Release
For immediate release -- Monday, November 24, 2008
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First Product Stewardship Council on East Coast formed in Vermont

Solid waste districts and alliances throughout Vermont have joined together to form the Vermont Product Stewardship Council (VTPSC; www.vtpsc.org) to promote a waste reduction concept that is gaining national momentum. The council, which is only the fourth of its kind in the United States, will work to encourage manufacturers to take responsibility for products that are problematic to dispose of, such as electronics and paint.

Since state and local government and rate payers bear the full cost of disposal, manufacturers have little incentive to design products that are less toxic, more durable, and readily recyclable. Concerned about the ever-increasing volume, disposal costs, and toxicity of products they handle, VTPSC's mission is to shift Vermont's waste management system to one where responsibility for products, once their useful life has come to an end, is shared among the manufacturer and the other entities involved in the product design, production, and distribution chain. By making the producers a player in the end of life management of their products, the hope is that they will design their products with this in mind.

"We need to change our way of thinking about who is ultimately responsible for the environmental and health effects of products throughout their life cycle including at the end of their useful life," says Chittenden Solid Waste District's Jen Holliday, who is founder and chair of VTPSC. "Local government should not have to pick up the tab on managing problematic waste streams that others have created and profited from. The system that we have today is not economically or environmentally sustainable."

VTPSC credits the two national organizations that work on product stewardship initiatives for assisting the council in its development. The Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) out of Boston, Massachusetts, has worked with council members for a number of years on educating them about product stewardship and providing model product stewardship policies, programs and legislation that have been used in Vermont. The Product Policy Institute (PPI) out of Athens, Georgia, has recently been working closely with the council to assist in the organizational structure as well as help develop the council documents and website.

The council will include partners from state government, non-governmental organizations, and the business community who endorse the mission of VTPSC. For more information visit VTPSC's website, www.vtpsc.org.

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