Product stewardship is the focus of a new council formed under the umbrella of the Colorado Association for Recycling (CAFR). The board of directors of CAFR approved the new Colorado Product Stewardship Council at its June meeting in Steamboat Springs.
Product stewardship is a government strategy to place responsibility for end of life management of products and associated packaging on producers and consumers rather than on taxpayers, ratepayers or local governments. The council was proposed by Hilary Collins, assistant manager of the Resource Conservation Division of Boulder County.
“The need for, and interest in, a product stewardship council in Colorado can be gauged by the first statewide meeting on this topic that was held at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment offices in Denver in February 2009,” said Collins. More than 50 people attended the meeting, including representatives from state and federal government, local governments, and non-profit groups and associations, waste and hazardous waste companies and private companies and consultants.
Boulder County has a long-standing household hazardous waste program that has served over 100,000 residential customers and recycled or disposed of over eight million pounds of waste in the last 10 years. Boulder County and seven partner municipalities support this expensive program largely with general fund revenues. Encouraging producers and retailers to take greater responsibility for end of life management of products and packaging will reduce costs to taxpayers and local governments. State and regional product stewardship groups are forming around the country with six currently active groups.
The goals of the Colorado Product Stewardship Council are to educate state and local officials, private organizations and waste haulers on the concept of product stewardship; improve communication about the issue within the recycling, solid waste, and household hazardous waste management communities; raise awareness of existing product stewardship programs with household hazardous waste management agencies and other applicable programs and parties; help CAFR formulate policy positions related to product stewardship legislation.
Membership in the council is not limited to local governments. The council is open to all members of CAFR. The first meeting of the council will take place July 29 at the City and County of Broomfield offices.