Consumer Packaging - who should be responsible for dealing with the leftover wastes from consumer products packaging? Municipal governments generally have had to manage such materials as part of their solid waste management programs.

In recent years there have been calls to apply the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) - laws or regulations that shift the cost of managing post-use products to product manufacturers - to paper and packaging.

According to a new study conducted by consulting firm SAIC for the U.S. Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), there are more viable alternatives to extending EPR to cover product packaging.

The SAIC study looked at various EPR models to assess how they change consumer behavior and waste-reduction outcomes. It concludes that EPR “does not provide a price signal that is sufficiently differentiated to cause producers to change package formats,” concluding that there is “no evidence to support the assertion that EPR causes changes in package design or selection.”

Further, the study notes that U.S. communities and states that have implemented alternatives to extended producer responsibility policies are achieving high municipal solid waste recycling rates at reasonable costs, while also addressing a wider spectrum of the waste stream than narrowly-focused EPR mandates,

“The food, beverage and consumer products industry is committed to environmental stewardship and reducing its impact on the environment,” said Meghan Stasz, senior director of sustainability at GMA, at a recent Sustainable Packaging Forum in Pittsburgh, Penn., where the study’s findings were announced.

“As part of this commitment, America’s food, beverage and consumer products industry is working to identify efficient, holistic waste reduction and recycling solutions that work for consumers and communities, and this analysis by SAIC tells us that EPR does not meet those standards.”

The study evaluated whether mandatory EPR policies for packaging are the preferred approach for meeting the environmental objectives of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry in the United States.

SAIC conducted a thorough analysis of recycling rates, system costs, packaging changes, and other data from various European and Canadian jurisdictions that employ EPR for packaging.

They also studied recycling and waste management data for areas of the U.S. with high recycling rates, such as Ramsey County, Minnesota (located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area), a non-EPR region where the county and its cities have put many model municipal recycling policies and practices in place. Key findings were:

•EPR does not necessarily result in improved overall recycling rates. At 24 percent, the recycling rate of all municipal solid waste in the U.S. where there is no packaging EPR exceeds Canada’s (18 percent) and the European Union’s (23 percent), where EPR is widely employed.

•EPR does not necessarily prompt changes in packaging design and selection. Despite a faster-growing GDP, packaging use in the U.S. declined at a faster rate than in the EU, where EPR is common.

•EPR does not necessarily make waste and recycling systems more efficient or otherwise decrease costs. Ramsey County, Minnesota, a non-EPR jurisdiction, has a lower net cost per ton ($156) than EPR programs in Manitoba ($166) and Ontario ($202). In fact, EPR programs increase government and administrative costs.

•States and municipalities already have at their disposal a suite of non-EPR policies that are both effective and efficient in terms of raising recycling rates. Together, they can achieve high recycling rates, without excess cost or administrative burden that results from EPR.

“The CPG industry is focused on responsible solutions that address solid waste across the entire lifecycle - from design to disposal to recovery - and that account not only for packaging, but food waste as well,” continued Stasz.

“The most successful recycling and waste recovery programs will result from comprehensive approaches that leverage industry innovation and collaborative partnerships between NGO’s, government and industry, not one-size-fits-all mandates.”

The study does not dwell on the fact that EPR programs have been in effect in Europe and Canada for many years, and have been effective in diverting such packaging from municipal waste streams. The study argues that city and state waste-diversion laws, which put the burden on households and trash haulers are a more effective means for achieving these goals.