LABEL & NARROW WEB MAGAZINE • July 16, 2021
EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) is a tool used by investment firms to create change in corporate focus. The goal of EPR isn’t just to shift financial burden on the producer. It is to encourage companies to design products for reuse, recyclability, and material reduction; connect market signals (linear to circularity) to the consumer by incorporating waste management costs into product prices; and provide innovation in recycling technology. The state of Maine has adopted the first US EPR program that would require producers to fund packaging end of life. The state’s first-of-its-kind plan would start an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for packaging materials. EPR requires producers – manufacturers and distributors like Proctor & Gamble (P&G), Walmart, etc. – to fund costs for the take-back, recycling and/or disposal of their products. It puts the responsibility of packaging’s end-of-life on the brand owner. Our industry has to look at EPR very seriously. We can’t continue to generate non-recyclables and put the cost on the end user. The responsibility for cost and solution belongs to the company that made the product in the first place. This may sound like heresy. But, it’s not. We have solutions and options for non-recyclable diversion from landfills. ~ Calvin Frost, Maratech International and GMC Coating