Product Stewardship

Issue

Should the Legislature pass a law defining and requiring product stewardship? Should the Minnesota Chamber endorse a nonregulatory approach to product stewardship?

Policy

• The Minnesota Chamber supports efforts to educate makers, sellers and users of products on environmental responsibilities at the various stages of the product lifecycle. Programs like Minnesota Waste Wise, a voluntary waste reduction program, provide an excellent opportunity to educate businesses on the concepts of stewardship and to increase their voluntary participation.

• The Legislature should not pass a law on product stewardship. Bureaucratic and regulatory approaches by one state – i.e. Minnesota – would be costly and are not feasible in the reality of the global marketplace. If legislation is needed, it should be passed by Congress. Any state legislation should anticipate, support and allow for federal pre-emption and should not mandate product take-back.

Business Impact

Previous legislative proposals have been broad and gone beyond product stewardship to require product take-back. Legislation of this type would have a significant effect on Minnesota retailers, distributors and manufacturers. The 2007 Legislature passed legislation that requires the collection and recycling of video display devices sold to households and consumers including televisions, computer monitors and laptop computers. Manufacturers of these video display devices will have to register and pay a fee to the state and collect and recycle video display devices sold in Minnesota. They are required to meet annual targets for collection and recycling. Any new state government requirements will increase the price of products sold in Minnesota and may put Minnesota businesses at a competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace. The 2008 Legislature adopted language requiring the Pollution Control Agency to develop recommendations for reducing environmental and health risks posed by the use or disposal of products by using a comprehensive product stewardship approach. The PCA report recommended a statutory framework to implement “extended producer responsibility,” meaning that any producer subject to the law would be required to take back products or fully pay for end-of-life management and disposal. The criteria are overly broad, making nearly all products potentially subject to this extreme standard.

The Minnesota Chamber previously responded to product stewardship/waste legislation by creating Minnesota Waste Wise, a voluntary approach to waste reduction that is implementing product stewardship in Minnesota businesses. More than 640 companies have participated in Waste Wise. Minnesota Waste Wise members have reduced 81.7 million pounds of waste, recycled/reused 735.5 million pounds of waste and saved more than $3 million in costs related to waste management. This is one example of how the issue can be addressed without legislation.