Column: Randy Tuchtenhagen, Solid Waste Officer

An issue I have written about in the past has resurfaced once again, and we may be hearing more about it in the near future.

Product stewardship.

It means that if you manufacture or assemble something, you are also responsible for the end-of-life cycle. Product stewardship is being practiced today by such companies as Sony, for example, who take back and recycle for free the old electronic units they sold, stores who sell fluorescent bulbs and take back the old burned-out bulbs, automotive lead acid batteries, grocery stores that want the used plastic bags returned for recycling and the returnable beer bottles.

Product stewardship has been with us for a long time and many readers may remember the days when we returned the glass milk bottles and soda bottles to the grocery store. Bottles were sent back to be cleaned, sterilized and refilled.

There are programs being developed that will make more manufacturers responsible for product stewardship including computers, paint products and beverage containers. Currently many of these items are thrown into the trash at the end of their life cycle.

Nationally it amounts to more than 50 percent being trashed. They are made with materials that could be recycled, and increasingly many more items are being recycled.

Unfortunately many products are not designed with any end-of-life destination or recycling in mind, except trashing. As much fuss and resistance to product stewardship that exists from politicians and so-called armchair experts, it turns out that reclaiming and reselling valuable materials or managing hazardous products makes money for the re-sellers and recyclers, creates jobs and saves money for businesses.

It is no longer an issue of filling up our landfills. It’s about reducing waste and reducing costs for unnecessary landfilling and disposal. Unfortunately we are only just now trying to figure out how to manufacture goods with potential disassembly and recycling after the useful life.

A robust recycling-and-reuse industry in America creates new opportunities to efficiently and profitably address a growing concern over landfills and disposal costs. It is possible to protect people from the pollution created by manufacturing (or disposal) while creating a system of reduced operating costs and job creation through reuse and recycling of valuable materials.

Our office receives many calls about popcorn packaging and Styrofoam. There are limited reuse opportunities for No. 6 plastics so be a smart shopper and consumer, consider purchases that have less waste and increased ability to recycle. Not No. 6 plastic. We have a few, but limited, reuse suggestions to dispose of these items.

We can talk about reduced waste and less pollution, but we are the ones who make the purchasing decisions that leads to product stewardship.

 

Randy Tuchtenhagen is the Freeborn County solid waste officer.