Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a strategy to place a shared responsibility for end-of-life product management on the producers, and all entities involved in the product chain, instead of the general public; while encouraging product design changes that minimize a negative impact on human health and the environment at every stage of the product's lifecycle. This allows the costs of treatment and disposal to be incorporated into the total cost of a  product. It places primary responsibility on the producer, or brand owner, who makes design and marketing decisions. It also creates a setting for markets to emerge that truly reflect the environmental impacts of a product, and to which producers and consumers respond.
CPSC believes that if we only concern ourselves with the disposal of the product, we miss significant opportunities to really work toward a sustainable future together.
And together is the key.
Government agencies cannot manage the waste stream alone. The businesses that design and manufacture these products have the unique ability to design their products with the environment in mind.
The terms Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Product Stewardship (PS) have been defined differently by different users. For example, some organizations and authors have referred to PS as being a “shared responsibility” between local governments and manufacturers. Conversely, the British Columbia PS model refers to results-based “shifting of responsibility away from general taxpayers to manufacturers and users.”
CPSC uses Extended Producer Responsibility and Product Stewardship interchangeably. This is done intentionally to avoid debate over terminologies and focus instead on efforts to move towards producer responsibility. Our usage acknowledges that there are different levels of responsibility that manufacturers can assume on the path to taking full responsibility for their products. CPSC will focus efforts on implementing regulations and programs that move towards manufacturers taking responsibility for their products at end of life, including programs that employ a phased approach with ever increasing responsibility for products over a period of time.
Resources
The following resources describe how local governments came to be responsible for product discard management, how they are subsidizing producers of disposable and often toxic goods, and how they can foster the transition to producer responsibility and cradle-to-cradle recycling systems.
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