Producers, Packing and Public Policy

The annual lecture series on business & the environment, organized by the Industrial Environmental Management (IEM) Program at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, explores the topic of extended producer responsibility (EPR) and packaging in 2011.  In its 21st year, the IEM Lecture Series brings speakers from companies and organizations to the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies to discuss the relationship between business and the environment. With major funding from Nestle Waters North America, this year's lecture series, Producers, Packaging & Public Policy, explores the advantages and disadvantages of the application of EPR to packaging waste and municipal solid waste more generally in the U.S.

EPR is a policy strategy that makes producers responsible for their products when they become waste.  Widely used in Europe, Asia, and Canada, the application of EPR in the US is increasingly being debated.

Nestle Waters North America is the market leader in bottled water in North America and a division of Nestlé S.A., the global food and beverage company. Nestle Waters is seeking to significantly improve the recycling of beverage containers and all recyclable packaging materials and as part of that effort, is supporting discussion and debate over the feasibility and effectiveness of EPR in the U.S.

The Resource Recovery Forum, a UK-based international non-profit network organization interested in sustainable waste management, is assisting in publicizing the lecture series on EPR.