Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

Answer

1. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a concept that is gaining ground in the marketplace especially in Europe. It says that the disposition of used products is not the obligation of the local communities in which people reside, but it is the obligation of those that benefit from the products namely the manufacturers and consumers. As a staff member of EPA tasked to write EPR regulations:
   a. How would you assign ERP responsibilities between the manufacturer and the consumer for an automobile?

In environmental protection, it is no longer in question that the polluter must pay.  Globally and more so in Europe, the view that producers must be responsible for the disposal of any product they produce when its useful life expires is increasingly gaining traction.  The responsibility encompasses disposal, collection and treatment.  To achieve the best waste management, the manufacturers must bear the direct responsibility for the waste generated as this will bestow upon them the benefit incentives designed to encourage waste prevention.  As with all manufacturing costs, the will ultimately be passed down to the consumers within the confines of competitiveness by the manufacturer (Li, Li and Govindan, 2014).

1. How would you modify the program if the manufacturer was located outside of the U.S. (e.g., in China)

The challenge with manufacturers outside the United States is in enforcing the obligations.  To address this, the program must be modified to develop a local mechanism that will take on the responsibility of the manufacturer when the product needs to be disposed.  The local mechanism will be financed by a specific tax on the particular products produced abroad and will be responsible for disposal of the products at the end of their useful life.  This is especially critical since in the U.S the responsibility is not fully borne by the producer, but also the packaging manufacturer, the retailer and consumer (Kojima, Yoshida and Sasaki, 2009).  This would be the reason behind modifying the program for Chinese manufacturers to guarantee adherence.

1. How do you think that this type of program would influence product designers in the Research & Development group?

An Extended Producer Responsibility cascades the responsibility to all who are a part of t he product in any form.  Given the desire is to minimizing waste, Research and Development thus strive to produce products that have minimal waste – products that require minimal investment in their disposal.  This will be achieved by developing products that can be recycled (Subramanian, Gupta and Talbot, 2009).

2. Companies are very concerned with the reputation of their organization and of their product brands. Scientists in conjunction with product stewards are responsible for assessing the hazards of these products to human health and to the environment. A lot of money is spent by companies to communicate that their products are safe to use for their intended purpose. In this scenario, you have been tasked to develop the message to be communicated to your customers about your products. For each scenario, describe what you intend to communicate about your product:
   a. You are an upstream specialty chemical company that makes chemical intermediates that are building blocks for larger molecules that can end up as medicines or as household cleaning products. What would you say to convince your customer that your product is safe to purchase and to use?

The message to be communicated will focus primarily on the benefit to be gained from using our products (Fink, Hughson, Itty, Shand and Moskowitz, 2003).  The benefit will be medicine of household cleaning products.  One message will focus of the medicinal benefit of the product.  It will emphasis on the tests performed to make sure the end product is beneficial to the consumer.  The second message that will focus on the household cleaning products will focus the consumers of the cleaning power while ensuring no harm comes to the products being cleaned nor the cleaners’ hands – should they not use protective gloves while working.  The message will thus focus on the fact that the product is safe to use.
b. You are a retailer selling a product to the consumer. What message would you use to tell them that the product is safe to purchase if it is used as intended by the manufacturer?

The message to be communicated is that the product has to be used in the way specified by the manufacturer.  The message will focus on the possible risks that could arise from not using the product as the manufacturer has prescribed (Fink, Hughson, Itty, Shand and Moskowitz, 2003).  It will insist on the benefits that will accrue to the proper usage of the product as directed.  The message will further point out that the manufacturer can only guarantee quality and thus take responsibility for failure to achieve stated end-result if only the prescribed steps and protocols were followed fully and strictly.
c. What is different about these messages, and why are two different approaches needed?

The difference is in the focus of the message and the reason for the difference has a lot to do with possible outcomes of unsafe use of the product.  In a globalised society where manufacturers are held liable for their products failures, it is important to protect t an organization from possible law suits that could affect its productivity negatively.  The approaches are needed to ensure the right message is communicated and emphasis placed on the right message (Fink, Hughson, Itty, Shand and Moskowitz, 2003).