The document discusses the problems posed by the unintended impacts of consumer products and packaging, noting that products are often designed to become obsolete quickly, there are no incentives for companies to create longer-lasting or more easily recyclable products, and Americans throw away about 1,600 pounds of trash per year. It also explains that the current system relies on extracting new resources and results in toxic substances and other problems entering the waste stream, costing taxpayers millions to manage hazardous waste.

1. What is the Problem?
Contents:
These slides give a brief overview of the problems posed by the unintended impacts of
consumer products and packaging.
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider andInstitute
Prepared by the Product Stewardship employer.

2. Every day we each
use
hundreds
of products
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

3. Currently many goods are designed to be
obsolete in just a few years.
there is no cost to
business to continue to
throw away more and
more material
there are no incentives
to create products that
last longer or are
more easily recycled
Under the current system there is a lack of
incentive to design better products
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

4. Many of these
products – and
their packaging
– impact the
environment
and health in
unintended
ways
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

5. For one thing, this results in a lot
of stuff…
…each American throws away about
1,600 pounds of trash every year, much of it
products and packaging!
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

6. When we dispose of materials, instead of recycling them, we need
to extract more virgin resources to make new products…which
consumes energy and can cause other environmental impacts.
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

7. Some products contain toxic substances that
can be released to the environment in the
waste stream…
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

8. Some products are associated with
.
other unintended impacts…such as
drug abuse or hazards to workers…
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

9. Still other
products may
pose operational
challenges in the
waste stream.
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

10. Today, we look to local
governments to manage this
increasingly complex waste
stream…
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

11. This costs money!
We spend millions of tax dollars to
manage household hazardous
waste…
…and still are not able to
collect all the
problematic product &
packaging waste that
was out there.
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

12. Government and
taxpayers
can’t
solve this
problem
alone…
This presentation was prepared by The Product Stewardship Institute, an equal opportunity provider and employer.