It seems like not a day goes by without some media commentary on how, as citizens and consumers, we can lead a greener life. The benefits of using energy-efficient light bulbs for example, have featured prominently; so much so that even No 10 Downing Street has made the switch. There are also numerous websites designed to educate us on how to make small lifestyle changes to reduce our 'carbon footprint'. For the business world, the concept of 'producer responsibility' has been widely adopted, in one shape or another, in many industrialised nations to address environmental issues.

The concept

Producer responsibility applies to waste and is aimed at ensuring that businesses who place products on the market take responsibility for those products once they have reached the end of their life. It first appeared in Northern European countries in the early 1990s as a response to their impending severe landfill shortages. It is this principle which underpins the WEEE Directive and it also applies to packaging, vehicles, and batteries. These areas were categorised as “priority waste streams” by the European Union, and as such producers have been made responsible for bearing the costs of their collection, sorting, treatment, recovery and/or recycling.

Our industry has for years been taking action to support advanced standards aimed at reducing the environmental impact of appliances. Manufacturers, have, in the last decade, transformed their products to make them more energy-efficient and (in the case of washing machines) to reduce the amount of water used. One of the main objectives of the EU in introducing producer responsibility in the WEEE Directive was to create further incentives for producers to improve the design of their products, for example to make them easier to recycle.

Starting with design

Even if producer responsibility focuses on end of life, producers have to take a more 'life cycle approach' when designing their products. Indeed, EU legislation will soon lay down rules for the eco-design of energy-using products. The legislation, which is not due to be implemented for some time, aims at improving the environmental performance of products throughout their life-cycle by integrating environmental aspects at the earliest stage of their design. It will set requirements (such as energy consumption, waste generation, water consumption, etc.) for certain products. The products will be chosen if they meet certain criteria, such as important environmental impact, volume of trade in the internal market and potential for improvement.

Corporate responsibility

It is clear that the idea of business 'taking responsibility' for the environment has been growing in popularity and is here to stay. Next on the Government's agenda is the dilemma: how to apply the 'polluter pays principle' in the UK. Through the Environmental Liability Directive, operators whose activities have caused environmental damage to biodiversity, land or water are to be held financial liable. Again, the aim is also to induce businesses to develop practices which minimize the risks of environmental damage.

EU concepts defined:

Polluter Pays Principle: Polluters should bear the cost of repairing the damage they cause to the environment, or of measures to prevent imminent threat of damage.

Producer Responsibility: An example of the extended version of the Polluter Pays Principle as it applies to waste. It is intended to address cradle to grave environmental problems from initial minimisation of resource use, through extended product life span, to recovery and recycling of products.

Integrated Product Policy: Seeks to minimise product-related environmental degradation by looking at all phases of a product’s life-cycle and taking action where it is most effective. It covers all the areas from the extraction of natural resources, through their design, manufacture, marketing, distribution, sale and use to their eventual disposal as waste.

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