Executive Summary
-- Mar. '98
Product Stewardship:
A risk management system wherein a company takes responsibility for managing the life-cycle of its products
with appropriate regard for the health, safety and environmental rights of the public. It can be seen as the
establishment of systems for the management of a product from the research and development, production,
transportation and distribution stages, through to end-use, recycling or final disposal.This Module notes
that there are three models or levels of stewardship responsibility, and the model chosen by a company
reflects the level to which it can be held liable for the environmental impacts of its products over their
entire life cycle:
- Level 1: a producer takes to provide information and training on the safe and appropriate use of his
products or materials.
- Level 2: in addition to information and training, a producer supports or participates with down-stream
customers in the development of an infrastructure for recovering, reusing or recycling his products or
materials.
- Level 3: in addition to the above, attention is paid to initial design and use so as to facilitate the
achievement of all of the above.
There are cost implications to every level, and increasing implications for corporate structure and operation at each level. There are also some opportunities for diminishing costs or increasing margins.
There are tools available to companies which are at various stages of sophistication and development. These are sometimes proprietary in nature, and some are achieving the status of international standards through the ISO. Some of the main elements of Design for the Environment and Environmental Management Systems are given in this Module.
