Retail Take-Back : A Bridge to Product Stewardship? San Mateo County Mary Bell Austin, P2 Specialist

Today’s Discussion County’s role in product management Why we must play a role Take-back as an interim response Bigger picture solutions

County Roles Waste Diversion Share with cities Recycling a key Private haulers Toxics Reduction Inspections Education HHW operation Agent of the State No direct authority No independent $ Bottomline = community health

HHW = ‘Take-It’ System Historical roles Started out manageable Gradually became overwhelming Prevention v. Clean-up

Retail Take-Back Design Objectives High recovery rate (P2) Easy for retail partners Easy and low-cost for County Challenges Labor Disposal costs Fear of success

Partner Roles RETAILER Post point-of sale signs Screen out biz waste Accept bulbs Store bulbs safely Record volumes Make appt and drive bulbs to HHW COUNTY Provide signage, some bins, paperwork Train employees Advertise partners in local news, online and events Disposal at no cost to retail partners

PG &E Partnership

Adapting to Success Household Hazardous Waste Program Stats Time FrameCFLsTubes July - Dec, ,066 Jan - June, ,221 July - Dec, ,477 Jan - June, ,440 Shift = more mail- back, to reduce disposal costs 20 partners today Future?

Lessons Learned “You play, you win. You play, you lose. You play.” - Jeanette Winterson Consumer convenience = recovery success Retailers can and will play If we don’t ask too much of them Still spending public funds manage products

Changing the Game Local governments can’t sustain even a streamlined ‘take-it’ system TPO’s working for producers manage reverse distribution better We still need states, Feds to set a level playing field with EPR laws

Discussion Questions? Contact: