"A federal bill that includes “extended producer responsibility” for waste is dividing environmentalists and renewing questions about corporate support."

"On June 3, the World Wildlife Fund and the American Beverage Association issued a joint memo on the dangers of overproducing and under-recycling plastics, which include contributing sizably to climate change and filling our world with plastic pollution.

It was an odd marriage: WWF is a champion of ecological causes and the ABA represents multibillion-dollar corporations like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. ABA appeared to be telling on itself when it comes to the industry’s abundant waste.

The memo endorsed a different kind of recycling policy known as extended producer responsibility, or EPR, which makes corporations responsible for recycling the products they produce, rather than towns and taxpayers. The logic is that it will push companies to design more sustainable products to avoid costs.

Businesses haven’t exactly lined up to participate in EPR schemes in the past, given that its central idea is making them responsible for all their waste. But that’s started to change, says John Hocevar, the oceans campaign director at Greenpeace. “With so much concern around plastic pollution, they have, for the most part, realized that they can’t just be against everything.”"

Will Peischel reports for HuffPost June 25, 2021. [2]