Washington DC - The garbage filling the trashcans is also changing our global climate, according to complimentary reports released today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Product Policy Institute (PPI).

The EPA Report reveals that 37 percent of United States total greenhouse gas emissions result from the provision and use of goods produced within the U.S. “Goods” includes all consumer products and packaging, including building components and passenger vehicles. “Provision and use” includes all activities from resource extraction, manufacturing and transport to use and disposal. These emissions have a dangerous impact on the Earth’s climate.

A supplemental white paper, released by PPI and written by the lead technical author of the EPA report, tells an even more surprising story. When emissions of products made abroad and consumed here are included, and exports are subtracted, products and packaging account for 44 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. The PPI report adds the full global impact to the data published in the EPA report.

“Climate action has largely focused on transportation, heating and cooling, and food. Now we know that reducing waste offers the largest opportunity to combat global warming," said Bill Sheehan, PPI executive director.

Joshuah Stolaroff, author of the white paper and technical lead on the EPA report, emphasized the importance of improving product design to address climate change. “Because product design influences all stages of the product life cycle, improving product design has the most potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with products,” said Stolaroff in the PPI report. He was the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at U.S. EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.

“These reports prove that implementing product stewardship programs in the U.S. will result in the greatest reduction of our carbon footprint,” said Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the California Product Stewardship Council, an organization of local governments working for EPR policy in California. “The reports show that EPR should be included in every climate action plan.”

The EPA Report "Opportunities to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Through Land and Materials Management"
and PPI White Paper "Products, Packaging and US Greenhouse Gas Emissions" can be downloaded.

Quelle: Product Policy Institute

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