Via Reid Lifset, editor of Journal of Industrial Ecology (JIE):

Over the past two decades governments around the world have been experimenting with a new strategy for managing waste.  By making producers responsible for their products when they become wastes, policy makers seek to significantly increase the recycling­-and recyclability­-of computers, packaging, automobiles, and household hazardous wastes such as batteries, used oil motor, and leftover paint­-and save money in the process.

This strategy, known as extended producer responsibility (EPR), is the subject of a new special feature in Yale University’s Journal of Industrial Ecology. The special feature examines the use of EPR across diverse scales-­from countries to provinces and states­-and investigates work underway in the U.S., the European Union, Canada, China, Brazil and the State of Washington.  The application of EPR to e-waste is a particular focus of the research in the special feature.

The Journal of Industrial Ecology is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal, owned by Yale University, published by Wiley-Blackwell and headquartered at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Articles in the special feature are freely downloadable for a limited time at: http://jie.yale.edu/EPR

TOC:

1. Extended Producer Responsibility : National, International, and Practical Perspectives (pages 162–166)
   Reid Lifset, Atalay Atasu and Naoko Tojo
2. Canadian Extended Producer Responsibility Programs : The Shift from Program Roll Out to Program Performance (pages 167–169)
   Duncan Bury
3. Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging and Printed Paper in the United States (pages 170–171)
   Paul Gardner
4. Too Big to Fail, Too Academic to Function : Producer Responsibility in the Global Financial and E-waste Crises (pages 172–174)
   Jaco Huisman
5. Extended Producer Responsibility in the United States : Full Speed Ahead? (pages 175–185)
   Jennifer Nash and Christopher Bosso
6. Implementing Individual Producer Responsibility for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment through Improved Financing (pages 186–198)
   Kieren Mayers, Reid Lifset, Karl Bodenhoefer and Luk N. Van Wassenhove
7. From Legal Transplants to Sustainable Transition : Extended Producer Responsibility in Chinese Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Management (pages 199–212)
   Xin Tong and Lin Yan
8. Feasibility of Using Radio Frequency Identification to Facilitate Individual Producer Responsibility for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (pages 213–223)
   Maurice O’Connell, Stewart Hickey, Maria Besiou, Colin Fitzpatrick and Luk N. Van Wassenhove
9. Business-to-Business Information Technology User Practices at End of Life in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France (pages 224–237)
   Richard Peagam, Kirstie McIntyre, Lauren Basson and Chris France
10. Original Equipment Manufacturers’ Participation in Take-Back Initiatives in Brazil : An Analysis of Engagement Levels and Obstacles (pages 238–248)
    João Quariguasi Frota Neto and Luk N. Van Wassenhove
11. Comparative Analysis of Extended Producer Responsibility Policy in the United States and Canada (pages 249–261)
    Garth T. Hickle
12. Implementing Extended Producer Responsibility Legislation : A Multi-stakeholder Case Analysis (pages 262–276)
    Luyi Gui, Atalay Atasu, Özlem Ergun and L. Beril Toktay
13. Producer Responsibility Organizations Development and Operations : A Case Study (pages 277–289)
    Kieren Mayers and Scott Butler

Partial support for this special feature was provided by Nestle Waters North America with additional funding from Reverse Logistics Group Americas LLC.