Taking Accountability Through Product Stewardship

What is Product Stewardship?

Product Stewardship is an innovative environmental management approach that places a collective responsibility on all stakeholders in a product's life cycle to minimise its environmental and human health impacts. These stakeholders can range from businesses to individuals who contribute to a product's design, manufacturing, importing, usage, or disposal. By placing accountability on all involved, Product Stewardship aims to promote sustainable practices that benefit both the environment and human well-being.

Why is Product Stewardship Important?

Product Stewardship aims to drive environmentally beneficial outcomes through good design and clean manufacturing, including the use of materials that are easier to recover, reuse and recycle.

• Environmental Protection: Taking a proactive approach towards the environmental impacts of products throughout their lifecycle helps to minimise pollution, conserve resources, and reduce waste. 
• Human Health and Safety: Product stewardship mitigates the potential risks for the end user and promotes the use of safer materials, responsible manufacturing practices, and proper handling and disposal methods.
• Extended Producer Responsibility: Product stewardship encourages manufacturers and producers to take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products, including their environmental and social impacts.
• Resource Conservation: Valuable resources can be recovered and recycled from products, reducing the demand for raw materials and the associated environmental impacts of extraction and production.
• Accountability: A shared responsibility fosters transparency, accountability, and innovation, leading to the development of more sustainable products, processes, and policies.