In the Wild: Anna LeRoy with the National Stewardship Action Council
Anna LeRoy is a 2nd year graduate student in the Environmental Policy and Management Program specializing in Sustainable Systems. After completing her B.S in Environmental Studies at CSU Sacramento, Anna was inspired to address climate change through the scope of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation. This interest is what led her to working with the National Stewardship Action Council.
Most hazardous products lack an end market and, in turn, are illegally disposed of in landfills, contaminate waterways, and pollute our natural environment. Another symptom of the lack of materials management is that local governments and individual households are often subject to resolving problematic downstream waste management systems when the products have no further value to them. In short, producers have profited and externalized end-of-life costs to the government and the Environment. EPR offers a solution to this gap by ensuring producers are responsible for the lifecycle of their materials.
Anna completed her practicum project on advocating for EPR legislation. She was involved in providing comments to CalRecycle on updated regulations for the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (SB 54 (Allen)) and garnered support for SB 561 (Blakespear), the Emergency Distress Flare Safe Disposal Act. SB 54 (Allen) addresses the pollution created by plastic packaging & service ware by requiring producers to financially contribute to recyclability/compostability of single-use materials. Additionally, SB 54 requires manufacturers to establish a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) that is designed to assist producers in ensuring compliance with regulations, reducing costs for manufacturers and local governments, educating the public on recycling best practices, and advising on corporate sustainability. SB 561 (Blakespear) would require manufacturers of pyrotechnic marine flares to fund a collection system for their products to keep these dangerous materials out of the waste stream and our ocean ecosystem.
Another component of Anna’s work with NSAC was communicating to stakeholders how circular economy policy impacts them and how they can be involved in the legislative process. This was accomplished through blog posts to NSAC’s website, newsletter communications to NSAC’s 2700+ member network, and sanctioning working group meetings on allocating end of life management plans for difficult to recycle materials. This practice of collaborative governance, where all stakeholders learned from each other, revealed that the strongest environmental policy is representative of the whole system and that sustainability does not have to sacrifice convenience or economic efficiency.
Anna found that her practicum project was a testament to the nexus between industry, science, and policy. She learned the importance of using data & analysis to develop legislative goals, establishing clear benchmarks for circular policy, and how translating this information into implementable programs is instrumental to environmental progress. She plans to use these skills as she continues to work with natural systems that have been contaminated by waste pollution and advocate for Extended Producer Responsibility.