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COUNTY OF HAWAII <br />STATE OF HAWAII <br />RESOLUTION NO. ~~~ d8 <br />A RESOLUTION URGING THE HAWAII STATE LEGISLATURE TO ENACT <br />LEGISLATION THAT WILL SHIFT THE COSTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR <br />WASTE MANAGEMENT FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO THE <br />MANUFACTURERS OF PRODUCTS AND THAT WILL CREATE INCENTIVES FOR <br />PRODUCT REDESIGN. <br />WHEREAS, manufactured products and packaging constitute a large percentage of <br />waste materials handled in Hawaii County and eventually deposited at County landfills; and <br />WHEREAS, there are significant environmental and human health impacts associated <br />with products that contain toxic ingredients, which include mercury, lead, cadmium, and other <br />toxic chemicals that when disposed of improperly can contaminate soil and water supplies; and <br />WHEREAS, when products aze designed to contain hazardous chemicals and aze then <br />uniformly banned from municipal landfills by the State, the burden to manage these items at the <br />end of their useful life falls to local jurisdictions in the form of specialized waste collection and <br />public outreach programs; and <br />WHEREAS, throughout Hawaii, there is a prevalent need for an environmental policy <br />approach called "Extended Producer Responsibility", in which producers assume responsibility - <br />financial and/or physical -for the management of products at the end of their useful life, so that <br />those who produce and sell products bear the costs of recycling and proper disposal; and <br />WHEREAS, the State's approach to legislating responsibility for end-of--life <br />management of individual product types has been piecemeal and does not provide producers <br />with incentives to design their products with recycling, reduced toxicity, and take-back in mind; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, an "Extended Producer Responsibility Framework Approach" is a <br />comprehensive environmental policy that establishes requirements and guidelines for the <br />development of collection processes funded by product manufacturers that provide convenient <br />and sustainable opportunities for recycling or disposal by the public; and <br />WHEREAS, this "Extended Producer Responsibility Framework Approach" has been <br />applied in California, with municipalities such as San Francisco calling for the shift in costs and <br />responsibilities away from local governments toward the manufacturers of products; now, <br />therefore, <br />BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII, that it <br />urges the State Legislature to enact legislation that will shift waste management costs and <br />responsibilities from local government to the manufacturers of the products, and that will give <br />