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Product Stewardship Institute, Inc.
29 Stanhope Street
Boston, MA 02116
617-236-4855 (Main)
617-236-4766 (Fax)
www.productstewardship.us
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In the spring of 2006, PSI was asked by several state and local government officials to develop a national solution to issues related to the management of phone books. Led by King County (Washington) and the National Waste Prevention Coalition, PSI successfully leveraged funding from over 10 federal, state, and local government agencies and began work on this issue in July 2006.
PSI conducted background research, including interviews with representatives from telephone companies, phone book distributors, recyclers, government agencies, and other key stakeholders. An initial Project Summary was developed that served as a “single text” that was updated as new information was obtained. The research and interviews were then used to develop a Final Product Stewardship Action Plan for Phone Books, which served as the basis for two face-to-face meetings with key stakeholders. The Action Plan includes an issue statement, dialogue goals, key issues, and potential solutions. The goal of the dialogue is to develop a collaborative agreement to minimize the environmental impact of directory production and distribution. Following the second meeting, representatives from the two major industry trade associations issued Joint Environmental Guidelines that include a voluntary pledge by individual publishers to address the following key issues:
• Opt-out (subscribers can request NOT to get the phone book).
• Environmental production components (e.g., use of recycled content, soy inks, etc.).
• Recycling best practices.
On behalf of government officials engaged in the national phone book dialogue, PSI issued a January 23, 2008 Letter in response to the YPA/ADP Environmental Guidelines. Below are excerpts from that letter:
“The government group greatly appreciates the effort by YPA and ADP to reach agreement on a commitment aimed at reducing the environmental impact from the publication and distribution of telephone directories. The environmental policy presented by YPA and ADP is a good start. However, it was not presented within the context of an overall agreement as was agreed to at the October 18, 2007, Seattle meeting (see “Outcome of PSI Phone Book Meeting” on page 4). Therefore, the industry policy, while a good step forward, is not significant enough for government officials involved in the dialogue to recommend to their agency directors or state legislative leaders to forego additional actions at this time…”
“The government group believes that the policy presented did not include the details that were expected at this stage in the dialogue process, and believes that the spirit of collaboration is not being honored…The government group is still hopeful that all participants will be able to reach an amicable agreement…While it is possible that, through negotiations, dialogue participants can develop a strong provision, the current policy is too general…PSI will work with government stakeholders to develop a draft MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] for discussion by all stakeholders on a series of conference calls. The MOU will contain the industry environmental policy. I would like to invite YPA and ADP to continue our work together so that we can come up with an agreement that meets the needs of all stakeholders.”
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