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Regional Strategies Source Reduction and Reuse A. Introduction RETH INK Op RECYCLING® The Policy Plan stresses the need to manage waste to maximize environmental benefits. A source reduction and reuse objective of 4 -6% has been established for 2030. This is an aggressive objective that will require strong MPCA leadership, with support and local leadership from counties and municipalities from around the state. A key public policy related to source reduction is product stewardship. Product stewardship, also known as extended producer responsibility (EPR), spreads responsibility for products at the end of their useful life among manufacturers, distributors, retailers and users. Product stewardship solutions can result in less waste being produced, and will be important in meeting the source reduction and reuse Policy Plan objective. This Regional Master Plan calls for the Region to foster product stewardship approaches to the management of difficult to manage waste. The Region will promote product stewardship framework legislation and support producer responsibility initiatives in order to reduce the expense and burden of collection currently borne by government. Government is a large consumer of goods and services and generates large quantities of waste. Both the Policy Plan and the Regional Master Plan emphasize that government will lead by example, take environmental factors into consideration when making purchases and collaborate to share knowledge, experience, and technical expertise regarding environmentally preferable practices. The counties will continue participating in cooperative purchasing and seek to expand the availability and utilization of green products in their own operations and throughout residential and non - residential sectors within the Region. Progress toward the source reduction and reuse Policy Plan objective will require improved data measurement. Standard methodology for measuring source reduction and reuse needs to be developed by the State to ensure that source reduction activities in one county be tracked in a way that is consistent with other counties. The Region will therefore depend upon the MPCA to develop that methodology and will provide local government input and data, when possible, to ensure the development process is a successful one. 2011 -2030 Regional Solid Waste Master Plan Approved by the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board on December 14, 2011 Appendix V Page 33