The Chilean branch of Japanese computerized printer manufacturer Epson has been able to reach a new client segment and save energy costs with the implementation of an official extended producer responsibility (EPR) to manage e-waste, company general manager Carlos Miquel told BNamericas.
"We have been able to reach a public that is stricter when it comes to environmental matters. It has opened a whole new segment for us," Miquel said, adding: "It is not very big now but everything indicates it will continue to grow."
"Additionally, it has created a whole new culture within the company that has led to important savings in energy costs, as employees are preoccupied with turning lights off, for example," he added.
From a corporate point of view, implementing an EPR policy has permitted the local branch to be more coordinated with requirements coming from headquarters in Japan on environmental responsibility matters, Miquel said.
LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE
While EPR has not yet yielded economic benefits, Miquel says its implementation has more to do with long-term company benefits.
"I don't think any company that is not preoccupied with the environment and the future will survive. No one will want to have anything to do with such companies," Miquel said.
"In the very near future the country's environmental awareness will deepen and society will only work with those companies that have taken measures to protect the environment," he added.
EPR integrates environmental costs into the final market price of products by imposing accountability over the entire lifespan of a product and its packaging after it is introduced to the market.
This way manufacturers, importers and sellers of products and packaging are made financially or physically responsible for the proper processing or disposal of these goods after useful life expires.
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