Athens-based Waste Reduction Non-profit Adds to Its Board

The Athens-based Product Policy Institute (PPI) has since 2003 worked to make extended producer responsibility (EPR) the central approach to designing and managing products and packaging. It wants to "lead the way to a waste-free economy," its website says.

This is so that market forces drive green design and the use and reuse of safer chemicals and more sustainable materials. The non-profit develops policies and educational materials. It also says that it networks with key stakeholders to help public interest advocates, government officials, leading companies and citizens to advocate for producer responsibility initiatives. 

This week, the PPI brought on two new board members, according to an agency press release. They are:

Leslie Mintz Tamminen (Los Angeles, CA), a consultant for Seventh Generation Advisors, a nonprofit environmental organization in Santa Monica.  She directs the Ocean Program, and in this capacity she facilitates the Clean Seas Coalition.

Dawn Erlandson (Minneapolis, MN), founder and president of Aurora Strategic Advisors, a public affairs and communications consultancy. She leads comprehensive public affairs and marketing communications efforts for many national, state and local clients.

PPI advocates for extended producer responsibility (EPR) policies. These move physical and financial responsibility for recycling products and packaging away from government, to manufacturers that design and profit from their sale. 

According to PPI director Bill Sheehan, "mature EPR systems have been proven to dramatically reduce waste and the need for virgin natural resources, cut toxic pollution and energy use, save taxpayers money and create jobs."

The two women are expected "to help grow the rising movement for a cradle-to-cradle economy currently sweeping the United States," the press release said.