The recycling revolution that has swept America and the world since the late 1980’s has been a huge success in so many ways. For me, the greatest victory is the one we achieved “between the ears.” Trash is no longer “out of sight, out of mind.” People are more conscious of how much trash they produce and very often they modify their behavior by recycling an item rather than wasting it. In the recycling/environmental industry we call this a victory at the “end of the pipe,” getting consumers to recycle their products once those products are no longer useful.

Now it’s time for the next phase of the recycling revolution. Instead of just working with consumers at the end of the waste flow, we need to go upstream to the headwaters of the waste problem: the industrial designer’s desk. We need a victory between the ears of the industrial producers of all our “stuff,” the products and packaging that make our lives better. Instead of designing things to be thrown away, we need to reward industry for making sure their products and packaging can be easily composted or reused, ideally by the manufacturers themselves.

The (really) short answer to why industry is making non-recyclable products and packaging is that industry in America—and most of the world— is allowed to create something, sell it, and then walk away from it. In the old days, industry wasn’t regulated for anything. Today it is only regulated for a few of the most obvious and toxic items. I would suggest to you that as our science and knowledge advances, there will be a whole lot more rules and regulations on industry related to its impact on public health and the environment. That’s not just my speculation. In fact, there are two new big trends in industry developing around the world that will dramatically change the face of manufacturing and resource use.

The most important “new rule” on the horizon, already in place in Europe, is called “Extended Producer Responsibility” or EPR. Simply put, EPR says that producers (or importers) can NOT just walk away from their products anymore. They are held financially and legally responsible for the “end-of-life management” of the items they create. I cannot stress strongly enough how that will change our world for the better! Why? Because the huge financial cost burden of landfilling that the public now pays (billions of dollars each year) will be shifted back onto industry, and they will discover the financial rewards of recycling, composting and re-use. And we all know what industry can do when it is rewarded financially. For examples of EPR, see articles in this issue on “Local Initiatives Toward Zero Waste” and “Zero Waste Around the World.”

The newest and most exciting trend beginning to shape industry is DFE (Design for the Environment)—it’s the most exciting because it's the most positive. DFE is a term to describe the “redesign” revolution that starts on the industrial designer’s desk, then spreads to the factory floor, and finally sweetens up the bottom-line and ends up in a report on the CEO’s desk. It is happening from IBM to 3M, from China to South Africa. It is a quiet revolution at this point since it is giving a competitive advantage to its practitioners, and that is not something industry openly shares on the nightly news. But most importantly, DFE is starting to appear in college engineering schools, and reportedly young people are flocking to it like water in the desert. The article in this issue, “Designing for the Environment, Not the Dump: a Key to Zero Waste” highlights two innovative companies using natural ingredients to replace Styrofoam and plastics in their products.

Up to now, recycling has been an individual “at home” practice for those who want to take action to protect the environment. The next phase of this amazingly successful social movement will be rooted in the same moral and ethical commitment, but will manifest itself on a collective and public basis in the midst of the most influential community on the planet: the world of business. I am hopeful that the people in the boardrooms of America share the Eco-Cycle connection to community, health and the future.