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Product Stewardship
Responsible Care®,
a world wide voluntary
program originally developed by the Canadian Chemical Producers' Association, helps the
chemical industry to
raise its standards on health, safety and environment and win greater trust from the public.
A chemical company adopting Responsible
Care® is committed to continual improvement in
all aspects of health, safety and environmental performance and to open
communication about its activities and achievements.
Product Stewardship is about responsibly managing the health, safety and
environmental aspects of a product throughout its life cycle. It is Responsible
Care applied to products.
The purpose of Product
Stewardship is to prevent injury to human health and damage to the environment
in two main ways:
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By reducing the actual
and potential risks associated with the manufacture, packaging, distribution,
handling, use and disposal of our products.
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By improving product
design, assessment practices, advice, education, communication and customer
support.
Product Stewardship covers
all stages of the life cycle of a product - initial concept, design, research
and development, the sourcing of raw materials, manufacture, storage,
distribution, applications, reasonably foreseeable uses, recycling and disposal.
It requires management, employees, contractors, customers and all those involved
in the supply chain to work together in following safe, environmentally sound
practices.
An example of how Product
Stewardship can be implemented within a chemical company is presented
here.
For more information see
American Chemistry Council and
CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council.
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