The database grew out of research on EPR at the Yale Center for Industrial Ecology. While while the database contains more than 1,200 references, because of the vast and diverse publications on EPR, it is not a comprehensive catalog of studies and reports. Its contents are sometimes idiosyncratic, reflecting specific research projects conducted at the Center for Industrial Ecology. Particular strengths are the inclusion of both academic and non-academic publications (“grey literature) and references to documents stretching back to the early days of EPR in the 1990s.
The database was created by Reid Lifset, Research Scholar and Resident Fellow in Industrial Ecology at the Center for Industrial Ecology at the Yale School of the Environment. For a list of organizations that have provided funding for the support for the development of the database, see the Acknowledgements page.