THE U.S. THROWS OUT enough plastic every 16 hours to fill the Cowboys football stadium, and that amount is increasing.1 Our society continually produces goods designed to be used once or temporarily and then thrown away. Most discarded materials are then landfilled or incinerated, creating pollution and requiring producers to extract more natural resources to make new materials. This waste is by design. Producers have the ability to make products that are more durable and more easily fixed when they break, as well as packaging that is less wasteful and more readily reused or recycled. They simply choose not to. The reason is clear: As long as individuals, governments, our environment and future generations – not producers – bear the costs of our throwaway society, those who design and make the products we buy have no incentive to change. Holding producers responsible for the waste they create can incentivize a shift to a circular economy – one in which less waste is produced, products are built to last and easy to repair, and remaining materials are recycled or composted. Such a system would create zero waste, eliminating the need for landfills and trash incinerators, conserving natural resources and reducing pollution. Producer responsibility programs around the world have existed for decades and have successfully increased collection and recycling rates for the products they cover. With the growing urgency of the climate crisis, the rising impact of plastic pollution, and the continuing impacts of China’s waste import ban on America’s recycling system, U.S. cities and states, as well as the federal government, should adopt thoughtfully designed producer responsibility programs – especially for packaging and printed products.