In its report, Sustainable America, the President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD) endorsed the principle of Extended Product Responsibility (EPR) as a means for industry, government and the environmental community to "identify strategic oppor tunities for pollution prevention and resource conservation" throughout the life cycle of a product (p. 38). The recommendation was based on two premises: that significant change is required for the United States to become more sustainable in terms of re source conservation; and that change will only be incremental as long as all stages of product-related economic activity are viewed separately. Under an innovative system of EPR, all participants in the product life cycle - designers, suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, users and/or disposers - share responsibility for the environmental effects of products and waste streams. "The greatest respo nsibility for EPR rests with those throughout the chain of commerce...that are in the best position to practice resource conservation and pollution prevention at lower cost" (p. 40). EPR is a principle that can be applied by industry voluntarily or by government as a regulatory requirement. A variety of tools can be used to implement EPR. As the PCSD report stated, "the tools used for a particular product category should be designe d to achieve the desired change at the most appropriate links in the [product] chain, and where possible, by voluntary action" (p.42). Some businesses in the United States are already implementing EPR for a variety of reasons. Some are responding to mandates abroad. Some wish to forestall similar mandates in the United States. Some are striving to meet corporate goals to "green" thei r products. Some recognize that products can be valuable assets even at the end of their useful life. To showcase some of the many creative and strategic business initiatives already under way in the United States, the PCSD's New National Opportunities Task Force decided to hold a workshop on EPR.