Maine has passed a law they call “product stewardship” – but it’s not. It’s a product end-of-life take back law. In a big stick way it will “encourage” companies to design their products so they will be easier to take back and recycle, but it's not truly product stewardship. Summary here.
I've ranted before about this. I wish they'd call it what it is: "Mandatory Product Take Back" or maybe "Extended Producer Responsibility" or, more explicitly, "It's Your Problem, Mr. Manufacturer, Not Mine as the Customer."
Real product stewardship is about shared responsibility throughout the life cycle. Forcing these awkward, inefficient take back schemes is not the right way to build a culture of life cycle thinking by everyone: suppliers, manufacturers, users and recyclers.