The governor of Maine has signed legislation establishing extended producer responsibility for packaging materials in the state. It’s the first bill of its kind to become law in the U.S.
The governor of Maine has signed legislation establishing extended producer responsibility for packaging materials in the state. It’s the first bill of its kind to become law in the U.S.
A bill establishing minimum post-consumer recycled plastic, glass and paper use in containers and bags was approved by the New Jersey Senate last month.
Legislation creating an extended producer responsibility program for packaging has cleared both the Maine House of Representatives and Senate. It’s the first such bill in the U.S. to make it that far in the legislative process, and it now goes to the state’s governor for a signature.
Bills establishing extended producer responsibility for packaging materials were introduced in a handful of states this year. Several have failed to gain traction, but at least two key proposals remain active.
Connecticut lawmakers passed legislation overhauling the state’s 41-year-old container deposit program, with one supporter calling the move the most significant U.S. bottle bill expansion in a decade.
A committee in Maine’s legislature advanced a bill that gives government officials direct control over how much money producers would be forced to pay to support the recycling of their packaging.
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As federal elected officials debate significant investments in the nation’s infrastructure, recycling and composting stakeholders are pushing them to steer some of that money into materials recovery.
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Two state proposals under consideration in the Northeast get at a central question of extended producer responsibility programs for packaging: Should the government or private industry have more control?
This story has been updated and corrected.
A new report estimates that a nationwide bottle deposit program would reduce the number of drink containers each American wastes to 67 per year, down from 426 under the status quo.
The U.S. EPA’s top environmental justice official has a message for recycling operators: Don’t wait for a conflict to arise to start engaging with the community that surrounds you.