States are reviving America’s broken recycling system by emphasizing reducing and reusing first. And when it comes to recycling, they’re holding the producers of material responsible for its fate. “Right now producers are not doing enough to help communities make recycling more effective,” said Sarah Nichols of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, “and part of the reason is because they’re not the ones responsible for cleaning up the mess created by their businesses.
“They don’t currently internalize any of those costs, and rather they externalize those on our municipalities and taxpayers, who have little to no control over this waste.”
Representatives from three states highlighted their innovations last month in a webinar hosted by the The Environmental and Energy Study Institute:
Maine
Maine’s legislature is considering tackling what Nichols calls the “tsunami of packaging materials” with a bill that would hold the producers of packaging responsible for its fate. “By packaging I mean things like cereal boxes and Amazon packaging and yogurt tubs, takeout containers, boxes, flexible packaging—basically all the stuff that ends up in your household,” Nichols said.
If LD 1541 passes, producers will pay fees to a new stewardship organization for the packaging they sell to consumers in Maine. The organization would funnel the fees to the municipalities that handle the waste.