In 2021, Maine adopted a first-in-the-nation Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging law to reduce taxpayer costs and improve recycling by encouraging producers to create less wasteful packaging. Put simply: It’s unfair that Maine taxpayers and communities are on the hook for the wasteful packaging produced by large companies—much of it single-use plastic—that ends up in our waste stream or polluting our environment.
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has proposed draft regulations that will define what this landmark policy looks like. In early 2024, the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) is expected to finish up the process of reviewing and voting on the draft policy. In testimony before the BEP, the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) urged Commissioners to adopt the regulations with some minor amendments to strengthen the program and ensure Mainers benefit to the maximum extent possible.
For decades, Maine taxpayers and municipalities have been responsible for finding solutions to packaging they have little or no control over. About 30-40% of the materials managed by towns are packaging waste, costing Maine taxpayers at least $16 million each year.1 With limited options and rising costs for managing these materials, many Maine communities have been forced to suspend or cut back their recycling programs, sending these materials to landfills instead. With landfills throughout the state nearing capacity, this temporary solution is creating another expensive problem for Maine people: expanding existing landfills. EPR for Packaging contains ambitious yet attainable goals to achieve statewide community participation with investments that will make recycling more accessible and affordable for everyone.