This week Maine became the first state in the country to create an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program, which requires companies that manufacture consumer packaging to pay for the cost of recycling it, TV station WGME 13 reports.
The law – signed by Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday – stipulates that large packaging producers be charged for the collection and recycling of cardboard and plastic containers, helping relieve Maine taxpayers of that financial burden.
Todd Martin of the National Resources Council of Maine told the media outlet: “It’s to pay for a problem that [the taxpayers] didn’t create. You know, large companies like Amazon, Walmart, are flooding our grocery carts, our shopping carts and eventually our recycling bins with hard to recycle or not recyclable products.”
However, the article says local packaging companies are questioning why recyclable paper products aren’t exempt. RTS Packaging General Manager Joe Curesky pointed out how the new law doesn’t distinguish between the recyclable products his company makes and products that aren’t recyclable.
“This bill has us very concerned,” he said. “Right now, nothing is defined. … So that’s why we’re afraid because it’s already been signed off on. But some of these rules could be a severe negative impact to our plant.”
Read more at WGME.