AUGUSTA, MAINE – Today Maine launched the first manufacturer-funded program in the nation designed to capture hazardous electronic waste for safe disposal and recycling. Under the law enacted in 2004, beginning January 18, municipalities will send waste computer and television monitors to consolidation centers that are fully-funded by manufacturers. The manufacturers also pay to safely Read More
Sustainability
Our vision of sustainability in Maine is ensuring a healthy future for life on Earth. Maine’s clean and healthy environment strengthens the state’s economy and is central to our way of life. Holding polluting corporations accountable through systemic changes in local, state, and federal policies is the key to creating a more healthy, prosperous, sustainable future for us all.
Recycling Mercury Thermostats Urged
by the Associated Press Portland Press Herald Mainers are being urged to recycle old thermostats that contain mercury now that a new law outlawing sales of the thermostats has gone into effect. The Natural Resources Council of Maine held a press conference Tuesday at a hardware store to demonstrate the use of digital, nonmercury thermostats Read More
Mercury Thermostat Sales Ban Started on January 1st
But 5,600 Pounds of Mercury Still on Walls of Maine Homes, Businesses News release Today, the Natural Resources Council of Maine hosted a news conference at the Maine Hardware Store in Portland to inform Maine people about the new mercury thermostat sales ban that went into effect January 1, 2006, and to highlight the need Read More
NRCM Cites Political Interference with Hazardous Waste Program
Enforcement Action Against International Paper Inexplicably Dropped NRCM news release The Natural Resources Council of Maine today announced the results of an investigation of a proposed reorganization of the Bureau of Remediation and Hazardous Waste at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The investigation found evidence that two Maine State legislators may have exerted Read More
16,896 Mercury-laden Car Switches Collected Under Maine’s Landmark Program!
NRCM news release At the urging of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, in 2002 Maine lawmakers passed a first-in-the-nation law to require carmakers to pay to collect harmful mercury switches from junked cars before scrapping them. Maine’s car mercury switch law was challenged in court by the carmakers, but the law prevailed. In December Read More
Peter Brann and Ben Lund Receive 2004 Environmental Award
The Natural Resources Council of Maine recognizes with deep appreciation their efforts to defend Maine’s environment in the courts. Peter Brann and Ben Lund, partners in the Lewiston-based law firm of Brann & Isaacson, have brought their considerable professional skills, tenacity, and love of Maine to a necessary part of the advocacy process—using the courts Read More
Legislature Establishes Recycling for Old Computers and TVs
News release Augusta – The Maine State Legislature has enacted legislation to create a system for the collection and recycling of obsolete computers and televisions containing toxic materials. By final votes of 82-60 in the House and 34-1 in the Senate, the bill has been sent to the Governor for his signature. This bill was Read More
Governor Signs Bills to Protect Health, Reduce Pollution from Mercury in Products and Fillings and from Lead in Computers and TVs
by the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine Today, in celebration of Environmental Health Day in the Hall of Flags at the State Capitol, Governor John Baldacci signed three bills to protect public health and the environment from mercury and lead pollution. The Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, a coalition of eight Read More
Legislature Adopts “Electronic-Waste” Bill
Bans Disposal of Computer and Television Monitors and Calls for Agency to Plan for Statewide Collection of Hazardous Electronics NRCM news release Augusta, Maine – The Legislature has adopted a bill that bans landfilling and incineration of computer and television monitors effective January 1, 2006 and sets in motion a process to provide for collection Read More
