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 Read More
Recycling and Product Stewardship
Maine has long championed Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) or "product stewardship" laws because they have proven effective at saving taxpayers money, reducing waste, and protecting our environment. Traditional recycling programs are run and funded by municipal governments. EPR programs shift the costs of dealing with difficult and dangerous items to the corporations and manufacturers who make and sell their products in Maine.
LD 2134, Responsibility for Actions to Increase Use of Reusable and Refillable Beverage Containers
Senator Brenner, Representative Gramlich, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, my name is Vanessa Berry, and I am the Sustainable Maine Outreach Coordinator for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). I am here to offer testimony neither for nor against LD 2134. First, I’d like to thank the Read More
LD 295, An Act to Ensure Accurate Recyclability Labeling of Plastic Containers and Plastic Packaging Material
Senator Brenner, Representative Gramlich, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, my name is Vanessa Berry, and I am the Sustainable Maine Outreach Coordinator for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). I am here to testify in support of Representative Gramlich’s amendment to LD 295. Plastic pollution is a Read More
Behind the Scenes: How Maine Modernized the Bottle Bill
Maine’s most effective recycling and litter reduction program just got a major upgrade! Two new laws passed this year make long awaited upgrades to the Bottle Bill that will help keep local redemption centers and make sure Mainers are able to redeem their bottles and cans well into the future. During the summer of 2022 Read More
Modernizing Maine’s Bottle Bill
Step into your local redemption center and what you will see is the heart and soul of Maine’s most effective recycling and litter prevention program. At Patman’s Redemption Center in Windham, hardworking employees are in a constant state of motion, hand-sorting thousands and thousands of bottles and cans brought in by a seemingly endless flow Read More
Legislation to Modernize Maine’s Bottle Bill Passes Unanimously Out of Committee
A bipartisan bill to modernize Maine’s popular beverage container redemption program was passed unanimously by the Environment and Natural Resources Committee yesterday. The vote came on the same day the Bottle Bill celebrated its 45th anniversary as the state’s most effective litter prevention and recycling program. “Maine’s Bottle Bill is a big part of our Read More
LD 1909, Modernize Maine’s Beverage Container Redemption Law
Testimony in Support of LD 1909, An Act to Modernize Maine’s Beverage Container Redemption Law, and and In Opposition to LD 1910, An Act to Amend the Returnable Beverage Container Program Senator Brenner, Representative Gramlich, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, my name is Sarah Nichols, and I am the Read More
LD 1660 An Act To Provide that Advanced Recycling Facilities are Subject to Solid Waste Regulation and That Advanced Recycling Does Not Constitute Recycling
Testimony in Support of LD 1660, An Act To Provide that Advanced Recycling Facilities are Subject to Solid Waste Regulation and that Advanced Recycling Does Not Constitute Recycling Senator Brenner, Representative Gramlich, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, my name is Sarah Nichols, and I am the Sustainable Maine Director Read More
LD 718, An Act To Increase the Beneficial Reuse of Construction and Demolition Debris
Testimony in Opposition to LD 718, An Act To Increase the Beneficial Reuse of Construction and Demolition Debris Senator Brenner, Representative Gramlich, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, my name is Sarah Nichols, and I am the Sustainable Maine Director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). I Read More
