Each month, we highlight news stories and opinion pieces related to NRCM’s work to protect Maine’s air, land, water, and wildlife. March 2024 NRCM Sustainable Maine Program Manager Vanessa Berry was featured in an NPR story about Maine’s first-in-the-nation Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging law and other states trying to pass similar legislation. L.L. Bean’s Read More
Maine Bottle Bill
Maine’s Returnable Beverage Container Law, commonly referred to as “the Bottle Bill,” is the most successful waste and litter reduction law in our state’s history. With the help of NRCM in 1976, Maine became the third US state to enact a beverage container deposit program—after Oregon and Vermont. This smart policy went into effect in 1978 and successfully eliminated problematic roadside beverage container litter and resulted in Maine residents recycling an estimated 90 percent of the bottles and cans sold in the state.
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
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
Legislative Session Marked by Progress on Clean Energy, Waste Reduction, and Wildlife Protection
Maine’s conservation ethic continues to drive economic growth July 26, 2023 (Augusta, ME) — This year’s legislative session was another demonstration of Maine’s continued leadership on clean energy, with a signature bill that boosts offshore wind and continued momentum on measures that will help achieve Maine’s climate action goals while reducing energy costs, creating jobs, 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
News & Noteworthy — April – June 2023
Every month, we highlight news stories and opinion pieces related to Maine’s air, land, water, and wildlife. We update News & Noteworthy weekly with the latest news related to the nature of Maine, including the work of staff at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. June 2023 The National Wildlife Federation honored Greg LeClair this 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
Redemption Centers are the Beating Heart of Maine’s Bottle Bill
Step into your local redemption center and what you will see is the beating heart of Maine’s most effective recycling and litter prevention program. At Patman’s Redemption Center in Windham, hard-working employees are in a constant state of motion — hand sorting thousands and thousands of bottles and cans being brought in by a seemingly 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
