Record Number of Rollback Bills Proposed to Weaken Environmental Safeguards News release At a State House news conference today, a broad range of people spoke out in strong opposition to dozens of bills introduced by lawmakers that would repeal or weaken laws that protect Maine’s environment and the health of Maine people. Although the governor’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.
50 Years of Advocating for Maine’s Environment
Natural Resources Council of Maine celebrates its half century of advocacy by Chris Cousins Times Record news story AUGUSTA — In 50 years of existence, the Natural Resources Council of Maine has compiled a long list of achievements — ranging from the removal of dams to the successful push for a bottle bill in Maine. Read More
Support of LD 1657, Support and Enhance Maine’s Beverage Container Recycling Laws and Household Hazardous Waste Collection
by Matt Prindiville, NRCM Toxics Policy Advocate Good morning Senator Bromley, Representative Smith and Members of the Committee on Business, Research and Economic Development. My name is Matt Prindiville. I am the Toxics Policy Advocate for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). NRCM is Maine’s leading, membership-supported environmental advocacy organization. We represent over 10,000 Read More
Maine’s “Bottle Bill”: Passing and Protecting It
In the summer of 1976, Maine Senator Edmund Muskie spoke on the floor of the United States Senate regarding the importance of beverage container redemption legislation. “It is a needed step to assist in developing a ‘conservation ethic’ that rejects waste and embraces thrift, husbandry, and saving part of the Earth’s abundance for our posterity,” Read More
