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
product stewardship
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
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 — October – December 2021
Read some highlights from this month’s news stories and opinion pieces related to the environment, including Maine’s air, land, water, and wildlife, in this December 2021 News & Noteworthy from the Natural Resources Council of Maine. December 2021 NRCM Climate & Clean Energy Outreach Coordinator Josh Caldwell is featured in this Bangor Daily News piece Read More
New Maine Law Will Shift Recycling Costs to Producers of Packaging Waste
EPR for Packaging Will Save Taxpayer Money and Improve Recycling News release Maine has joined more than 40 jurisdictions around the world to require companies that create packaging waste help pay for the costs of recycling. It becomes the first state in the nation to pass an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging law (LD 1541) Read More
Explainer: How Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging Will Benefit Maine
Maine is the first state in the nation to hold big corporations and brands accountable for the plastic waste and packaging they have created. Our new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging law (LD 1541) will increase recycling rates, reduce packaging pollution, and save taxpayers money. This is a very big deal, folks. And not because we’re the first, but because it Read More
Maine Student Receives National Recognition for Plastic Pollution Project
It has always been Maine’s young people that have spoken up the loudest for us to address the problems of plastic pollution. Maya Faulstich, a student at Yarmouth’s Frank Harrison Middle School, is one of those passionate young Mainers who is trying to raise awareness and she’s turned this passion into an award-winning presentation for Read More
New Law Will Help Mainers Dispose of Unused Drugs Safely and for Free
News release from NRCM and the Product Stewardship Institute June 11, 2021 (Augusta, ME) — Mainers will be able to dispose of unused medications safely and for free under a bill signed into law by Governor Janet Mills. LD 8, sponsored by Senator Anne Carney and championed by former Senator Geoffrey Gratwick, will establish a network of drug-collection Read More
The Truth about Maine’s Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging Bill
Maine people want to recycle, but it has become too costly and too confusing. This is because much of our packaging waste cannot be easily recycled, and Maine’s municipalities are struggling to foot the bill and must raise taxes to support recycling programs. It’s high time to require the corporate producers of packaging waste—like Amazon, Read More
