2020.03.09 Council Agenda Item 10

In 2019, the Maine Legislature passed LD 1431, a Resolve, to Support Municipal Recycling Programs, which aims to develop legislation to establish an extended producer responsibility law (EPR) for packing in the State. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging establishes long-term viability of municipal recycling programs by reimbursing towns for the costs of managing packaging waste that is not easily recyclable. Under EPR, producers of packaging materials would have a direct economic incentive to produce less-wasteful packaging that can be more easily and profitably managed by municipalities. EPR has been successful in 47 jurisdictions across the world, including all European Union members states and five provinces in Canada. 

On February 26, 2020, the State of Maine’s Environmental and Natural Resources Committee held a public hearing on LD 2104, “An Act to Support and Increase the Recycling of Packaging." This bill will help save taxpayers money and improve Maine’s struggling recycling programs by asking large corporations to share the responsibility for managing packaging entering the state. LD 2104 would apply Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging. This Resolution states that the Town of Falmouth, along with 19 other Maine municipalities, supports LD 2104, an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging law as endorsed by the Maine Legislature in 2019 through the passage of the Resolve, To Support Municipal Recycling Programs (LD 1431).