Maine becomes the first U.S. state to hold big corporations and brands responsible for the plastic waste and packaging they create by shifting the recycling costs on the producer rather than the consumer. The new law will reduce packaging pollution, increase recycling rates, and save taxpayers money.
Maine is basically putting an import duty on packaging by telling companies there is a limit to their reliance on Mainers and municipalities to recycle their material. For example, suppose a company is using less-than eco-friendly packaging materials, like plastics. In that case, they are forced to pay a Stewardship Organization (SO) per ton of packaging they send into the state. The SO then passes that money around the state, reimbursing recycling programs depending on the amount and type of materials they process.
Before the new law, LD 1541, called “An Act To Support and Improve Municipal Recycling Programs and Save Taxpayer Money,” the only way to raise money for recycling was more taxes.
Sarah Nichols, Director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, told WCSH News:
It’s really designed to help tackle our waste crisis, get us to finally reach our goal of recycling 50% of our waste which we set back in 1989 but never met.
Now, with this law, there’s going to be more clarity, more incentives to have clearer labeling on a package to help consumers put things in the right bin. In some communities, it’ll be the difference between having a recycling program and not.
Big companies are often the quickest to adapt to changing market and regulatory conditions while remaining profitable. However, smaller producers who make under $2 million gross or create less than one ton of waste annually are exempt from the tax. This would ensure that Maine’s small businesses are not over-burdened with regulatory costs.
While Maine is the first state in the U.S. to pass a law like this, Nichols points out that Oregon has a similar one heading to the governor’s desk, and she is confident they “won’t be the last.” Maine is on a roll! On April 22, 2020, Earth Day, the state banned plastic bags, and in May 2019, it banned Styrofoam (polystyrene).
Watch Sarah Nichols’s full interview with NEWS CENTER Maine in the video below.
