AMERIPEN Statement on Maine's Passage of Packaging Producer Responsibility Legislation

Statement from AMERIPEN Executive Director Dan Felton on Maine State Legislature Passage of Packaging Producer Responsibility Legislation:

“AMERIPEN believes the Maine State Legislature has passed a flawed piece of legislation, in LD 1541, and we urge Governor Janet Mills, on behalf of the people of Maine, to not allow it to become law.

AMERIPEN supports producers sharing some financial responsibility for the recycling and recovery of their packaging materials, but this bill rejects the shared approach to coordination and responsibility between industry and government—instead choosing to vest all decision-making authority with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), creating an overly bureaucratic system that will increase costs for the people of Maine.

“AMERIPEN supported alternative legislation (LD 1471) that would have created a more viable packaging producer responsibility system and was aligned with our principles for systems that are reliable, efficient and effective, and equitable and fair. That type of system would better serve the people of Maine while also providing much needed sustainable support to recycling programs in the state by enabling them to collect and process more material.

“A veto of this misguided legislation will allow AMERIPEN and other interested stakeholders time to continue seeking consensus on alternative legislation that will actually have a meaningful impact on packaging recycling and recovery in Maine.”

AMERIPEN's principles for successful packaging producer responsibility programs can be found here.

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AMERIPEN – the American Institute for Packaging and the Environment – is a coalition of packaging industry entities dedicated to improving packaging and the environment. We are the only material neutral packaging policy association in the United States and our membership represents the entire packaging supply chain, including materials suppliers, packaging producers, consumer packaged goods companies and end-of-life materials managers. Our Vision is for packaging to be recognized for all its benefits, including preventing waste and driving a circular economy and our Mission is to be the leading voice for the packaging industry, using science to inspire, create and advocate for sustainable solutions for the packaging value chain.