AMERIPEN Urges Oregon Gov. to Veto Packaging Producer Responsibility Legislation

AMERIPEN Executive Director Dan Felton Urges Governor Brown to Veto Oregon Packaging Producer Responsibility Legislation

July 7, 2021 (St. Paul, MN) - “AMERIPEN believes the Oregon State Legislature passed a flawed piece of legislation in Senate Bill 582 and we urge Governor Kate Brown, on behalf of all Oregonians, to veto it.

“AMERIPEN supports producers sharing some financial responsibility for the recycling and recovery of their packaging materials, but SB 582 creates an overly bureaucratic system that will increase costs for Oregon residents. A better suited solution in Oregon would be one that streamlines the processes and governance structure for packaging producer responsibility, while simultaneously increasing packaging recycling and recovery in Oregon.

“A more viable packaging producer responsibility system that is aligned with our principles of being reliable, efficient, effective, equitable and fair would better serve Oregonians while also providing much-needed sustainable support to recycling programs in this state by enabling them to collect and process more material.

“A veto of this misguided legislation will hit the ‘reset’ button so that AMERIPEN and other interested stakeholders can continue seeking consensus on alternative legislation that will actually have a meaningful impact on packaging recycling and recovery in Oregon. Let’s build this together.”

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

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.