Maine: An Example of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Policy In The Making

Four states have passed Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws related to Packaging, and it is expected that this year that more states will be joining the list. 

However, the states that have Packaging EPR laws in place, including Maine, Oregon, California, and Colorado, have already started to define the rules for stakeholders and set the building blocks to implement the EPR mandate.  

For example, Maine, the first state to pass an EPR law for packaging (2021), started an informal process at the end of 2022 to receive feedback and suggestions from stakeholders to draft the rules that would go to the formal rulemaking process expected to happen in December 2023. 

The stakeholder meetings are structured into five topics, with a minimum of two meetings for each one. The first meeting is intended to allow the participants to become familiar with the topic, and the second one is to allow discussion on how the stakeholder’s needs can properly be considered. The five topics established are Producer Exemptions (December 2022); Municipal Reimbursement (January 2023); Recyclability, auditing, and program performance (March 2023); Education and Investment (May 2023); and Payments and Reporting (July 2023). 

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also published an anticipated implementation schedule that gives time perspective into current and upcoming actions, such as the adoption of technical and substantive rules by the Board of Environmental Protection, expected to happen in the summer of 2024.

According to Resource Recycling, each one of the states that have passed EPR laws has different approaches to holding producers responsible for their waste. In the Maine example, the law focuses on a full municipal reimbursement model, while California and Oregon use a shared responsibility model with municipal reimbursement. To understand the particularities and differences of each program, The Product Stewardship Institute has developed a comparison tool that is accessible through its webpage.

Changing legislation represents an opportunity for the lubricant container industry to collaborate and move forward under a unified approach to bring the change needed for the recycling of hard-to-degrade plastics such as lubricant containers.

The NLCRC is bringing key stakeholders in the lubricant supply chain together to support the transition to a circular economy with a focus on reducing the impact of lubricant containers on the environment due to incorrect end-of-life disposal and helping companies adapt to changing legislation. 

The National Lubricant Container Recycling Coalition or “NLCRC” is an industry-led technical coalition established by a committed group of industry leaders in lubricant and associated plastic packaging manufacturing, focused on establishing solutions for post-consumer recovery and recycling of plastic lubricant containers. NLCRC members include Berry Global, Castrol, Chevron, CKS Packaging Inc., Graham Packaging, Nexus Circular, Pennzoil - Quaker State Company, Petroleum Packaging Council, Plastipak Packaging,  Safety-Kleen, and Valvoline.

Learn how the NLCRC is addressing the waste problem by becoming a member. Connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Reach out with questions or inquiries, at hello@nationallcrc.com.