The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) on February 26 testified in front Maine’s Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources in opposition to a bill regarding extended producer responsibility (EPR). While supportive of LD 2104’s goals to support and increase the recycling of packaging, Danielle Waterfield, senior director of government relations and assistant general counsel for ISRI, raised significant concerns with the approach chosen in the bill to address the underlying challenges posed by packaging in the residential stream and provided alternative solutions that would prove more effective in increasing recycling. 

ISRI stated it remains ready to work with legislators on the key issues, offering valuable insights from the recyclers who process the material this bill impacts. This includes the understanding of what makes for successful recycling: market demand for the recyclable material combined with minimal contamination in the stream of recyclables that flow into the system. Effective strategies for increasing the recycling for packaging must address these two issues.

Read ISRI’s full written testimony here.