Maine Recycling Law Targets Packaging Waste

Ogunquit, Maine recently had to cut back on recycling services after China stopped taking most recyclables. It was cheaper to throw it away than to send it out as recyclable. 

More than 82 million tons of solid waste produced in the U.S. is from containers and packaging. 

Today, taxpayers are shouldering the burden for managing the waste, but they have no say over what the packaging is made out of, or how much of it there is. Maine is the first state in the United States to enact a law that would make creators of anything that is bottled, boxed or canned be charged a fee based on the amount of packaging they use and how easily it’s recycled. The law has been created to encourage the use of more readily recyclable materials and help cities foot the bill of processing them. 

This type of policy already exists all over the world. There are some countries in Europe that have been doing this for over 30 years. And there’s data to show that our recycling rate is likely to double as a result. 

Read the complete story here.