Here come the holidays, and all I want for Christmas is…less waste and more sustainability. OK, that’s not all I want, but it’s definitely part of my holiday planning. You can probably easily imagine that the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is the most wasteful, but did you know Americans produce a million Read More
Maine Bottle Bill
Maine’s Returnable Beverage Container Law, commonly referred to as “the Bottle Bill,” is the most successful waste and litter reduction law in our state’s history. With the help of NRCM in 1976, Maine became the third US state to enact a beverage container deposit program—after Oregon and Vermont. This smart policy went into effect in 1978 and successfully eliminated problematic roadside beverage container litter and resulted in Maine residents recycling an estimated 90 percent of the bottles and cans sold in the state.
Why Some Redemption Centers Give 6 Cents a Bottle When Deposit is Only 5
By Nora Flaherty MPBN news story Laura, Lewiston: When I first moved to Maine, I thought all the redemption centers were churches! I get now that they’re not, but why does Maine have so many redemption centers? If you live in Maine, it’s likely just part of your regular housekeeping to return your cans and Read More
Bill Would Eliminate Deposit Fee on Larger Bottles
WGME-TV news story AUGUSTA (WGME)—A bill in Augusta would eliminate bottle deposit fees on any bottle larger than 32 ounces, which includes 2-liter soda bottles and large wine bottles. Those against the change say it would seriously hurt the redemption center business in Maine and lead to more littering. “This would be a windfall for Read More
Maine Needs Recycling Boost, But Not at Bottle Bill’s Expense
By The BDN Editorial Board Bangor Daily News editorial If reality reflected state law, Mainers today would recycle and compost at least half their solid waste. They would have reached that threshold in 2009. Instead, Maine’s recycling rate has remained stubbornly close to 40 percent for years, with no sustained progress to speak of. The Read More
Maine’s Advanced Recycling Programs Succeeding
Keeping Mercury and Other Toxics Out of Environment NRCM news release Today, DEP officials presented a report to the Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee showing that Maine’s five advanced recycling “product stewardship” laws are a huge success and have prevented more than 45 million pounds of electronic waste and hundred of pounds of toxic Read More
Opposition to LD 1324, An Act to Create Consistency and Fairness in Maine’s Bottle Bill and LD 1417, An Act To Exempt Wine Bottles from Maine’s Container Redemption System
Senator Saviello, Representative Hamper and members of the Committee. My name is Matt Prindiville, and I’m the Clean Production Project Director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). I’m also here representing the Container Recycling Institute, a national nonprofit organization that studies and promotes policies that increase recycling of beverage containers and packaging. NRCM Read More
New Poll Shows Mainers Support Environment
Statement by NRCM Executive Director Lisa Pohlmann The message from the poll that we are releasing today is absolutely clear: Maine’s clean air, clean water, and natural heritage is a high priority. The poll also demonstrates that Mainers decisively reject the notion that our environmental laws are causing a significant drag on our economy. They Read More
State House Action Day 2011 Has Record-high Turn Out
Once a year, NRCM organizes a day for Maine citizens to come together at our office, to learn about policies that affect our land, air, water, and wildlife during in the legislative session, and to go together to the State House so they can speak to their representatives. Today we had the largest turnout ever Read More
Keep Maine’s Bottle Bill—My “3.5-cents” Worth on the Topic
Imagine our roadsides littered with cans and bottles again. Can’t? Neither can I, because Maine was one of the first states to pass a bottle bill back in 1976. NRCM was very involved with this initiative. Since then, Maine has achieved the highest beverage container recycling rate in the country at 90%. It has also Read More
