If you’ve been following along with us, you may know that Maine was the first state in the nation to pass an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law for product packaging. After a multi-year, exhaustive stakeholder engagement process led by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the rules for this program were officially approved in Read More
sustainability
News & Noteworthy—October – December 2024
December 2024 NRCM Sustainable Maine Program Manager Vanessa Berry is quoted in this Portland Press Herald article about the Board of Environmental Protection voting in support of Maine’s new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging rules. The bill to create Maine’s first-in-the-nation EPR for Packaging law, out of which these rules came, was signed into law Read More
Mainers Support EPR for Packaging
We always love getting a chance to share good news. Today, the Maine Board of Environmental Protection finalized the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging rule – a huge victory to reduce wasteful packaging from polluting our environment and to save taxpayers money. EPR sets up a straightforward system where the producers of packaging are Read More
Maine Finalizes Nation-Leading EPR for Packaging Program
December 5, 2024 (Augusta, ME) – The Maine Board of Environmental Protection today finalized rules for a first-in-the-nation Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging law that will save taxpayers money and improve recycling by holding corporations accountable for the wasteful packaging they produce. “Today’s vote is great news for Maine taxpayers and our environment,” said Read More
Help Shape Maine’s Climate Action Plan
Maine’s next Climate Action Plan is coming out later this year, and we all have an opportunity right now to help shape what it looks like by taking this survey. In this blog, I’ll lay out why Maine’s statewide Climate Action Plan matters and give you some more details about the recommendations we’ll be asking Read More
Maine EPR for Packaging Law Close to Reality
In 2021, Maine adopted a first-in-the-nation Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging law to reduce taxpayer costs and improve recycling by encouraging producers to create less wasteful packaging. Put simply: It’s unfair that Maine taxpayers and communities are on the hook for the wasteful packaging produced by large companies—much of it single-use plastic—that ends up Read More
NRCM Experts Contributing to Maine’s Bold Climate Action Policies
March 6, 2024 (Augusta, ME) – Experts at the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) were recently recognized for the important roles they play in catalyzing community action on climate change and contributing to practical climate solutions for an equitable clean energy transition. The experts have been appointed to a variety of advisory committees and Read More
Bill to Allow Reusable Containers Approved by Maine Legislature
Update: LD 2091 was signed into law on March 6, 2024 News release When Castine business owner Kate Pilotte wanted to offer her meal kit customers reusable packaging, she was told Maine food regulations would not allow it. Kate then asked her State Senator to file a bill that would amend state law so local Read More
LD 2134, Responsibility for Actions to Increase Use of Reusable and Refillable Beverage Containers
Senator Brenner, Representative Gramlich, and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, my name is Vanessa Berry, and I am the Sustainable Maine Outreach Coordinator for the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM). I am here to offer testimony neither for nor against LD 2134. First, I’d like to thank the Read More
