To the editor:

Some of you may have read about Maine’s passage of the first-in-the-nation producer responsibility legislation for paper and packaging.  You may have even seen the editorial in this newspaper (”Shifting some recycling costs where they belong,” July 21) supporting producer responsibility for Massachusetts.

So what are we talking about? What is producer responsibility?

Start by thinking about all the products we purchase and the containers and packaging that they come in (especially now with so many products direct shipped to our front doors). What happens to all that material and the product itself when we are done with them? We place them in the trash or in our recycling, if recyclable. We then put them out on the curb for pick up or bring to our community’s transfer station. The cost for the collection and management of our unwanted stuff falls on our municipalities, who have no control over that product or what people purchase. Our waste management systems were not designed to handle the ever-changing array of products and packaging in the marketplace. Producer responsibility legislation shifts the cost from the current backwards model to where it belongs: on the manufacturers/ producers! What a concept!  

What can you do? Send an email, letter or call your state senator and representative(s) and ask them to support producer responsibility for paper and packaging set forth in House Bill 878/ Senate Bill S610 and Senate Bill 517.   These bills would create a producer responsibility system for paper, traditional packaging and containers of all types, such as food and beverage containers, shampoo bottles, flowerpots and more. When producers must pay the cost of managing these items at the end of their life, producers are incentivized to design these items so that they contain less material, use material that is easier to reuse/recycle/compost, and is less harmful to our environment.  

Producer responsibility for paper and packaging has a proven track record. It’s been in place in many European countries for more than 15 years, and in a number of Canadian provinces for more than 10 years. What are we waiting for?

But let’s not stop with paper and packaging … there are other bills with the underlying principle of producer responsibility for paint, mattresses, single use plastic and electronics as well. Maine is leading the way with nine producer responsibility bills that are working!  

Sharon Byrne Kishida

Retired Massachusetts DEP Municipal Waste Reduction Program

Northeast District 2 Coordinator

Eric Magers

Executive Director

Seaside Sustainability

Dick Prouty

Cape Ann Climate Coalition, and Chair of TownGreen2025. 

Jim Gardner

Marcia F. Hart, RN

Doug Smith

Members of Cape Ann Climate Coalition’s Legislative group