The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is hiring a contractor to run a new program that makes manufacturers and companies responsible for the cost to get rid of packaging waste.
The department issued a request for proposals this month for a “stewardship organization” that will oversee the day-to-day operations of its extended producer responsibility, or EPR, program.
The program would shift the costs of disposing packaging waste from municipal taxpayers to packaging producers, said Vanessa Berry, sustainable Maine program director at Natural Resources Council of Maine. Under the program, participating towns and cities would submit records of packaging materials collected then apply for reimbursement for certain costs.
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Author: Maine Public, MainePublic.org