Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging
in New York state
Packaging
Packaging and Plastic Pollution
What is EPR? + Current Policy
Municipal government collection
Material Recovery Facility (MRF) sorting, baling, and selling
EPR Goals:
1) "Polluter Pays" shift cost from government to producers
Topic
2) Better design of packaging: more recyclable, more post-consumer recycled
3) Reduce waste, pollution, and GHG emissions
Company design with government oversight
EPR Mechanism
Market-based incentives: "eco-modulation"
Top-down regulation: fees, taxes, bans
New York EPR Bills
NYS EPR Bills
- Producers choose individual compliance or PRO
- Producers design the plan, with DEC approval and oversight:
- Eco-modulation fees: no fee for reusable, low fee for recyclable and post-consumer recycled content, high fee for non-recyclable
- Can receive credits for post-consumer recycled content
- Individual compliance, or PRO
- Fee structure
- Targets for recovery rates and post-consumer recycled content
- Requires audit, reporting, and consumer education and outreach
- Mandatory reductions of packaging:
- 90% reduction of non-recyclable in 12 years
- 50% reduction of all packaging in 10 years
- Bans on hazardous chemicals
- Requires audit and reporting
- State assessment of program needs
Federal Bill: Break Free From Plastic Act, 2021
- Establishes federal EPR:
- Set targets for recovery rates, and post-consumer recycled content in beverage containers, increasing over time
- National bottle deposit program
- Carryout bag tax
- Bans on single-use plastics to go into effect over time
- Temporary moratorium on new or expanded permits for certain facilities that manufacture plastics
- Limit exported plastic waste
Break Free from Plastic Act
How should EPR be designed?
The Debate: Who's responsible?
Shared responsibility?
Voluntary vs. mandated
Performance targets
Other goals
"Shared" Responsibility and Policy Design
Part 2
NY EPR Recommendations
How can EPR work for New York?
- Producers propose targets for post-consumer recycled content and recovery rates
- Include eco-modulation incentive credits for reusable packaging in fee structure
- Ban on toxic chemicals packaging
- Include a version of the moratorium on new and expanded plastic manufacturing
- Prevent "Advanced recycling" for plastic