Submission to The Notes for October:  Saving Money in our Communities

 

 

The Maine legislature has overwhelmingly voted to pass numerous bills (electronic-waste, cell phones, mercury containing thermostats and light bulbs) to ensure that products that contain toxic materials are safely collected, recycled and turned into new products, preventing waste, protecting public health and promoting the sustainable use and reuse of materials.  These laws have become model policy and have been duplicated around the country.  In the case of Maine’s computer and television recycling law, 24 states have followed Maine’s lead.  These laws direct producers to fund the collection and recycling of their products at the end of the product’s useful life, promoting the sustainable reuse of materials and preventing the release of hazardous chemicals into the environment.  In addition, they reduce costs for local governments and taxpayers and create jobs through the collection and recycling of formerly discarded products. 

 

Local governments can't afford to manage the growing wave of consumer product waste.  As more and more products are deemed “hazardous” the state's response has been to ban them from disposal.  Unfortunately, the state-mandated bans must be enforced by local governments. And they don’t have the money to do it.  It’s the classic unfunded mandate—a government directive without the resources to enforce it.  The intentions were good, but the responsibility is misplaced onto local governments.  To help with this issue, I am pleased to report that the Legislative Council has given approval to include my bill, “An Act to Provide Leadership, Tax Fairness and Responsible Recycling for Consumer Products” in the upcoming short session of the 124^th Legislature.  This bill builds off the success of these product stewardship laws and establishes a process to systematically evaluate products for their impact on health, the environment, and local taxpayers through managing the products at the end of their useful life and sets out to create public/private partnerships to collect, reuse and recycle consumer products – starting with products that contain hazardous materials. 

 

Right now, in Yarmouth and our surrounding communities, taxpayers foot the bill for the removal of paints, stains, aerosol cans, adhesives, pool chemicals, furniture polish, weed killers, roofing tar……the list is long.  Here are some quick facts:  Today, while most consumer products can be recycled, the vast majority ends up in the trash.  Each person in the United States creates 4.5 pounds of garbage a day.  That is twice what we each generated thirty years ago.  Manufactured products and associated packaging make up 75% of what we throw away.  Although 80% of what we throw away can be recycled, we only recycle just over a third, so the vast majority of products – and the resources they represent - are thrown away and wasted.  Many consumer products contain toxic materials, which threaten our health and the environment when disposed of in incinerators or landfills.  Hundreds of products make our lives easier, until we don’t need them anymore. Then, if they’re not disposed of responsibly, the acids, toxic chemicals, mercury and other heavy metals they contain become a danger to our health and the environment.

 

Maine now needs a framework to systematically expand product stewardship partnerships with manufacturers to increase the collection and recycling of consumer products.  The bill would:  Direct DEP to systematically evaluate which products are most ripe for product stewardship recycling systems and create rules to develop the systems, and each proposed recycling system would be subject to public review through comment periods, public hearings and oversight through the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP).   I hope you will join me in supporting this bill as it works its way through the committee and legislative process, starting in January.  If you would like more information about this bill, or any other legislative issue, please contact me at melissawalshinnes@gmail.com or 846-4302.   Now through the end of December, on Monday afternoons from 3-4, I will be at the Royal Bean coffee/tea house on Main Street.  Please come by if you’d like to introduce yourself or talk about any issue.  If you’d like to receive my monthly updates and information sharing messages, please send me your name and e-mail to be added to the Yarmouth listing.  Thank you, and please enjoy the upcoming holidays in our wonderful town.