When Maine consumers buy something from companies large and small, they must often pay to dispose of all the cardboard and plastic that it’s packaged in. Businesses could soon shoulder more of those costs under a bill that was supported by Maine’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
The bill sponsor submitted the bill because it has become expensive for Maine communities to recycle household trash, and as a result, they’re sending more of it to the landfill. Representative Nicole Grohoski, an Ellsworth Democrat, has sponsored a bill that would make companies pay a fee when they sell packaged products in Maine. Maine would be the first state in the nation to try this approach.
The funds would be paid out to communities to help them recycle.
Some companies have opposed the bill. They argue it would increase prices and the cost of doing business.
But on Monday, the Legislature’s ENR committee voted eight-to-three to recommend an amended version of Grohoski’s bill, and it voted against a similar bill from Sen. James Dill of Old Town that had more protections for industries.
The head of Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection spoke in favor of Grohoski’s bill.
