Maryland’s EPR Legislation Guided by Missteps
Lawmakers Aware of the Risks SB 901 Has for the Paper Industry
Maryland lawmakers are rushing to consider SB 901. This misguided legislation introduces an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for packaging and paper products.
The EPR legislation has wide-ranging, negative impacts for the paper industry. In fact, legislators in the Maryland House of Delegates seemed aware of the risks SB 901 has for the paper industry. They initially included a provision in the bill to ensure paper’s continued recycling success, only to remove it at the last minute.
This isn’t the only misstep Maryland legislators have taken. Let’s break down the issues with the bill.
1) Legislators Wrote the Bill Before They Had the Data
Maryland invested in a Needs Assessment to understand the current state of their waste and recycling system, something AF&PA supported. The state also tasked the Maryland Advisory Board to review the final Needs Assessment report and provide recommendations based on the data.
However, legislators proceeded to write SB 901 before the report was final. Worse, once the Assessment was completed a few weeks ago, lawmakers didn’t wait for it to be reviewed by the Maryland Advisory Board.
Instead, they pushed forward without considering stakeholder input. This means a policy framework, with an estimated $500 million price tag, is not fully vetted or understood.
Now, the bill has advanced through key phases of the legislative process. All without making informed, data-driven decisions.
That’s a surefire way to enact a flawed policy that may not achieve the legislator’s goals.
2) Paper Recycling Works
Maryland’s paper commercial recycling system is robust. Commercial recycling streams generate 60% of the paper products for recycling in Maryland.
The products include cardboard and paper from grocery and big box stores, schools, hospitals and more. Maryland can sell these materials to paper mills, which offsets the cost of recycling collection. 80% of U.S. paper mills use recycled paper and cardboard to make new products.
EPR programs are helpful for materials that don’t have strong end markets or aren’t highly recycled. Paper is a highly recycled material with strong end markets. That’s something Maryland lawmakers overlooked.
As a result, the EPR policy could disrupt already efficient recycling streams with new, complex administrative procedures and fees.
3) Paper Has a Complex Supply Chain
EPR programs are intended to improve recycling rates for products that end up in recycling bins. However, Maryland’s EPR legislation currently includes “paper products.” That definition includes things like reams of white copy paper that hasn’t been printed on. This is called an intermediary product.
These intermediary products are rarely found in residential recycling bins. Instead, these products are sold to be made into a final product such as a flyer or poster. Yet, the proposed legislation would put fees on these products despite them not ending up in recycling bins.
These double-dip fees will increase costs throughout the supply chain and ultimately, the Maryland consumer will pay them.
4) The Paper Industry Voluntarily Invests to Improve Paper Recycling Rates
The U.S. paper industry set its first recycling goal in 1990 to improve paper recycling rates. Today, we recycle nearly 60% more paper today than we did in 1990.
Additionally, since 2019, our industry has announced or is expected to complete projects by 2025 that will use more than 9 million tons of recycled paper. Projects include building new mills, converting or expanding existing mills, and updating machinery and equipment.
Our industry is increasing the use of recycled paper in new products. We’re also working to increase the percentage of our products that are recyclable.
This success has been driven by our industry’s private investments in recycling infrastructure over decades. Any EPR program must fully and fairly credit our early and voluntary actions to increase recycling in Maryland and across the country.
Our industry is already committed to improving recycling rates and works to capture as much recycled paper as possible. Recycled paper is vital to our supply chain.
Recycling policy impacts millions of Marylanders every day. Maryland legislators owe it to their constituents to get this bill right.
Instead of rushing this misinformed EPR legislation, we strongly encourage Maryland lawmakers to consider the data, their constituents’ interests, and stakeholder input so they don’t put even more at risk.