AUGUSTA – The Environmental Protection Board adopted new rules Thursday that are designed to reduce the amount of cardboard and other packaging materials in Maine.
The rules are in response to a 2021 state law that is intended to “reduce the burden on municipalities to manage packaging material and improve the design and management of packaging material,” according to a staff memo. of the Department of Environmental Protection.
The court voted 4-1 Thursday after hearing from supporters and opponents.
“We believe Maine cannot afford to wait any longer,” said Sarah Woodbury of Defend Our Health. “Maine municipalities and taxpayers already bear the financial and environmental burden of managing packaging waste and have needed relief for years.”
But on the other hand, Mark Page of Oakhurst Dairy, said the rules were confusing and did not explain the cost to businesses.
“The Maine program is unlike any other program in the country or the world,” he said. “We would like some consistency. How do we compete with businesses in New Hampshire and Massachusetts that don’t operate under the same rules? We’re going to be at a competitive disadvantage.”
The board’s vote came despite officials from the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and other business groups asking the board to slow down the process. The chamber and five other business groups wrote a letter to Gov. Janet Mills asking her to “consider requesting a pause in the regulatory process” to make the rules more consistent with how other states run similar programs.
The groups say four other states — Minnesota, Colorado, Oregon and California — have required companies to write rules governing program funding and outline efforts to improve recycling.
In Maine, the state is adopting “a state-run approach,” according to the letter.
“Over the past few months, the Maine State Chamber has heard from members that they are currently budgeting for 2026, but the unknown cost of this program creates significant uncertainty,” Patrick Woodcock, president of the chamber, he said in a statement issued earlier this week.
The rules require companies that produce packaging material to pay “the average cost per ton for recycling.” If the material is not recyclable, the company must pay twice the cost of “the most expensive easily recyclable packaging material.”
The program is years away from becoming a reality and several times on Thursday, the member of the board of BEP, Robert Duchesne, said that he anticipates that the Legislature will consider the projects in the coming months to change the 2021 law.
As currently planned, the state will ask companies to make a bid for the management of the program next fall, but probably won’t sign a contract until April 2026, according to a timeline on the department’s website.
The companies will be required to pay the fees starting in 2026, with their first annual payments due in 2027. That’s the first year that participating municipalities will begin receiving reimbursement for the packaging material they processed in 2026, according to the timeline .
Susan Lessard, council president and city manager in Bucksport, said she anticipates the rule will increase the costs of consumer products as companies try to recoup the costs of the program.
“We moved that cost out of the property tax to something else,” he said. “It’s going to have to go somewhere else because manufacturers aren’t adding cost to their system without moving that cost.”
But council member Barbara Vickery, who voted in support of the rule, said people are required to pay their property taxes but can make different choices about what to buy at the store.
“I as a consumer have a choice about which products I buy and if as part of all this we consumers start to change our own behaviors to say that I don’t want to buy it, not only is it more expensive, but you see . to all the packaging,” he said.
