Most EPRs are NOT what you think they are.

Under Construction!

AT THE MOMENT (as of March 29, 2022), A call for action below. It is URGENT!

Please call NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie 518-455-3791 and NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins 518-455-2585 and tell them to kick the EPR bill out of the state budget!  Please call your Assemblymember and Senator, too.

Please call every day this week.  The budget will be finalized by this Friday, April 1st. Decision making process is underway.

Background

The Governor proposed an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Packaging Reduction bill in the state budget, which has serious flaws including placing the packaging companies themselves in charge of creating their own packaging standards, failing to include performance requirements to reduce packaging, failing to phase out the use of priority toxic chemicals from packaging and allowing plastic incineration – a dangerous, false solution promoted by industry.  Senator Kaminsky’s EPR proposal has similar problems.  In a recent letter sent to Speaker Heastie and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, over 160 groups from across the state opposed these flawed EPR Packaging Reduction bills, requested their removal from the budget as it is a policy issue, which has no fiscal component for New York State. All of the organizations are urging the New York State legislature to work on an effective EPR bill and Bottle Bill during the regular legislative session following the budget session.  

Assembly Member Steve Englebright, Chair of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee, will be introducing an environmentally sound EPR Packaging Reduction bill and an expanded Bottle Bill in the next few days. The expanded bottle bill would vastly improve the 40 year old Bottle Bill by increasing the deposit to a dime and expanding the bill to include non-carbonated beverages and alcohol to reduce litter and divert the waste stream burdening our local municipalities. The small increment in the deposit would help “mom and pop” redemption centers and “recycling canners” who rely on bottle collection for their livelihoods.

Thank you for calling!

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Gov. Hochul’s EPR proposals in the budget has so many problems. See the one-page fact sheet below.

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BFFP US’s guiding document on EPR policies – BFFP’s critical notes on EPR
it warns against corporate-run EPR programs that might replace local recycling programs and jobs and end up being a mere greenwashing scheme.