Anderson calls for extended producer responsibility and state packaging legislation
Anderson advocates for EPR laws shifting recycling costs from taxpayers to manufacturers, noting NYC could receive over $100 million annually. He urges Albany to pass packaging EPR legislation and thanks the Council for prior support.
As we look to the future, we're encouraged by efforts to create new partnerships to reduce waste, increase waste diversion, and move to a more circular economy.
We have long supported the creation of extended producer responsibility laws to shift the financial and physical responsibility for recycling and disposing of products
from local governments like us and our taxpayers to the companies that manufacture, sell, and distribute these products to consumers.
Chief among these is packaging waste, created explicitly for one-time use and often difficult to separate, sort, and remanufacture, leaving New York taxpayers holding the bill to collect and process these materials.
An EPR program for packaging would incentivize manufacturers to reduce waste and increase recyclability
and the use of recycled content, lowering recycling and disposal costs for cities, saving taxpayers money, and reducing the waste sent to landfills.
Based on bills previously introduced in the state legislature, New York City alone stands to receive more than $100 million annually to support our recycling program.
An investment in new infrastructure and consumer education.
I thank the Council for its prior support on this important issue, and I call on our partners in Albany to work with municipalities and recyclers across the state to get this bill across the finish line.
line once and for all.