FPA Signs Coalition Letter to Members of the New York State Legislature Regarding Essential Elements of a Workable, Effective EPR Program

The undersigned businesses and associations support the adoption of a workable, cost-effective expanded producer responsibility program for post-consumer packaging materials. We believe it is essential that any program: be guided by the findings of an assessment of existing recycling programs and infrastructure, secondary markets, current levels of municipal and private spending, and actual recovery and reuse rates on a material-specific basis; set a workable timetable that allows for public and state review and approval of producer responsibility plans, and adequate time for producers to organize and implement a final plan; provide a reasonable sharing of collection and management costs among packaging producers, municipalities, and private haulers; and allow material recovery and reuse “rates and dates” to be based on actual experiences in the recovery and reuse of materials, practical rates of program expansion, and program costs, with “rates and dates” to be proposed by producers but approved and finalized by the state, with the ability to modify targets based on their feasibility and costs.