Report: Top Polluter (CONT’D FROM PAGE 16)
Groups including Ameripen, the Can Manufacturers Institute, the Flexible Packaging Association, the Biode- gradable Products Institute, the Plastics Industry Associa- tion, the Carton Council and more have previously voiced support for an alternate EPR bill, known as the Affordable Waste Reduction Act and sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Monica Martinez, which has not moved. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act also passed the Senate last year, but ran out of time for consideration in the Assembly. This came as a relief to packaging and brand groups, which dislike what they see as a bill trying to do a lot more than set up an EPR program. Ameripen, for example, has called it “overly prescriptive and unfeasible.” Certain waste and recycling companies have also opposed the bill. The bill would also restrict the state from counting chemical recycling technologies as recycling and calls for phasing out PFAS and certain other chemicals from pack- aging. This year, the session’s end date in the Assembly has been extended from June 12 to June 17. In a letter promulgated by the Business Council of New York State and signed by packaging groups this year, the organization said the Martinez bill was modeled on “re- cently adopted Minnesota legislation, and informed by programs adopted in other states” to create “a more work- able approach to increasing the recovery and reuse of post-consumer packaging and paper products.”
One complaint, filed in November 2022, warned of “polluted water destroying the Upper James River fishery.” The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality dis- missed the complaint. Victoria Higgins, Virginia director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said the Covington facility is a clear example of how outdated equipment and regulatory gaps are allowing the paper industry to skirt accountability. “Pollution from industrial factories burning trees is an un- der-counted source of climate-warming pollution,” she said. “In order to deliver on the promise of clean air and a stable climate in Virginia, we need to ensure facilities like the more than century-old Smurfit Westrock mill are mov- ing to cleaner energy sources.” New York EPR Bill Unpopular With Packaging Groups Awaits Fate With days remaining in New York’s legislative session, an extended producer responsibility bill that is unpopular with packaging-related trade groups has again moved forward. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, a bill sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Pete Harck- ham, passed the Senate. It was delivered to the Assembly and referred to the Ways and Means Committee.
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June 16, 2025
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