Support Extended Producer Responsibility for Paint and Mattresses
The Massachusetts legislature has an historic opportunity to improve recycling in the Commonwealth. By March 31, the Joint Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture will decide the fate of several extended producer responsibility bills. Please urge ENRA to advance these EPR bills: H938 (paint) and H988/S569 (mattresses). EPR takes the cost of recycling or safe disposal of products off of taxpayers and puts it where it fairly belongs: on the producers who design and make the goods, the retailers who profit from their sale, and the consumers who benefit from their use. According to a 2021 MassPSC municipal survey, municipalities spend over $11 million managing mattresses and over $2 million on paint annually.
Effective and cost-efficient EPR laws have been implemented in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Oregon and other states. Nearly every pound of a mattress can be recycled. See the process here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQmiDifjuP8 See how paint gets recycled here: https://www.paintcare.org/faqs/
Thank you for helping to improve recycling in Massachusetts!
Yours truly,