EPR for Packaging: A proposal for reducing plastic waste, eliminating toxins, and protecting public health

Description: State legislatures across the United States are considering bills promoting extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging, whose essential function is to shift the cost of packaging disposal from consumers to the companies that produce the products. Such a policy would signal major changes in the waste system and an economy-wide transition, as nearly every piece of packaging in stores would be covered under EPR.

According to former EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck, director of Beyond Plastics, EPR has the potential to be an effective policy tool for preventing plastic pollution, improving recycling, decreasing toxic additives, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Ineffective EPR bills, Enck warns, will delay action on plastic reduction for years.

Please join us for a conversation with Enck and Kirstie Pecci, executive director of Just Zero, on their EPR  proposal designed to move packaging away from single-use plastics — the most common source of pollution and a major contributor to climate change — toward reusable, refillable, and truly recyclable packaging, while funding recycling in municipalities.

The session will be moderated by Massachusetts state Senator Marc Pacheco, and include remarks from: Dr. Philip Landrigan, who directs the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College, and whose research examines the health impacts of toxic environmental hazards; and Dr. Adrienne Hollis, an environmental attorney and environmental toxicologist, who is vice president of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization at the National Wildlife Federation.

CSG East provides a forum for the exchange of best practices, but does not lobby for or against any specific legislation.

Speakers:

Judith Enck
Former EPA Region 2 Administrator
Director, Beyond Plastics

Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc, FAAP
Director, Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good
Boston College

Adrienne L. Hollis, Ph.D., J.D.
Vice President, Environmental Justice, Climate and Community Revitalization, Conservation
National Wildlife Federation

Kirstie Pecci, J.D.
Executive Director, Just Zero

Moderator: Massachusetts state Senator Marc Pacheco, Co-Chair, CSG East Energy and Environment Committee; Chair, CSG State Legislative Climate Alliance