Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
John Fischer, deputy division director for solid waste at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, standing, discusses the current state of municipal solid waste management and recycling affairs during an Extended Producer Responsibility Commission meeting on April 14 in Boston. West Stockbridge Select Board Member Andrew Potter, pictured in the back left corner, is the MMA’s representative on the commission.
A new Extended Producer Responsibility Commission, established by a clean energy law enacted last November, held its inaugural meeting on April 14 in Boston.
The commission’s charge is to recommend extended producer responsibility, or EPR, policies to the Legislature.
EPR is a practice that prevents adverse impacts from products and packaging — such as health, safety, environmental and social effects — throughout the lifecycle of a product, from the point of manufacturing to its eventual disposal or recycling. The “product stewardship” also enables certain economic benefits, as manufacturers and retailers of products seek to ensure that a product has maximum value and minimal impact throughout its lifecycle.
According to the Product Stewardship Institute, extended producer responsibility “includes, at a minimum, the requirement that the producer’s responsibility for their product extends to post-consumer management of that product and its packaging.”
The MMA has supported EPR as a way of shifting responsibility for difficult-to-manage products — such as paint, mattresses, electronics, and packaging and paper — to retailers and manufacturers, rather than municipalities.
The Extended Producer Responsibility Commission will hold several meetings throughout the year to discuss and identify best policies for implementing EPR programs in Massachusetts. Its second meeting will focus on extended producer responsibility for paint, one of MMA’s legislative priorities in the area of environmental policy. Future meetings will tackle the topics such as mattresses, batteries, electronics, and plastics and packaging.
West Stockbridge Select Board Member Andrew Potter is the MMA’s representative on the commission.
For more information, including meeting dates, visit the commission website.
The commission has created a comment portal for the public to submit ideas, information and questions. Interested individuals can also use the portal to submit a request to be included in email updates.