Top: Producers of packaging such as single-use plastic are required under Maryland’s new law to fund the recycling system to sell their products in the state.
On April 7, the Maryland General Assembly passed SB 901, intended to establish a statewide Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program for packaging. Once signed by Governor Moore, Maryland will become the sixth state in the U.S. to enact packaging EPR legislation —after Maine (2021), Oregon (2021), Colorado (2022), California (2022), and Minnesota (2024). Maryland’s newly passed packaging EPR bill is based on standard packaging EPR elements that the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) developed with its members over the past 15 years, according to PSI, which includes requiring producers to fund and manage the recycling system and register with a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) to sell their products in the state. The PRO must also submit an implementation plan (“stewardship plan”) to a multi-stakeholder Advisory Council for review and, ultimately, for approval to the state oversight agency, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE).
Another important element of SB 901 is the requirement that the PRO charge fees on producer packaging that incentivize sustainable packaging that can be reduced, reused, recycled, or composted. These eco-modulated fees would, for example, cost a producer more for a package that is made of materials that lack a recycling market than one that has value and can be easily recycled. Similar to Minnesota’s 2024 packaging EPR law, SB 901 establishes a phased approach to modernizing the state’s recycling system — packaging producers will contribute 50% of system costs by July 1, 2028, 75% by July 1, 2029, and 90% by July 1, 2030. Funds will go towards maintaining and improving recycling, composting, and reuse programs; statewide education and outreach; and other key program aspects. A key difference in Maryland’s packaging EPR bill, notes PSI, is that it allows multiple PROs to operate from the onset of the program, promoting flexibility and competition within the system, subject to MDE oversight and approval.
