Every year, the Maryland General Assembly considers upwards of 2,500 bills of which as many as 700 or more may become law. And all this happens during a 90-day session*! MRN advocates on behalf of the Maryland recycling community to ensure that legislative initiatives achieve their stated goals in a cost- and time-effective manner without creating unintended consequences that hobble our mission to promote a healthy, sustainable environment. If you’re not a member, please support our efforts by joining today!.

As we entered the 2022 Session, MRN initially supported several legislative initiatives that addressed the following issues to improve recycling and sustainable materials management in Maryland: truth in labeling, EPR and post-consumer recycling content. In addition to presenting statement letters to the respective legislative committees on these and others, MRN’s Legislative Action Committee testified on four bills during the session. Below are the final stances as well as the status of each bill.

Note: The Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 and the Grant Program to Reduce and Compost School Waste were signed into law by the Governor this year. MRN did not take a stance on either of these bills.

HB0018/SB0143 Maryland Paint Stewardship - Requiring producers of architectural paint or a representative organization to submit a plan for the establishment of a Paint Stewardship Program to the Department of the Environment on or before January 1, 2023, and in accordance with certain requirements; requiring the Department to review and approve certain plans, including a certain assessment, submitted in accordance with the Paint Stewardship Program; prohibiting the sale of certain architectural paint under certain circumstances beginning on a certain date; etc. Passed House, stalled in the Senate

*MRN supported this legislation with amendments (read the full statement).

HB0217 Task Force on Recycling Policy and Recycling and Waste Systems in Maryland - Establishing the Task Force on Recycling Policy and Recycling and Waste Systems in Maryland to review the Maryland Recycling Act, study the recycling and waste systems in Maryland, and make recommendations on updating the Maryland Recycling Act and implementing regional recycling and waste disposal facilities; and requiring the Task Force to report its findings and recommendations to certain legislative Committees by June 30, 2023. Stalled in committee

*MRN welcomed this legislation as an opportunity participate in a review of the 1988 Maryland Recycling Act in order to update the Act (read the full statement).

HB0307/SB0292 Environment - Packaging Materials - Producer Responsibility - Requiring the Department of Environment to conduct a statewide recycling needs assessment every 10 years; requiring, by April 1, 2024, producers of certain packaging materials to individually or as part of a producer responsibility organization submit a producer responsibility plan to the Department for approval; prohibiting, on or after October 1, 2024, a producer of certain packaging materials from selling or distributing the packaging materials unless the producer has an approved producer responsibility plan; etc. Stalled in committee

*EPR laws cover a variety of products and are in effect in 32 states. They are intended to shift the cost of recycling certain products from taxpayers and fee payers to the producers of those products. Maryland currently has EPR laws for certain electronic products and batteries. While MRN fully supports EPR, wehad several concerns over the complexity of the bill, thus opposed the bill as written (read the full statement). We remain committed to working with the sponsors to continually improve upon the contents of a future bill.

HB0700 Environment – Products and Packaging – Labeling, Marketing, and Advertising for Recycling - Altering certain plastic resin labeling requirements for rigid plastic containers and plastic bottles; prohibiting the display of a certain symbol on rigid plastic containers and plastic bottles if the containers and bottles do not meet certain requirements; prohibiting a person from making certain environmental marketing claims; prohibiting a person from offering for sale, selling, distributing, or importing into the State any product or packaging labeled with or depicting certain environmental marketing claims; etc. Stalled in committee

*Maryland is one of 34 states that require the use of this code to identify the predominant resin type of a plastic package. Numbers from 1-7 are placed inside a “chasing arrows” sign to help consumers identify plastic packaging by resin type. The chasing arrows are the universal recycling symbol. Its use implies the plastic package is recyclable. This is not always the case and causes consumer confusion and contamination problems at recycling processing facilities. MRN supports, at a very minimum, the removal of the requirement that the chasing arrows be used as part of this code (read the full statement).

HB1239 Environment - Plastic and Glass Products - Postconsumer Recycled Content Program  - Prohibiting certain producers of certain plastic and glass products from selling, offering for sale, or distributing the products to any person in the State unless certain conditions are met; requiring certain producers of certain plastic and glass products to, individually or as part of a representative organization, register and pay an annual registration fee of $1,000 to the Department of the Environment; establishing certain minimum postconsumer recycled content percentage requirements for certain products; etc. Stalled in committee

*MRN supports recycled content requirements for plastic and glass packaging and supported this bill with amendments (read the full statement). We will continue to work with legislators to help draft bills that we believed will help advance our mission to promote the sustainable reduction, reuse and recycling (the 3 “R’s”) of materials otherwise destined for disposal and the purchase of products made with recycled material content.

Go to the Legislative & Regulatory page to learn more about MRN’s legislative advocacy and updates on upcoming sessions.

If you have any comments or questions in the meanwhile, please don’t hesitate to contact us by reply by email or at (443) 741-8740.