2022 Legislative Session: Update, Packaging and Thank You!

Earlier this year, with the start of the Maryland legislative session, Trash Free Maryland focused on an exciting new approach for waste and litter reduction -- producer responsibility for packaging. We knew the legislative session would be unusually busy. Critical climate legislation, lingering pandemic conditions, and the end of an Administration term all played a part. Robust hearings featuring our Coalition partners and representatives of many other interests generated valuable discussion but in the end, the legislation did not move. Not terribly unusual for a new policy given the other factors at play; nor disappointing. Not disappointing because we know these hearings and the many, many discussions put us in a great position for next year's legislative session!

Producer responsibility, the first fresh approach to the recycling conundrum in a decade, would create a market based system to incentivize producers who design our packaging to reduce the volume of it and make it more recyclable. Packaging waste makes up about a third of our waste.

Delegate Brooke Lierman of Baltimore City and Senator Malcolm Augustine of Prince George’s County introduced bills to make this exciting new policy a reality. Their leadership is immensely appreciated. Trash Free Maryland led a coalition of organizations supporting this work and we will be stronger for it. Our thanks to the Baltimore Waterfront Partnership, the National Aquarium, the Sierra Club, the Surfrider Foundation, and Maryland Public Interest Research Group among many others for their participation and leadership!

At Trash Free Maryland we often say we work toward lasting change. Lasting change usually does not come easily. It takes laser-like focus and perseverance.

We look forward to working very hard over the summer to build on the tremendous public concern and outcry over litter, to build on sound policies that have been shown to work, like eliminating certain types of single use plastic, and to build momentum around better recycling laws which will reduce trash!

We simply could not do this work without you. Thank you!