NYPSC Quarterly Newsletter – Winter 2018

NYPSC Updates
NYPSC Passes Model Resolution Urging NY Legislature to Consider Benefits of Packaging EPR
NYPSC Presents on EPR for Packaging to SWANA NY Board and at NYSAR3 Conference
NYPSC and PSI Receive NY SEA Grant to Reduce Plastic Pollution in the Buffalo Niagara Region
NY Drug Take-Back Act Comes into Effect in 2019

New York State News
$900,000 Available to Help Cover NY Municipalities’ E-waste Costs
Reducing the Impacts of HHW on Water Resources in Rural NY Communities

National Product Stewardship Updates
California Governor Jerry Brown Signs EPR Law for Pharmaceuticals and Medical Sharps
Vermont Product Stewardship Council (VTPSC) Celebrates 10th Anniversary
Cost is Main Factor in Setting Local Recycling Priorities
Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Proposes National Point-of-Sale Fee to Fund CRT Recycling

Events, Webinars, & Conferences

What We’re Reading

NYPSC Updates

NYPSC Passes Model Resolution Urging NY Legislature to Consider Benefits of Packaging EPR
NYPSC believes that the current recycling crisis in New York is an opportunity to beneficially transform the state’s materials management economy. Although local governments have no input into the design or marketing of packaging and printed paper materials, they are charged with the unfunded mandate to achieve waste diversion goals. However, an extended producer responsibility (EPR) system would require the corporate producers of these products to ensure their materials are reused or recycled responsibly. An EPR system would also ensure that health and environmental costs of these materials (which are currently externalized) are included in the product price, thereby incentivizing design for reduction, recyclability, and reduced toxicity.

NYPSC encourages your agency to consider the environmental and economic benefits that will be achieved by holding producers responsible for waste management costs associated with the packaging and printed paper they put on the market.

View the resolution and consider passing it in your jurisdiction. To support and accelerate this much-needed change, help us urge the New York State Legislature to consider the benefits of EPR legislation for packaging and printed paper.

NYPSC Presents on EPR for Packaging to SWANA NY Board and at NYSAR3 Conference
Last month at a SWANA NY Board meeting, Andrew Radin, NYPSC Chair, and Scott Cassel, CEO and Founder of the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), explained how packaging EPR works and how it can improve recycling in the Empire State. On November 7, they spoke on packaging EPR at the New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse and Recycling conference.

NYPSC and PSI Receive NY SEA Grant to Reduce Plastic Pollution in the Buffalo Niagara Region
NYPSC and PSI received funding from the NY Sea Grant to help restaurants, residents, and tourists in the Buffalo Niagara region make smart foodware choices by replacing disposable plastic products with alternatives that are compatible with existing city recycling/composting infrastructure. The project will result in an educational toolkit that will provide resources for other restaurants, governments, and tourism organizations across the United States.

This project builds upon a previous NYPSC and PSI pilot project in Greenport, NY on the North Fork of Long Island. The impressive plastic reduction and cost savings achieved by local restaurants in Greenport are featured in the Plastic Reduction Guide for Restaurants.

NY Drug Take-Back Act Comes into Effect in 2019
The Drug Take-Back Act, signed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in July, starts to take effect in 2019. The law requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to finance and manage the safe collection and disposal of unused medications statewide. Drug producers must submit their proposed drug take-back program plan to NYS Department of Health (DOH) by July 5, 2019. DOH has the power to ensure that any approved program plan would guarantee adequate consumer convenience and education in rural and under-served regions, and must approve or deny proposed plan(s), in consultation with DEC, by September 3, 2019.

After the drug manufacturers’ program plans are approved by DOH, all pharmacies with ten or more U.S. locations must participate as drug collection sites to ensure the public can conveniently access safe drug disposal. Pharmacies and other collectors may use kiosks, mail-back, or “other” systems approved by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

DOH, which will oversee the program, has started to plan for implementation of the law. On December 17, 2018, DOH convened a meeting with impacted entities in preparation for the law’s effective date. Product stewardship experts from NYPSC and PSI attended the meeting to keep tabs on topics vital to the law’s efficacy, such as ensuring convenience, public education and reporting requirements, and the program timeline, among other questions.

New York State News

$900,000 Available to Help Cover NY Municipalities’ E-waste Costs
For the fourth year running, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will offer grant funding to offset municipalities’ costs to collect and recycle electronic waste. The program will reimburse up to 50% of eligible expenses incurred in CY 2018. Applications will be accepted from January 1, 2019 through February 28, 2019. For more details and to how to apply, visit DEC’s website.

The grant program currently helps municipalities manage their costs, but more effective regulations – and, potentially, amendments to the state electronics recycling law – are needed to ensure adequate funding from electronics manufacturers in the first place.

Reducing the Impacts of HHW on Water Resources in Rural NY Communities
Thanks to funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, PSI will help low-income communities in rural New York and Vermont set up convenient collection sites for waste batteries, mercury thermostats, and pharmaceuticals as well as raise public awareness of proper management of these materials. If your community is interested in participating, or you are aware of a community that might be, please contact Suna Bayrakal at PSI. Participating communities must be low-income with a population less than 5,000. More project details are available here.

Building on its 2017 National Pesticide Stewardship Discussion and Pesticide Stewardship Briefing Document, PSI will also be working nationally to identify options to improve safe pesticide collection and management infrastructure, including sustainable funding and increased consumer convenience.

National Product Stewardship Updates

California Governor Jerry Brown Signs EPR Law for Pharmaceuticals and Medical Sharps
The law establishes separate statewide extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs for pharmaceuticals and sharps. It is the first state level law to address both products and is California’s 9th EPR law. California now holds the most EPR laws of any U.S. state, followed closely by Vermont (8 laws) and Maine (7 laws).

Vermont Product Stewardship Council (VTPSC) Celebrates 10th Anniversary
VTPSC recently celebrated a decade of accomplishments, including the passage of EPR laws for primary batteries, electronics, paint, mercury lamps, and thermostats. The state leads per capita collection rates for many of these products. For more information, view the press release.

Cost is Main Factor in Setting Local Recycling Priorities
At the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ fall Municipal Waste Management Association summit, city leaders from across the country shared challenges and opportunities for recycling. Rising costs are driving local efforts to reduce contamination, improve public education, and explore alternative policies such as extended producer responsibility (EPR).

Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Proposes National Point-of-Sale Fee to Fund CRT Recycling
Under the proposed program, consumers would pay a fee of $10 or less at the point of sale on new TVs and monitors to fund CRT recycling. The program is designed to end after seven years (although manufacturers would have the authority to end it even earlier). While the fee program has been proposed as an alternative to EPR, well-designed EPR laws provide sustainable financing for the ongoing collection and recycling of a comprehensive range of consumer electronics entering the marketplace.

Events, Webinars, and Conferences

  • Free webinar recording: Global Best Practices: Packaging EPR’s Role in Advancing the Circular Economy | Product Stewardship Institute | Download
  • Free webinar recording: Paint Stewardship 101 | Product Stewardship Institute | Download
  • Free webinar recording: Global Best Practices for Sharps Take-Back Programs | Product Stewardship Institute | Download
  • Free webinar recording: Advanced Paint Stewardship | Product Stewardship Institute | Download

What We’re Reading