Skip to main content

AF&PA Disappointed in Governor Moore’s Enactment of Maryland EPR Program

WASHINGTON – The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) President and CEO Heidi Brock today issued the following statement in response to Maryland Governor Wes Moore’s decision to advance SB 901, into law:

“We are disappointed by Governor Wes Moore’s decision to sign SB 901 into law and create an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program in Maryland. As a result of SB 901’s rushed legislative consideration process, this new law has the potential to disrupt the state’s recycling systems and cause wide-ranging impacts to the paper industry."

The legislation, with an estimated $500 million price tag, circumvented a very deliberate and intentional Needs Assessment process aimed at generating impactful solutions.

"This costly approach to EPR ignores the complexities of the state’s recycling system and the paper industry’s significant recycling achievements. The legislation also imposes fees on “paper products,” like unprinted copy paper, which do not typically end up in recycling bins. As a member of the EPR Advisory Council, AF&PA looks forward to promoting practical, evidence-based implementation strategies to mitigate harm to Maryland’s recycling efforts.”

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) serves to advance public policies that foster economic growth, job creation and global competitiveness for a vital sector that makes the essential paper and packaging products Americans use every day. The U.S. forest products industry employs more than 925,000 people, largely in rural America, and is among the top 10 manufacturing sector employers in 44 states. Our industry accounts for approximately 4.7% of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP, manufacturing more than $435 billion in products annually. AF&PA member companies are significant producers and users of renewable biomass energy and are committed to making sustainable products for a sustainable future through the industry’s decades-long initiative — Better Practices, Better Planet 2030