By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI
News staff
EDITOR'S NOTE: Rep. Donna Walsh has been one of the leading champions of legislation to require producers of dangerous or hard to dispose of products to take responsibility for safe disposal and recycling.
PROVIDENCE — Rhode
Island has a long history with trash. It was the first state, in 1986, to enact
mandatory recycling. It also was an early adopter of take-back programs for car
batteries and tires.
During a recent
Statehouse hearing of the new Senate commission studying comprehensive
statewide waste reduction, much of this history was recounted by the people who
helped shape it.
Producer
responsibility sounds complicated, but it’s already happening in Rhode Island
with mercury auto switches and thermostats, electronic waste and soon house
paint.
“It’s designed to
create a system of shared responsibility from all parties in the consumer
chain,” said Jamie Rhodes, director of Clean Water Action Rhode Island, who
also serves on the commission.
The new paint
collection program became law earlier this year. It's unique as an industry-run
model rather than the state or municipal programs like those for old mattresses
or used motor oil.
“What this is, is a
major shift of the responsibility of recycling and disposal from the local
government to private industry,” Bell said.
Comprehensive producer
responsibility programs, which include packaging, are gaining acceptance around
the world. Waste in the United States, however, is regulated by states, so a
patchwork of programs are in place across the country, including 10 states with
bottle bills.
Rhode Island, Bell
noted, nearly passed a bottle bill in 1984, but as a compromise to industry
opposition, lawmakers approved a litter and
recycling tax. The tax plan received accolades for funding and growing
waste and recycling programs in the state, until a large portion of the money
was diverted from waste projects to the state’s general fund. Bell explained
that industry groups are justifiably skeptical of state-run programs because of
the risk the money will be used elsewhere.
“That’s why everyone
is moving from government control to government oversight (programs),” he said.
The new paint
collection program is regulated by the state Department of Environmental
Management (DEM), but managed by an independent group and funded by a tax added
to the purchase price of paint cans.
Other EPR bills have
been introduced, but not passed, that create similar collection programs for
used CFL light bulbs, mattresses and medical sharps. The new comprehensive
program would also include reducing waste created by packaging, which accounts
for 33 percent of all waste.
The project also aims
to increase municipal recycling rates, and even create jobs by enticing
businesses to the state that would recycle glass and Styrofoam. Food waste
programs and even incinerators are possible topics for discussion.
Sarah Kite, director
of recycling services for the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation
(RIRRC), said an analysis of the state's waste stream last done in 1994 may help
determine which areas to target. Much of the nearly 15 items RIRRC collects are
sold as a global commodities, she said. Some 20 containers are shipped daily
from the Central Landfill around the country and to China.
“Waste should be
thought of as a resource. Waste should not be thought of as waste anymore,”
Kite said.
The special commission expects to deliver a
draft program to the Legislature in March. The commission meets again Dec. 6.