On June 20, 2025, Maine Governor Janet Mills signed LD 1423, legislation updating the state’s packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) law passed in 2021. Known as An Act to Improve Recycling by Updating the Stewardship Program for Packaging, it clarifies definitions for producers and producer exemptions, postconsumer recycled material, toxicity and more. The industry-backed legislation loosens requirements in the program for packaging, making it more sensitive to costs and bringing it in line with EPR elsewhere in the country.
The bill amends the laws governing the state's stewardship program for packaging to exclude certain commercial, cosmetic, medical, environmental, dangerous, hazardous or flammable product packaging and packaging of products related to public health and water quality testing from the requirements of the program. The bill:
- brings the definition of "producer" more in line with other states;
- adds the definition of "consumer" limiting it mostly to residential settings;
- enhances business-to-business exemptions and prevents fees being assessed at multiple steps along the manufacturing process;
- allows post-industrial/pre-consumer material to count as recycled content;
- replaces the prohibition of the "presence" of toxic chemicals to "intentionally added" toxic chemicals; and
- rather than requiring reporting of all UPCs of products, it allows for the reporting of "producers and brands."
Maine was a pioneer in U.S. packaging EPR, enacting the nation’s first law in 2021. As an early adopter, however, its framework differed from those of states like California, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington, which have since aligned around a phased “shared responsibility” model endorsed by packaging and brand stakeholders. Under the shared responsibility model, municipalities are reimbursed, but producers and municipalities share collection duties. As such, LD 1423 makes much needed improvements to the state’s EPR policy.
This development follows Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) final rules for the program established in December 2024. According to DEP’s timeline, the state plans to contract with a stewardship organization in April 2026, with producers required to register and report 2025 data next May. Producers would be invoiced next July. Participating municipalities are slated to receive their first reimbursement in October 2027.
LD 1423 states that the selected stewardship organization can make recommendations to the department to modify the producer payments schedule “to better incentivize the use by producers of readily recyclable packaging materials.” The department could initiate rulemaking to implement any modifications to that schedule.
Maine—and the U.S. as a whole—has a strong and effective paper and paper packaging recycling system. According to the American Forest & Paper Association, in 2023, an estimated 65–69% of all paper was successfully recovered for recycling nationwide. This success reflects the paper industry’s voluntary investments in recycling infrastructure and manufacturing capacity, enabling paper collected from municipal waste streams to be transformed into new products.
The Alliance appreciates Governor Mills and state lawmakers for their work to improve upon the original EPR packaging law. We remain committed to advancing a federal EPR law that would provide a uniform national framework and replace the current patchwork of varying state regulations.
For additional information on EPR laws, please contact Gary Jones, vice president of EHS, at gjones@printing.org or Sara Osorio, EHS coordinator, at sosorio@printing.org.
In this article, Stephanie Buka, Government Affairs Manager, PRINTING United Alliance, discusses updates to Maine's EPR packaging law. More information can be found at Business Excellence-Legislation or reach out to Steph should you have additional questions specific to how these issues may affect your business: sbuka@printing.org.
To become a member of the Alliance and learn more about how our subject matter experts can assist your company with services and resources such as those mentioned in this article, please contact the Alliance membership team: 888-385-3588 / membership@printing.org.