LD 1423

APPROVED  CHAPTER
  JUNE 20, 2025  383
  BY GOVERNOR  PUBLIC LAW
  STATE OF MAINE
  _____
  IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
  TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
  _____
  S.P. 579 - L.D. 1423
   An Act to Improve Recycling by Updating the Stewardship Program for
  Packaging
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
    Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§1, ¶C-1 is enacted to read:
    C-1. "Consumer" means a single-family or multifamily residence, school, municipal
    or state government facility, public space or commercial business that uses or partners
    with a municipal or state waste management service.
    "Consumer" does not include a person that manufactures products if the packaging
    material for those products is managed and the costs of that management are paid for
    by the person or by a producer, and that packaging material:
        (1) Is used solely for transportation of the products to persons that are not
        consumers; or
        (2) Is used for or generated by the person as part of the manufacturing process for
        the products.
    Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§1, ¶N, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 455, §2, is
amended to read:
    N. "Post-consumer recycled material" means new material produced using material
    resulting from the recovery, separation, collection and reprocessing of material that
    would otherwise be disposed of or processed as waste and that was originally intended
    to be sold for consumption. "Post-consumer recycled material" does not include post-
    industrial material or pre-consumer material.
    Sec. 3. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§1, ¶O, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 455, §2, is repealed
and the following enacted in its place:
    O. "Producer" means:
        (1) For a product contained, protected, delivered, presented or distributed in or
        using packaging material and sold or offered for sale at a physical retail location in
        the State:
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        (a) The person that manufactured the product if the product is sold or offered
        for sale in the State under the manufacturer's brand or the packaging material
        does not identify the brand;
        (b) If there is no person to which division (a) applies, the person that is licensed
        to manufacture and sell or offer the product for sale to consumers in the State
        under the brand or trademark of another manufacturer or person;
        (c) If there is no person to which division (a) or (b) applies, the person that
        has legal ownership of the brand of the product;
        (d) If there is no person to which divisions (a) to (c) apply that has a physical
        presence in the United States, the person that is the importer of record into the
        United States for the product for use in a commercial enterprise and that sells,
        offers for sale or distributes the product for sale in or into the State; or
        (e) If there is no person to which divisions (a) to (d) apply, the person that first
        distributes the product for sale in or into the State;
    (2) For a product contained, protected, delivered, presented or distributed in or
    using packaging material and sold, offered for sale or distributed for sale in the
    State through an Internet-based or remote sales transaction and not at a physical
    retail location in the State:
        (a) With respect to the packaging material that is used to directly contain or
        protect the product, a person identified pursuant to subparagraph (1), divisions
        (a) to (e); and
        (b) With respect to the packaging material that is not used to directly contain
        or protect the product, a person that packages the item for delivery,
        presentation or distribution to the consumer; or
    (3) For a product contained, protected, delivered, presented or distributed in or
    using packaging material and sold, offered for sale or distributed for sale in the
    State in a manner not described in subparagraph (1) or (2), the person that first
    distributes the product for sale in or into the State.
"Producer" includes a low-volume producer but does not include a nonprofit
organization exempt from taxation under the United States Internal Revenue Code of
1986, Section 501(c)(3).
Notwithstanding subparagraphs (1) to (3), if the person that would otherwise be
considered a producer under this paragraph is operating a business wholly or partially
as a franchise, the producer is the franchisor if that franchisor has franchisees with a
commercial presence in the State.
Notwithstanding subparagraphs (1) to (3), if a person that would otherwise be
considered a producer under this paragraph enters into a signed agreement with another
person to assign the responsibility to act as producer for the product or products of the
person for the purposes of this section, that other person is considered the producer of
the product or products for the purposes of this section if that other person registers
with the stewardship organization to participate in the program under this section on
behalf of the person and written certification of the assignment of responsibility is
provided to the stewardship organization.
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    Sec. 4. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§1, ¶U, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 455, §2, is
amended to read:
    U. "Toxicity" means, with respect to packaging material, the presence in intentional
    addition to packaging material or the intentional use in the manufacturing, recycling or
    disposal of packaging material of intentionally introduced metals or chemicals
    regulated or listed pursuant to Title 32, chapter 26‑A; food contact chemicals of high
    concern or priority food contact chemicals regulated or listed pursuant to Title 32,
    chapter 26‑B; or chemicals of concern, chemicals of high concern or priority chemicals
    identified pursuant to chapter 16‑D.
    Sec. 5. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 455, §2, is amended to
read:
    2. Producer exemptions. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the
contrary, a producer is exempt from the requirements and prohibitions of this section in
any calendar year in which:
    A. The producer realized less than $2,000,000 in total gross revenue during the prior
    calendar year, except that, for the period beginning one calendar year following the
    effective date of the contract entered into by the department and the stewardship
    organization pursuant to subsection 3 and ending 3 years after that effective date, a
    producer that realized less than $5,000,000 in total gross revenue during the prior
    calendar year is exempt from the requirements and prohibitions of this section;
    B. The producer sold, offered for sale or distributed for sale in or into the State during
    the prior calendar year products contained, protected, delivered, presented or
    distributed in or using less than one ton of packaging material in total; or
    C. The producer realized more than 50% of its total gross revenue in the prior calendar
    year from the sale of goods it acquired through insurance salvages, closeouts,
    bankruptcies and liquidations; or.
    D. The producer sold, offered for sale or distributed for sale in or into the State during
    the prior calendar year to retailers or direct to consumers products that were perishable
    food and that were contained, protected, delivered, presented or distributed in or using
    less than 15 tons of packaging material in total.
    As used in this paragraph, "perishable food" means any food that may spoil or
    otherwise become unfit for human consumption because of its nature, type or physical
    conditions, including, but not limited to, fresh and processed meats, poultry, seafood,
    dairy products, bakery products, eggs in the shells and fresh fruits and vegetables.
    "Perishable food" does not include any such food that is sold, offered for sale or
    distributed for sale frozen except for frozen wild blueberries.
Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, a producer is exempt from
the requirements and prohibitions of this section with respect to the first 15 tons of
packaging material used by the producer to contain, protect, deliver, present or distribute
products that were perishable food and that were sold, offered for sale or distributed for
sale in or into the State during the prior calendar year.
As used in this subsection, "perishable food" means any food that may spoil or otherwise
become unfit for human consumption because of its nature, type or physical conditions,
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including, but not limited to, fresh and processed meats, poultry, seafood, dairy products,
bakery products, eggs in the shells and fresh fruits and vegetables. "Perishable food" does
not include any such food that is sold, offered for sale or distributed for sale frozen except
for frozen wild blueberries.
A producer claiming an exemption under this subsection shall provide to the department
sufficient information to demonstrate that the producer meets the requirements for an
exemption under this subsection within 30 days of receiving a request from the department
to provide such information.
    Sec. 6. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§3, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 455, §2, is
amended by amending subparagraph (7), division (c) to read:
  (c) The processing capacity, market conditions and opportunities in the State
  and regionally for recyclable material; and
   Sec. 7. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§3, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 455, §2, is
amended by enacting a new subparagraph (7), division (e) to read:
  (e) The producer payments schedule adopted by the department pursuant to
  subsection 13 and the anticipated effect of that schedule on incentivizing the
  use by producers of readily recyclable packaging materials and supporting the
  solid waste management hierarchy under section 2101; and
    Sec. 8. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§4, ¶B, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 455, §2, is
amended to read:
    B. The stewardship organization shall provide to the department a list of producers
    that are participating in the program and a list of the UPCs of products or a list of all
    producers and brands for which the producer has complied with the program's
    requirements and, if known to the stewardship organization, a list of producers that are
    not participating in the program and are not compliant with the program's requirements.
    The stewardship organization shall provide to the department regularly updated
    producer compliance information described in this paragraph.
    Sec. 9. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§4, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 455, §2, is
amended to read:
    C. Based on information provided to the department under paragraph B and any other
    information considered by the department, the department shall make available on its
    publicly accessible website a regularly updated list of UPCs of products producers and
    brands for which the department has determined the producer has complied with all
    applicable requirements of this section and a list of producers and, where applicable,
    specific products and the UPCs brands of those products for which the department has
    determined the producer has not complied with all applicable requirements of this
    section.
    Sec. 10. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§6, ¶A is enacted to read:
    A. Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, a producer may not
    be required to pay an increased fee or penalty for packaging material that is not
    composed of post-consumer recycled material if the packaging material is subject to
    state or federal laws, rules or regulations that effectively prohibit the use of post-
    consumer recycled material in that packaging material.
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    Sec. 11. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§6, ¶B is enacted to read:
    B. Following the execution of a contract between the selected stewardship
    organization and the department pursuant to subsection 3, the stewardship
    organization, based on the statewide recycling needs assessment conducted pursuant to
    subsection 3, paragraph A, subparagraph (7) and other available information, may
    recommend to the department that the producer payments schedule adopted by the
    department by rule pursuant to subsection 13 be modified to better incentivize the use
    by producers of readily recyclable packaging materials and support the solid waste
    management hierarchy under section 2101 and the department may, in its discretion,
    initiate rulemaking in accordance with this section to implement any modifications to
    that schedule.
    Sec. 12. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§7, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 455, §2, is amended
to read:
    7. Annual reporting by producers. In accordance with rules adopted by the
department, a producer shall annually report to the stewardship organization the total
amount, whether by weight or volume, of each type of packaging material sold, offered for
sale or distributed for sale in or into the State by the producer in the prior calendar year.
Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, a producer may not be
required to report annually to the stewardship organization regarding its products or the
associated packaging material using the UPCs of those products.
    Sec. 13. 38 MRSA §2146, sub-§9, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 455, §2, is
amended to read:
    A. Provide for the collection and recycling of any packaging material that is generated
    in the municipality and is readily recyclable; and
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