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The Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act, introduced in the Minnesota Legislature last week, would hold producers of a product and packaging responsible for that product throughout its entire lifecycle — from product design all the way through to reuse, recycling, or safe disposal.
Hailed as the most important recycling bill since the 1980 Waste Management Act, this bill will require packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2032, fundamentally reshape how recycling is funded and will resolve frustration felt by Minnesotans in dealing with all the packaging overflowing from their trash cans. Advocating for passage of this bill is the county’s top solid waste priority for the state legislative session this year and is a critical piece of achieving a zero-waste future.
The coalition of partners working to develop the bill encourages the public to contact their representatives and help garner the support needed to pass this bill this session. Read more in the Sahan Journal.
How to ask your representatives to take action
It’s important to let legislators know that the residents they represent care about waste. Consider sending your representative a personalized letter or email, or use this template:
Dear Representative [Name],
I'm so tired of not being able to avoid packaging when I go shopping and then having to haul it to the curb as trash week after week. Our current system is broken – manufacturers profit while government and taxpayers foot the bill for managing the one-time use packaging materials the products we buy come in.
As a community member in your district I urge you to support the passage of the Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act, HF 3577/SF 3561 - authored by State Representative Sydney Jordan and State Senator Kelly Morrison - to increase recycling and reduce the financial burden placed on local governments and taxpayers.
This bill puts the financial responsibility of managing this waste back on product manufacturers and will require all packaging be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2032. Since 40% of more of our trash is packaging waste, this bill is one of our best opportunities to divert materials that currently can only be trashed, like single use plastics, to recycling and composting programs.
Thank you for considering this important policy to improve recycling in our state.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
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