Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont’s controversial waste recycling bill has won the approval of a key legislative committee. The Environment Committee voted mainly along party lines to advance the measure.
The bill is aimed at encouraging the recycling of food waste and making producers responsible for recycling the packaging of their products.
Lamont’s proposal for a $5 fee per ton of municipal solid waste shipped out of state was dropped from the bill by the majority Democrats in response to pushback from some municipalities and the industry, said Representative Joe Gresko of Stratford, the co-chair of the committee.
The bill was also tweaked to become law only after other states adopt similar extended producer responsibility measures.
“That would be when four neighboring states and a population of 20 million individuals implement an EPR for packaging, Connecticut would follow suit,” Gresko said
The minority Republicans on the committee voted against the bill. They claim it would create an additional cost for consumers and municipalities.
