2025 Extended Producer Responsibility Resolution for the City of Lansing

WHEREAS, the City of Lansing is committed to reducing materials landfilled by diverting and capturing value from those materials, ultimately reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and

WHEREAS, product packaging, including plastic, glass, metals, paper, and cardboard constitutes approximately 30-40% of the materials managed by Lansing waste and recycling programs; and

WHEREAS, a wide variety of other materials, including but not limited to electronics, batteries, mercury switches, mattresses, carpet, and many other materials are problematic and often dangerous to manage at the end of their useful life; and

WHEREAS, Michigan taxpayers currently bear 100% of the costs and collectively already pay over $1 billion each year to finance the collection and management of this material through fragmented and increasingly expensive disposal and recycling options; and

WHEREAS, producers of products and packaging have little incentive to minimize the use of harmful additives, wasteful packaging, or increase access to recycling; and 

WHEREAS, there is no organized coordination between the producers of products, packaging, and the residents and municipalities that are responsible for disposing of or recycling these materials; and

WHEREAS, producers have taken some or all the responsibility for the management of post-consumer products and packaging in other parts of the world, including all European Union member states and five provinces in Canada, and as a result, have greatly increased recycling rates, expanded infrastructure investment, created jobs, and reduced taxpayer costs; and

WHEREAS, producers of products and packaging materials would have a direct economic incentive to produce less harmful and wasteful products and packaging and the shared responsibility between those who create the waste and those who manage the waste would foster recycling system improvements and enable greater participation in recycling across Michigan; and

WHEREAS, EPR laws for products and packaging assures safe and productive management programs such as recycling and composting are funded and stable event when global recycling markets are unfavorable; and

WHEREAS, Michigan’s counties, municipalities, and taxpayers are currently footing the bill for a problem of which they have little control; 

WHEREAS, Extended Producer Responsibility laws require producers to be bear some of the cost of end-of-life management for covered products and packaging and therefore, taxpayers will no longer be solely responsible for the cost of recycling or end-of-life management since the net costs of recycling or proper handling would be reimbursed or covered by producers, rather the lifecycle costs of the product and its packaging will be internalized and producers will be incentivized to produce less harmful and wasteful, more recyclable packaging; and

WHEREAS, EPR policies will help to achieve some of the goals of the City of Lansing’s Sustainability Action Plan and reduce the impacts of these products and packaging on the City and its residents; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, City of Lansing supports Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies in Michigan.