Industry leaders push for a seismic change in state's recycling rules: 'Something needs to change drastically'
A coalition of industry leaders is advocating for the passing of a Rhode Island bill that would make recycling more streamlined in the state.
The Coalition for High Performance Recycling is comprised of several high-profile organizations throughout the United States. The coalition includes the Association of Plastic Recyclers, Can Manufacturers Institute, and Clean Water Action.
Together, CHPR has voiced its overwhelming support for House Bill 6207 in Rhode Island, which was introduced by Representative Carol Hagan McEntee on April 9, 2025.
The bill would move to hold producers of packaging and paper responsible for the costs of recycling and the overall management of materials by offering consumers a refund to return empty beverage containers. It would also look to provide more oversight on single-use container producers.
In a press release announcing the introduction of the bill, Representative McEntee stressed the motivation behind it.
"The simple truth is that our recycling system is broken and plastic waste is filling up our landfill to capacity and dirtying our streets and neighborhoods," McEntee said.
McEntee noted that Rhode Island has "a measly 26%" recycling rate and that "something needs to change drastically" to clean up the state and protect the environment. According to a Ball report, Rhode Island recycles just 16% of all its plastic waste.
"This waste hurts the well-being of our neighborhoods, our waterways and our open spaces," explained McEntee. "It also endangers individuals and wildlife with continuous exposure to microplastics and other contaminants."
In an op-ed published in The Boston Globe, several members of CHPR offered up their insight regarding the bill, pointing to the current state of recycling in Rhode Island.
"As representatives of the business and environmental sectors, we have come together to urge the Legislature to take bold action to greatly improve the state's recycling results," the group wrote.
What confuses you most about recycling protocol?
Which materials I can recycle
How clean the material needs to be
What the plastic numbers mean
Nothing at all
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
As of early May, the legislation was a partisan effort in the state, with nine other Democrats co-sponsoring the bill alongside Representative McEntee.
According to members of the coalition, bottle bills not only hold producers more accountable, but they also encourage more innovation.
"Rhode Island and New Hampshire are the only states in New England without a bottle bill," they wrote. "The rest of the region produces higher quality material that is more capable of being recycled and used for new packaging."
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
21 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Arm CEO Sides With Nvidia Against US Export Limits on China
Arm Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Rene Haas said Thursday that US export controls on China threaten to slow overall technological advances and are ultimately bad for consumers and companies, aligning himself with Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang and others looking to ease tensions between Washington and Beijing. 'If you narrow access to to technology and you force other ecosystems to grow up, it's not good,' Haas said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg at the Founders Forum Global conference in Oxford. 'It makes the pie smaller, if you will. And frankly, it's not very good for consumers.' He also noted that Arm's footprint in China is 'quite significant.'
Washington Post
24 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Trump booed and cheered at the Kennedy Center
Politics Trump booed and cheered at the Kennedy Center June 12, 2025 | 1:44 PM GMT President Donald Trump attended opening night of 'Les Misérables' at the Kennedy Center, a venue that he has long avoided but is now trying to embrace after ousting its leadership and installing his own loyalists.
CNN
26 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump's agenda faces a $22 billion test from markets
Standard, boring bond auctions are drawing the attention of investors around the globe. The Treasury Department on Thursday will sell $22 billion worth of 30-year government bonds, in what will serve as a gauge of investors' appetite for US debt. All eyes are on whether there is weak demand, particularly from foreign investors. The Treasury auction, which is a regularly scheduled event, has become a closely watched barometer for how Wall Street is feeling about the Trump administration's policy agenda. A poor auction could reignite jitters about America's debt burden, President Donald Trump's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill Act' and the ability for lawmakers to get the country's finances in order. If there is weak demand for 30-year bonds at Thursday's auction, that would push yields higher. Bond yields and prices have an inverse relationship. When there is strong demand for bonds, prices rise and yields fall. Vice versa, when there is weak demand for bonds, prices fall and yields rise. Higher yields would squeeze the government with higher borrowing costs. Treasury yields are also benchmark interest rates for the economy, and higher yields can mean higher borrowing costs for consumers on everyday items including auto loans and credit cards. Long-term US debt, which is usually considered the safe, risk-free corner of the market, has come under scrutiny as Trump's tax bill is set to add to the federal debt burden. 'The idea that the US fiscal position is unsustainable over the long run has been frequently noted for years, but it has taken the current set of circumstances to get market participants to begin pushing back,' John Canavan, lead US analyst at Oxford Economics, said in a Wednesday note. Yields on 30-year Treasury bonds have soared this year as investors have demanded more compensation for what is looking like a riskier long-term loan to the US government. These concerns were exacerbated in May after Moody's downgraded the US, stripping the nation of its last perfect credit rating. 'The Moody's downgrade occurred as the ability to easily finance growing deficits increasingly comes into question,' Canavan said. 'Trump's tariff decisions are likely to raise inflation over the near term, while lowering economic growth and leading foreign investors to question the safe-haven allure of Treasury debt.' This is the first 30-year Treasury auction since Wall Street has begun focusing on the details of Trump's mega bill and the deficit, making it an important gauge of sentiment, Collin Martin, a fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab, told CNN. 'There's a concern that yields might need to rise to attract more and more investors to keep buying,' Martin said. 'If it's a weak auction, we'll probably see yields rise relatively sharply, because that might spook investors,' Martin added, 'and on the flip side, if it ends up being a pretty good auction, that would probably allow the markets to kind of breathe a sigh of relief that, okay, there is enough demand.' There is robust demand for shorter-term Treasuries like 10-year bonds, according to Chip Hughey, managing director for fixed income at Truist Advisory Services. An auction for 10-year Treasuries on Wednesday saw strong demand both for domestic and global investors. Yet investors have shown hesitancy about longer-duration bonds like the 30-year bond, Hughey said. Investors are increasingly uncertain about the long-term outlook for the US debt burden, giving them pause about the risk associated with loaning money to the government over a longer period. 'There certainly is a little bit of hesitancy about taking on a great deal of duration, just given the uncertainty around trade policy and deficits, and also what that would mean for your future debt supply,' Hughey said. 'The 30-year reflects the uncertainties around those more structural questions around budget deficits and the US debt load going forward.' In May, the 30-year yield spiked to its highest level since 2023 after a Treasury auction for 20-year bonds that saw weak demand. Pacific Investment Management Company, a global fixed income firm, said in a Tuesday report that bonds still look relatively attractive and affordable compared to stocks. However, Pimco expects to focus and be 'overweight' to 5- and 10-year bonds, while being less focused and 'underweight' to longer-term bonds. Martin at Charles Schwab said that while concerns about the deficit linger, investors are also assessing factors like inflation and the path of potential Federal Reserve rate cuts. The latest data showed that consumer prices cooled more than expected in May. Fixed income assets like bonds can become more appealing when inflation is cooling. 'We still find yields pretty attractive, and our outlook on the safety of US Treasuries hasn't changed,' Martin said. Elsewhere in markets, US stocks opened lower on Thursday. The Dow was lower by 250 points, or 0.6%. The broader S&P 500 fell 0.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.25%. The S&P 500 is hovering near an all-time high, but has stalled in recent trading and is coming off a day in the red. The US dollar broadly weakened on Thursday as investors wrestle with continued tariff uncertainty. The US dollar index, which measures the dollar's strength against six major foreign currencies, tumbled almost 1% and fell to its lowest level since 2022. This is a developing story and will be updated.
