State Senate set to vote on packaging bill that Republicans, business community say will raise grocery prices
The "Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act" would require that manufacturers move toward making all packaging recyclable, requiring that within two years almost all commercial packaging be specifically recyclable.
Supporters say that the bill would make massive and meaningful changes to the recycling system, by ensuring that a majority of items most New Yorkers buy from the grocery store are sold in packaging they can actually recycle. For years, criticism over the low participation rate for recycling has mounted, and the market today allows for very few items to actually be recycled.
According to Beyond Plastics, a lobbying group focused on environmental and recycling reforms, a majority of New Yorkers report that they want to see a bill with the goals of this bill passed.
"None of us voted for more plastic, and New Yorkers across the political spectrum have made it resoundingly clear that we don't want it," Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, said in a statement in late April. "No wonder — taxpayers are forced to spend hundreds of millions every year just to bury and burn waste at polluting landfills and incinerators."
Enck and the bill's supporters project passing it could net $1.3 billion in savings over 10 years by reducing hauling and landfill costs — although even the bill's supporters acknowledge it's likely to increase consumer costs at least in the short term.
The plan faces steep criticism from legislative Republicans, business groups and manufacturers in New York, who say the timeline laid out in the bill is too aggressive and isn't feasible.
Ken Polansky, vice president of The Business Council of New York, said the bill under review is very worrying to the New York business community.
Polansky said that most states have looked at passing programs that increase recyclability without increasing costs for businesses or consumers significantly.
"The bill ... that we're talking about today goes in the absolute opposite direction, very different from legislation most recently seen in Minnesota, Maryland and the state of Washington," he said.
Polansky said the bill in New York bans specific types of packaging material altogether, and enacts soft bans on other materials by setting wide requirements that those materials just can't meet.
The bill requires that all materials sold in New York be recyclable within two years, something Polansky said is not achievable.
New York's Republican lawmakers argue the bill will just drive costs up, ultimately for the consumer. By requiring smaller, recyclable packaging for all foodstuffs, the Republican senators argued that manufacturers will either choose to leave the New York market or lean on smaller, faster-degrading packaging that will lead to increased spoilage and increased shipping costs.
Referencing a study conducted in Ontario in 2021, Sen. Daniel G. Stec, R-Queensbury, said the anticipated extra costs for an average household would reach nearly $730.
"For those of you paying attention, that's twice the governor's gimmicky rebate checks that were just approved by the legislature," Stec said.
Assemblyman Kenneth D. Blankenbush, R-Black River, has raised alarms in the past and this year over the potential impact the bill could have on the Kraft-Heinz manufacturing plant in Lowville, which employs hundreds of Lewis County residents and would have to change the packaging for the cream cheese and string cheese made at the facility.
"I worry about that packing bill, it can be very tough on businesses like Kraft-Heinz, which employs over 1,000 employees across the state," Blankenbush said. "I met with Kraft-Heinz, and they are concerned."
The Republicans agreed that some semblance of a packaging reform act is doable in New York, pointing toward other bills that make less sweeping mandates with longer turnaround times.
Sen. Pam A. Helming, R-Canandaigua, said there are more feasible solutions like a bill introduced by Sen. Monica R. Martinez, D-Suffolk, which is modeled after the program in Minnesota and collects fees from product manufacturers to upgrade recycling infrastructure and invest in making the system more efficient.
"I urge the Senate and Assembly Democrats to oppose this (PRRIA) legislation and look at the Martinez legislation as a better place to start for a more workable solution," she said.
The Senate is likely to vote on, and pass, the PIRRA bill again this year, but with less than two weeks of voting days left in the legislature, it's not clear if there's a path for final passage, as the Assembly has not yet moved the bill out of committee.
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