On March 9, 2022, Associate Policy Director Dominic Butchko testified before the House Environment and Transportation and Economic Matters Committee in support of HB 1226 – Environment – Office of Recycling – Mattress Stewardship Program – Establishment with amendments. The bill would establish the Mattress Stewardship Program within the state of Maryland. The program is designed to shift mattress disposal and recycling responsibility to manufacturers.

From the MACo testimony: 

Counties presently serve as the main processor of discarded mattresses, often disposing of them within landfills or through incineration. The Mattress Stewardship Program is incredibly innovative in its approach, philosophy, and design. By shifting the disposal responsibility from taxpayer-funded operations to producer-run facilities, local resources could be freed up and reinvested into other essential services. Counties support the direction proposed by the bill, but have concerns regarding effects of any rocky implementation – any pieces of the envisioned disposal system being missing at the time of a ban on landfill disposal could create major complications. A stakeholder study could still allow Maryland to reach the timetable envisioned by the bill as introduced.

Therefore, counties urge the Committee to convene a workgroup to review the ideas within HB 1226 and report back to the General Assembly before the next regular legislative session.

More on MACo’s Advocacy:

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