Maryland's 2025 Legislative Session: Packaging and Litter Recap!
The 2025 General Assembly Session ended on April 7th. Leading up to and throughout the session, Trash Free Maryland worked with our Advocacy Coalition to help understand, improve, and defend policies for the greatest impact on reducing trash and litter in our environment. We testified and participated in legislative work sessions to refine the bills that passed, and we made significant forward progress on important bills that did not make it across the finish line this year. Here are some outcomes from this session.
In the final hours of the session, the legislature passed landmark legislation and became the 6th state to adopt producer responsibility for packaging. SB901 Packaging and Paper Products Producer Responsibility Plans culminates years of legislative groundwork that we have helped lead in Maryland to shift responsibility for packaging – almost ⅓ of our waste stream – from local governments and taxpayers upstream to the producers who make it. The legislation requires packaging producers to fund recycling and system oversight and to submit a stewardship plan to the Department of the Environment for approval. Producers will be required to pay “eco-modulated” fees designed to incentivize more sustainable packaging designs. We advocated for provisions to harmonize with a future bottle bill and consider broader environmental benefits beyond recycling. Learn more about Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging here. We're helping to shape implementation of the new program through our role on Maryland’s Packaging Advisory Council, and we look forward to helping to build an effective program to improve recycling and reduce the environmental impacts of packaging across Maryland.
A win for single-use plastic reduction was the passage of HB277/SB96 which would require water bottle filling stations in certain new construction where drinking water fountains are required. We submitted sign-on testimony on behalf of TFM Coalition members to support this policy that will make it easier for Marylanders to bring and use refillable water bottles in more places.
HB42/SB96 On-Farm Organics and Wasted Food Reduction and Diversion Grant Programs passed the House but stalled and ran out of time before getting a Senate vote. HB42 would have created grant programs to increase food waste diversion, facilitate high quality composting, and support transitions from single-use to durable and reusable food service ware. We submitted supporting testimony and continue to support the concept of creating a dedicated grant program to facilitate local innovation and means to shift away from single-use.
The Beverage Container Recycling Refund and Litter Reduction (HB 232/SB 346) picked up momentum this year to pass favorably out of the House Environment & Transportation Committee before ultimately stalling. We submitted testimony on behalf of our Coalition partners and worked throughout session to elevate the bill. Deposit return systems for beverage containers ("bottle bills") are a tested policy for significant litter reduction and supplies of high quality material streams for recycling. It was a year of building momentum and educating about the benefits of implementing anti-litter policies like the bottle bill alongside complementary systemic policies to expand and improve recycling access and markets in Maryland.
We will continue to work with our Coalition throughout the year to refine the bills that we hope to bring back, to host learning sessions on emerging issues, and to share best practices and policies to reduce single-use plastics and other litter.
Watch this space or send us a note to stay informed about our learning series. Thanks for joining us!
Trash Free Maryland Team
