Tennessee committee hears industry pitch for Extended Producer Responsibility to curb landfill growth

At a meeting of the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee, industry and recycling advocates outlined what they called a statewide solid-waste problem and urged lawmakers to consider Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, and changes to permitting to expand recycling infrastructure.

The presentation was led by Gary Cohen, volunteer outreach director for the Tennessee Waste to Jobs Coalition, who said packaging accounts for a large share of the state's solid waste and that producers can fund collection through an EPR model rather than relying on taxpayers. "EPR or Extended Producer Responsibility Policy is a non taxpayer sustainable funding source," Cohen said. The committee also heard from Cody Marshall of The Recycling Partnership, Donna Capecchi of Kaiser Aluminum and Don Haines of Florham USA, and a separate presentation from Katie Rafferty Evans of the National Waste and Recycling Association.

Why it matters: Presenters said Tennessee manufacturers want recycled feedstock that now often goes to landfills or is imported, and that the state lacks collection, sortation and permitting capacity to meet demand. Cohen and others gave figures the committee tied to the problem: Tennessee's recycling rate was cited as about 12%, resident participation about 47%, and roughly 900,000 tons of potentially recyclable materials go to landfill annually. Kaiser Aluminum and Florham representatives described local manufacturing demand for aluminum and glass respectively; Cohen said capturing those materials could support jobs and reduce landfill costs.

Presenters' case and evidence

Gary Cohen summarized EPR as a producer-funded system administered by a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) that would plan and pay for collection and processing under oversight by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). "The pro will execute a plan and budget that is created and approved in that chain of command," he said. Cohen and Cody Marshall said EPR has been implemented in other states and abroad and that many consumer brands support such laws.

Cody Marshall, chief recycling officer for The Recycling Partnership, said the current burden of operating recycling systems falls to local governments and limits collection. "The burden of operating that system is on the local government," Marshall said, adding that producer funding would shift those costs off local taxpayers and toward producers of packaged goods.

Donna Capecchi, vice president of sustainability at Kaiser Aluminum, described U.S. dependence on imported primary aluminum and the benefits of recycled aluminum. "Recycled aluminum is 90% less energy intensive to source as compared to the production of primary or new aluminum," Capecchi said, and said Kaiser has capacity to use more recycled content if supply and cost permit.

Don Haines, EHS and sustainability manager at Florham USA, said the tile industry can substitute post-consumer glass for sand in tile production and would value the material for a green product line. He said Tennessee tile production already uses significant industrial and internal recycled material but lacks reliable post-consumer glass feedstock.

Technical and market details cited to the committee included a referenced $100 million sorting facility in Columbus, Ohio (described in the presentation as able to process about 250,000 tons into roughly 15 commodities at a reported 97'98% clean rate) and repeated statements that Tennessee manufacturers import feedstock because local collection is insufficient.

Concerns, constraints and permitting

Committee members raised questions about who pays for collection today, the potential effect on consumers, and regulatory obstacles. Cohen and Marshall said producers would fund the system under EPR and that fees would be scaled by package size and recyclability, with plans and budgets subject to TDEC oversight.

Katie Rafferty Evans, vice president for chapter relations at the National Waste and Recycling Association, urged caution. She noted that several states have passed EPR statutes and are still developing implementation rules and said Tennessee should study results before acting. "Nobody really has implemented the program yet. It's all in assessments," she said, and flagged concerns about political and administrative gaps and effects on smaller producers.

Several committee members and presenters also described permitting and siting barriers, including the so-called Jackson law, which Evans said can create veto points in local permitting that make siting material recovery facilities and composting sites difficult. Committee members also discussed fire risks from lithium batteries in the waste stream, a topic the presenters flagged as an industry safety and operational concern.

What the committee did: No formal action was taken. Presenters said they would provide committee members with additional materials, including a copy of a video and further technical details. Committee members indicated ongoing interest and follow-up questions, and the session moved on to a second recycling presentation before adjourning.

Ending: Presenters and committee members said recycling infrastructure, markets and permitting all must be addressed in parallel if Tennessee pursues higher recovery rates or an EPR framework. Several speakers recommended more education for residents on what is recyclable and closer collaboration between state regulators, local governments, industry and manufacturers.