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The Tennessee Waste Reduction and Recycling Act (“Act”) has been introduced into the Tennessee General Assembly which would require sellers, distributors, and importers of certain packaging materials to take actions to reduce the amount of packaging materials that become litter.
The Act is denominated HB 550 and would amend TCA Title 4; Title 67; and Title 68.
The Act would require the following:
- Establishment of a Producer Responsibility Organization (“PRO”)
- Creation of an Advisory Board for the PRO
- Development of periodic needs assessments and plans to address recycling
- Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (“TDEC”)to perform certain duties in relation to the Act
- Establishment of a penalty scheme
- TDEC to regularly review and update a list of chemicals of high concern in packaging
- Provide it is a violation for a person to sell or distribute in Tennessee any packaging designed to include certain chemicals of high concern
The term “packaging material” is defined to include:
. . . a part of a package or container, including material that is used for containment, protection, handling, delivery, and presentation of a product that is sold, offered for sale, imported, or distributed in this state.
A copy of HB 550 can be downloaded here.
