A letter from our Legislative Sponsor

Dear Colleagues

I’m sure all of us would say that it is the honor of our lives to represent our home in our state’s legislature. I talk about how much I love my district of 60A, made up of neighborhoods in Northeast Minneapolis and Southeast Como, every single day. I love the schools, parks, art, food, and the Mississippi River. I love the families, students, artists, workers, and kids who make this vibrant neighborhood home. It brings me immense joy to represent their voices in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

What I don’t love about my community is the pollution. For generations, Minneapolis and Minnesota have concentrated large industrial operations along the Mississippi River across from my home. One operation is the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center, or the HERC, where my county burns the trash collected from Minneapolis businesses and residents. The neighborhoods downwind, including my own and North Minneapolis, our city’s most racially diverse and economically disadvantaged, also have the highest rates of upper respiratory disease in the state. This includes me. Like so many of my neighbors, I struggle with asthma.

I ran for office to make life better for 60A. This meant shutting down the HERC. Hennepin County told us the only solution was to generate less trash, but what we weren’t sure of was how we could actually do that. In 2021, I learned how other states were proposing and passing new laws that held producers of trash financially responsible for the packaging trash they generated, and were using those fees to pay for recycling for residents. Those laws were called Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging or EPR. Minnesota already had existing EPR for things like paint cans and some e-waste, but expanding EPR for packaging would mean tackling 40% of our waste stream in Minnesota. What I didn’t realize was that learning about EPR for packaging would take years and involve more meetings and work than any other bill I have carried in my career.

Working with Hennepin County, I decided to learn more about EPR and began meeting with stakeholders. We had a policy of not turning down a single meeting on EPR. What I didn’t realize was exactly how many meetings this would mean. I had multiple meetings every week during the interim. Some of my meetings were with people who did not want EPR enacted in Minnesota. Many more were with supporters; however, no two supporters seemed to have the same definition of EPR, let alone support the same language for a law. I had to learn how to talk in a new language of waste management and business jargon. I had flashcards with various acronyms on them for phrases and organizations with strong opinions about EPR. I needed to study chemistry, soil science, and local government contract law. I also needed to translate these concepts into plain language that my colleagues and constituents could understand. There was no dictionary or tool I could use to learn this while also juggling another full-time job, 66 other bills, the needs of 42,000 constituents, and running for re-election. I wasn’t alone. My district had my back, and I had support from experts across the country, but it was hard. I had to take time off from my day job, and I lost quite a bit of sleep, but it paid off when Minnesota became the 5th state to pass EPR for packaging and printed paper in 2024.

You don’t need to set aside your life to learn about EPR like I did. You can use this guide to get neutral facts about what EPR is and does, look up definitions provided by experts, and hear from stakeholders on their positions on EPR. You’ll also hear from the Sponsors and advocates from the 7 states that passed EPR laws with our top recommendations for legislators interested in EPR. You can use this before a meeting to learn what recommendations the stakeholder might already have. Look up terms and acronyms without interrupting a committee to ask for a definition. Learn about all of the elements and policies that you will encounter under the umbrella of EPR and decide which ones, if any, are right for your state.

This guide is a neutral document and doesn’t advocate for any particular policy. You’ll hear legislators offer different perspectives on what is most useful when writing your EPR policy. Some of the stakeholders support EPR for packaging, while others don’t. This guide will grow and evolve as the policy landscape changes to help you keep up.

Learning about EPR enabled me to pass laws that will make my state a cleaner, healthier, and more affordable place for all Minnesotans. I hope you can use this guide to make life better for your community.