 |
|
6/16/2025
|
Speaker, Senate President support amended bill for a statewide bottle redemption, recycling plan
|
STATE HOUSE – House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Valarie J. Lawson announced today their support for an amended bill that establishes a statewide needs assessment council to develop a bottle redemption and recycling plan.
“We thank all the members of the joint House and Senate commission for their dedicated service in studying this issue for many months,” said Speaker Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick) and President Lawson (D-Dist. 14, East Providence). “There is still a great deal of conflicting data as to the implementation of best practices to address the problems of improving and disposing of our recyclable products, as well as enhancing our anti-littering efforts. We believe it would be in the best interests of Rhode Islanders to conduct a needs assessment, as other states that have adopted programs have done. We have the full faith and confidence in DEM, Resource Recovery and other key stakeholders who will develop a report to inform us on the best approaches and costs to address this important environmental issue.”
The amended legislation will enable the Department of Environmental Management to develop a contract and work with an independent third-party consultant with relevant expertise to conduct an assessment with input from local key stakeholders. The council will provide guidance, findings and suggested recommendations in a comprehensive report provided to the General Assembly no later than December, 2026 or sooner.
The bill will amend the legislation, introduced by Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee (D-Dist. 33, South Kingstown, Narragansett) and Sen. Mark McKenney (D-Dist. 30, Warwick). They are the co-chairs of the Special Joint Legislative Commission to Study and Provide Recommendations to Protect our Environment and Natural Resources from Plastic Bottle Waste. The amended bill (2025-H 6207A) will be considered by the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday, and the Senate is expected to post a similar amended bill for consideration by the Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee.
For more information, contact:
Larry Berman, Communications Director for the Office of the Speaker
State House Room 322
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-2466
|
|