A New Jersey Senate committee advanced bills that would require mattress and e-cigarette producers to fund recycling and disposal programs. States across the country have explored or enacted so-called extended producer responsibility legislation, which compel producers to take the lead on the reusing, recycling and disposing of the products they make and sell.
Democratic Sen. John McKeon, who sponsored the mattress bill, called it “a good concept.” “I read about it and said, ‘We should do that in New Jersey,’” McKeon said during the hearing. At least 146 EPR laws are on the books in 34 states, covering 23 products, including carpet, household waste, junk mail, motor oil and textiles, according to the Product Stewardship Institute, which works with states to enact EPR measures.