The Tennessee Waste to Jobs Act, an extended producer responsibility for packaging bill led by state Sen. Heidi Campbell, was sidelined in a hearing Wednesday. Campbell says the bill’s coalition will return stronger next year.
“To try and do this in a red state when you've got a lot of money working against you ... I am very proud of the progress we’ve made,” Campbell told Packaging Dive on Wednesday following a meeting of the Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in Tennessee’s General Assembly.
SB0269 was amended earlier this year to address concerns of small businesses and small counties. The newest version of the bill would allow businesses with under $10 million in annual revenue, as well as counties with fewer than 200,000 residents, to opt out of the EPR program.
Campbell first launched the bill in 2024. It aims to, in part, address Tennessee’s rapidly waning landfill capacity. The bill garnered multiple Republican co-sponsors.
Still, the bill saw pushback from groups like Ameripen and bottlers, Campbell said.
Ameripen reacted to Wednesday's development, saying it had “urged lawmakers to first evaluate lessons from states that have already implemented EPR programs, including ongoing legal challenges in Oregon and early cost estimates emerging from California that could impact the affordability of everyday consumer products.”
Campbell said the bill had been “characterized erroneously over and over again as a [deposit return system], and it just simply isn't. I think that the awareness that this isn't a DRS was just starting to dawn on some people.”
Committee Chair and state Sen. Shane Reeves, who championed a separate bill on Wednesday that would establish a new recycling council, applauded progress on Waste to Jobs. “I’m committed to continue to work on this over the summer and make it part of a larger solution as we move forward,” Reeves said to the committee on Wednesday.
The packaging EPR bill has a higher profile now whenever landfills or recycling are up for discussion, Campbell said. Supporters may take it up a notch next year with possible TV or radio publicity. People are “aware that Waste to Jobs is out there, and so that alone is an accomplishment, because EPR is not something people in the Southeast know about,” she said.
Campbell is staying focused on the bigger picture.
“When we started this a couple years ago, it didn't seem like it was possible in any way, shape or form, and we just got it passed through a committee with support,” she said. “So we feel confident that we're going to be able to get it further next year, and maybe even over the finish line.”
