Carpet and Extended Producer Responsibility: CRI's Jennifer Mendez on TalkFloorTV

No Trash Talk About Carpet for Her! Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI)’s Jennifer Mendez Part of Coalition Addressing Extended Producer Responsibility with State Legislatures

In part two of her video interview with TalkFloor.com, CRI Government Relations Director Jennifer Mendez talks about other states that are considering Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation similar to the laws passed by California and Maine.

Last year, California passed AB 2398 Carpet Product Stewardship Act, the nation’s first extended producer responsibility legislation specifically for carpet. Maine has passed broad-based framework legislation looking into the development of EPR programs. As a result of that legislation, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was required to prepare a report to be presented to the legislature’s Natural Resources Committee. That report was released in early December. In the report, carpet was referenced, but said not to be a focus of EPR at this time.

Following in the footsteps of bellwether states Maine and California, Ms. Mendez says Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Vermont, Texas, and Minnesota are currently considering EPR framework legislation of their own. “When things happen in California, they are likely to trickle down to other states,” Ms. Mendez said. She explained that, while each state’s needs are different, and would therefore need EPR legislation to suit the needs of each individual state’s economy, she emphasized the potential burden to the carpet industry of fifty states with fifty different EPR laws. The other option is federal legislation, which carries burdens of its own, she said.

Ms. Mendez also discussed the results of the November elections and what influence the influx of 690 Republican state legislators around the country is likely to have on the carpet industry. 

Here is the link to Part II of Ms. Mendez' interview with TalkFloor.com.

If you missed Part I of Jennifer Mendez' interview with TalkFloor.com, simply click on this link. You can also access my summary of Part I of the interview in CRI's Jennifer Mendez Covers State Legislatures for Carpet Industry: TalkFloorTV, my post from earlier this week.

~Bethany