Dan Felton is executive director of AMERIPEN – the American Institute for Packaging and the Environment. The association represents the U.S. packaging value chain by providing policymakers with fact-based, material-inclusive information.
The regulatory landscape for environmental claims is becoming increasingly complex and inconsistent in the United States, presenting significant potential legal and reputational risks for brands attempting to market their packaging as environmentally friendly.
AMERIPEN supports Minnesota’s packaging EPR law for a number of reasons, most important of which is that it provides for true shared responsibility for recycling costs instead of putting the onus entirely on producers.
AMERIPEN’s Dan Felton recently told a U.S. Senate committee that more data is needed to build consensus among industry, environmental, and government stakeholders in order to develop comprehensive packaging EPR policy.
The contradictory labeling laws in California versus other states underscore the need for a more consistent and unified approach to packaging labeling regulations across the United States.
AMERIPEN’s Dan Felton lauds both Maryland and Illinois for fostering productive discussions and collaboration among industry, environmental groups, and the government with respect to EPR and any future laws.
It’s in the best interest of all packaging companies to begin assessing and verifying their own data systems now to ensure they are prepared when EPR reporting requirements take effect.
In this article, AMERIPEN’s Dan Felton offers additional insights on a recent study gauging consumers’ understanding of the role of packaging in food waste reduction.