In just the last few weeks, the State of Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), has released three important waste reports. The release included the 2026 Annual Product Stewardship Report. This report, prepared annually for the Maine Legislature, suggests candidate products that might be suitable for end-of-life stewardship programs and gives us insight into what aspects of product stewardship the DEP plans to prioritize in the near future.
What is Product Stewardship?
Product Stewardship programs are public policy approaches that minimize the negative impacts of products throughout their life cycle, often with the producers responsible for end-of-life management of their materials. Many have been in place in Maine for a long time. Maine was among the first states in the U.S. to adopt a “Bottle Bill;” and products like e-waste, cell phones, mercury-added lamps, pharmaceuticals, and paint.
What’s on the Horizon for Product Stewardship in Maine?
Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging is one of the most recent EPR programs within our state, becoming law in 2021 with the program finally beginning implementation this year. The program will hold producers financially accountable for the packaging materials they are sending into our state. Learn more about packaging EPR and its implications for municipalities on our website.
Potential product stewardship candidates proposed by the Maine DEP in the 2026 report include:
- Carpeting. Many carpets contain brominated flame retardant and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
- Mattresses. High handling costs at disposal sites leads to littering of mattresses.
- Household Hazardous Waste (HHW). It’s currently very costly to host HHW disposal events; only two disposal sites are open to all Maine residents, both of which are in Southern Maine and have limited operating hours.
- Solar Panels. Early panels are starting to reach end-of-life, so disposal demand is escalating; some contain hazardous materials.
- Wind Turbine Blades. Similar to solar panels, early installations are starting to reach end-of-life.
- Electronic Vape Pens and Cartridges. These create a technical challenge due to the embedded battery and an unattachable cartridge with nicotine or cannabis – controlled substances.
- Sharps. These are a growing problem, as some injectable medications increase in popularity, and they currently cannot be disposed of under existing pharmaceutical EPR.
- Compressed Gas Cylinders. Single-use propane canisters under 5lb used for camping are often excluded from propane recycling programs and present fire hazards when improperly disposed of.
A Growing Concern: Lithium-Ion Batteries
In addition to the products proposed, Appendix B of the report presented a concept Draft Bill for Battery Program Modernization. This modernization of battery EPR would allow for safe and reliable disposal of new “modern” batteries such as lithium-ion batteries. Lithium–ion batteries have exploded in popularity in recent years as we take more devices on the go – and unfortunately, their disposal presents significant hazards.
Since October of 2023, ecomaine has experienced 63 fires at its single-sort recycling facility – 78% were caused by lithium-ion batteries. In addition to the safety risks for our staff and community, the investment in fire suppression systems, increases in insurance rates, and operational downtime all result in major financial impacts for our facility, which serves more than 70 Maine and New Hampshire communities. With the vigilance of our team, all fires to date have been quickly contained – but should we experience a more substantial fire event, it could have major implications for recycling capacity in our community. Options for safe, convenient disposal are an imperative, and a modern battery bill like the one drafted in the report could be a solid foundation for a safer future.
If you’re interested in who bears responsibility for the end-of-life of products – and how policy can shift that burden – the draft report from the DEP is worth a read. You can check out the complete draft report here.
And don’t miss ecomaine’s analysis of the DEP’s other recent reports:
- Summary: 2026 Waste Characterization Study
