The talk will be held virtually via Zoom and in-person at 107 Norman Smith Hall, UMaine, Orono.
- Virtual attendance: Complete the registration form for Zoom connection information
Speaker: Erin Victor, Postdoctoral Researcher, Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, University of Maine
Bowling balls, garden hoses, and other strange items are showing up at recycling facilities. This “wishcycling”—recycling items in the bin and hoping they are recyclable — stems from confusing rules and increasingly complex packaging. It also drives up municipal costs. However, big changes in Maine’s recycling system are coming. In 2021, Maine passed the nation’s first Extended Producer Responsibility law for packaging, shifting some of the costs and responsibility for recycling from cities and towns to the companies that make the packaging. The hope is that this will encourage companies to design less wasteful packaging. Yet, even as these policies gain traction in the United States, the environmental, economic, and social impacts of different policy design decisions remain unclear. In this talk, Dr. Victor will share primary insights from a two-year project at the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions that examines these trade-offs. She will highlight what the interdisciplinary team has learned so far, where major knowledge gaps remain, and why understanding these trade-offs matter for ensuring that recycling programs are economically effective, environmentally sustainable, and just.
Dr. Erin Victor is a postdoctoral researcher at the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine. She earned her PhD in Anthropology and Environmental Policy at UMaine, where she studied the politics of disposable packaging in the U.S. and Canada. Before returning to academia, she worked in local and state government on solid waste and sustainability initiatives, experience that shapes her commitment to collaborative research to foster more effective and just environmental policy solutions.
