The Reusable Pallet and Container Coalition (RPCC) announced its strong
support for the actions taken by the nation's Governors to encourage
reusable products as a means of alleviating the nation's solid waste
problem. At its recent annual meeting in St. Louis, the National Governors
Association (NGA) amended its existing solid waste management policy to
recognize the significant potential of reusable systems.
"We are greatly encouraged that the nation's Governors have unanimously
recommended that the federal government promote and stimulate markets for
reusable products and materials. This should give a significant boost to our
efforts to promote a federal pollution prevention tax incentive," said Bob
Reivik, President of the Reusable Pallet and Container Coalition. "The
Coalition is urging Congress to embrace a proposal to stimulate capital
investments necessary to accommodate reusable pallet and container systems.
This small business-oriented tax cut would generate savings in avoided waste
disposal costs that are three times the tax cut's cost to the U.S. Treasury
over its seven-year lifetime."
Previous NGA policy had called for recycling 40% of the nation's waste by
2000. The new policy calls for 50% waste reduction through reuse and
recycling by 2010. With recycling efforts largely topping out, reuse will
have to make up the difference. The new NGA policy also calls for the
states to remove barriers to reuse. The reusable industry is actively
pursuing a bill in the California legislature (SB 1210, Baca) that would
eliminate a current state sales tax bias against reusable pallets and
containers.
The RPCC said the National Governors Association also endorsed voluntary
industry efforts to develop standards for reusable packaging, and declared
that the federal and state governments should "lead by example" in their
procurement practices as a means to achieve solid waste reduction.
The Reusable Pallet and Container Coalition (RPCC) is a 501(c)(6)
association representing manufacturers, poolers, and users of pooled and
reusable pallets and containers in North America. The Coalition advocates
the use of reusable pallets and containers as a way to reduce the volume of
the waste stream and improve the system-wide productivity of industries
employing these products and services. The RPCC's annual meeting will be
held in Washington, DC, on September 22. For more information on the RPCC,
call 202-554-RPCC (7722).
Note: The EnviroLink News Service, where this release was posted, is on the
Internet at: http://www.envirolink.org/environews/