Tennessee Waste Reduction & Recycling Act (TWRRA)

What does TWRRA do?

Watch this 3-minute presentation.

Making The Case for Responsibly Structured Extended Producer Responsibility in Tennessee

Endorsed by major producer brands

Hear what the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance says about TWRRA.

TN. Senate Energy/Ag/Natural Resources Committee Testimony

Sustainable Food Policy Alliance (SFPA) Support Letter

Tennessee has a packaging waste problem.

In Tenneesse, 88% of recyclable packaging ends up in our landfills - which are running out of space.

Source: 50 States of Recycling Report (by Eunomia and Ball Corporation)

Only 47% of Tennesseeans have access to recycling.

The major barrier to recycling in Tennessee - is (a lack of) funding.

TWRRA uses EPR to sustainably fund recycling, for 100% of Tennessee residents.

TWRRA transfers the cost of recycling from taxpayers and municipalities to the companies producing packaging waste, through a system called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

EPR incentivizes producers to:

Reduce their overall packaging volume.
Use recycled materials in their packaging.
Ensure their products are recyclable.

(Note: small producers < $10M are exempt)

TWRRA turns Tennessee trash to cash.

900,000 tons

**Total recyclable packaging currently sent to landfills every year in TN**

TWRRA will bring thousands of new jobs and economic development to Tennessee, by investing in our recycling infrastructure to collect, process, and recycle more recyclables - helping our businesses get more of the valuable recycled content they need.