§ 9-2501

(a) In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.

(b) “Advisory council” means the producer responsibility advisory council established under § 9–2503 of this subtitle.

(c) (1) “Beverage container” means a prepackaged beverage container:

(i) Made of any material, including glass, plastic, metal, or multimaterials;

(ii) In any form, including a bottle, can, carton, or pouch; and

(iii) The volume of which is not more than 5 liters.

(2) “Beverage container” does not include a prepackaged beverage container that is covered under a beverage container deposit return program in the State.

(d) “Brand owner” means a person that owns or licenses a brand or that otherwise has rights to market a product under the brand, whether or not the brand’s trademark is registered.

(e) “Composting” and “composting facility” have the meanings stated in § 9–1701 of this title.

(f) “Covered entity” means a person or location that receives covered services for covered materials in accordance with the requirements of this subtitle, including:

(1) A single–family residence;

(2) A multifamily residence;

(3) A public or nonpublic kindergarten, elementary, or secondary school;

(4) A child care center, as defined in § 9.5–401 of the Education Article; and

(5) A public building owned or operated by the State or a local government.

(g) (1) “Covered materials” means packaging and paper products sold, offered for sale, imported, or distributed in the State.

(2) “Covered materials” does not include exempt materials.

(h) “Covered material type” means a singular and specific type of covered material, such as paper, plastic, metal, or glass, that:

(1) Can be categorized based on distinguishing chemical or physical properties, including properties that allow the material type to be aggregated into a discrete commodity category for purposes of reuse, recycling, or composting; and

(2) Is based on similar uses in the form of a product or package.

(i) (1) “Covered services” means:

(i) Collecting, transferring, transporting, sorting, processing, recovering, preparing, or otherwise managing covered materials for purposes of waste reduction, reuse, recycling, or composting; and

(ii) Public education and outreach activities related to the activities described in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph.

(2) “Covered services” does not include disposal of covered materials.

(j) “De minimis producer” means a person that in their most recent fiscal year:

(1) Introduced less than 1 ton of covered material into the State; or

(2) Earned global gross revenues of less than $2,000,000.

(k) “Environmental impact” means the impact of a covered material on human health and the environment, beginning with the extraction and processing of the raw materials that compose the covered material through the manufacturing, distribution, use, recovery for reuse, recycling or composting, and final disposal of the covered material.

(l) “Exempt material” means a material, or any portion of a material, that is:

(1) Packaging for infant formula, as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 321(z);

(2) Packaging for medical food, as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 360ee(b)(3);

(3) Packaging for a fortified oral nutritional supplement, or food which is formulated to be consumed or administered enterally for individuals who are unable to consume nutrition orally, used by individuals who require supplemental or sole source nutrition to meet nutritional or special dietary needs directly related to the following conditions as defined by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision:

(i) Cancer;

(ii) Chronic kidney disease;

(iii) Diabetes;

(iv) Malnutrition; or

(v) Failure to thrive;

(4) Packaging for a product regulated as a drug or medical device by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including associated components and consumable medical equipment;

(5) Packaging for medical equipment or a product used in medical settings that is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including associated components and consumable medical equipment;

(6) Drugs, biological products, parasiticides, medical devices, or in vitro diagnostics that are used to treat, or that are administered to, animals and are regulated by:

(i) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration under the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; or

(ii) The U.S. Department of Agriculture under the federal Virus–Serum–Toxin Act;

(7) Packaging for products regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act;

(8) Packaging used to contain liquefied petroleum gas and designed to be refilled;

(9) Newsprint subject to § 9–1707 of this title;

(10) A paper product used for a magazine’s print publication that has a circulation of less than 95,000 and that primarily includes content derived from primary sources related to news and current events;

(11) Packaging used to contain hazardous or flammable products regulated under the 2012 federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration Hazard Communication Standard that prevent the packaging from being waste reduced or made reusable, recyclable, or compostable, as determined by the Department;

(12) Packaging for products subject to the Paint Stewardship Program under Subtitle 17, Part V of this title;

(13) Material that a producer distributes to another producer that is:

(i) Subsequently used to contain a product, and the product is distributed to a commercial business or entity; and

(ii) Not introduced to a person other than the commercial or business entity that first received the product; or

(14) Packaging used for the long–term protection or storage of a product that has a lifespan of not less than 5 years, as determined by the Department.

(m) “Local government” means:

(1) A county; or

(2) A municipality.

(n) (1) “Packaging” means a material, a substance, or an object that is used to protect, contain, transport, serve, or facilitate the delivery of a product that is sold or supplied with the product to the consumer for personal, noncommercial use and that is sold, offered for sale, imported, or distributed in the State.

(2) “Packaging” includes:

(i) Primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging intended for the consumer market;

(ii) Service packaging designed and intended to be filled at the point of sale, including:

1. Carry–out bags;

2. Bulk goods bags; and

3. Take–out and home delivery food service packaging; and

(iii) Beverage containers.

(o) (1) “Paper products” means products made primarily from wood pulp or other cellulosic fibers.

(2) “Paper products” does not include:

(i) Bound books; or

(ii) Products that are not accepted by materials recycling facilities or composting facilities because of the unsafe or unsanitary nature of the products.

(p) (1) “Producer” means the following person, as applicable, that is responsible for compliance with a producer responsibility plan under this subtitle:

(i) For items sold in or with packaging at a physical retail location in the State:

1. If the item is sold in or with packaging under the brand of the item manufacturer or is sold in packaging without brand identification, the producer is the item manufacturer;

2. If there is no person described in item 1 of this item, the producer is the person that is licensed to manufacture and sell or offer for sale to consumers in the State an item with packaging under the brand or trademark of another manufacturer or person;

3. If there is no person described in items 1 and 2 of this item, the producer is the brand owner of the item;

4. If there is no person described in items 1 through 3 of this item within the United States, the producer is the person that imports the product into the United States for use in a commercial enterprise that sells, offers for sale, or distributes the item in the State; or

5. If there is no person described in items 1 through 4 of this item, the producer is the person that first distributes the item in or into the State;

(ii) For items sold or distributed in packaging in or into the State via e–commerce, remote sale, or online distribution:

1. For packaging used directly to protect or contain the item, the producer of the packaging is a producer under item (i) of this paragraph; and

2. For packaging used to ship the item to a consumer, the producer of the packaging is the person that packages the item to be shipped to the consumer;

(iii) For packaging that is not described in items (i) and (ii) of this paragraph, the producer of the packaging is the person that first distributes the item in or into the State;

(iv) For paper products that are magazines, catalogs, telephone directories, or similar publications, the producer is the publisher;

(v) For a paper product not described in item (iv) of this paragraph:

1. If the paper product is sold under the manufacturer’s own brand, the producer is the person that manufactures the paper product;

2. If there is no person described in item 1 of this item, the producer is the person that is the owner or licensee of a brand or trademark under which the paper product is used in a commercial enterprise, sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the State, whether or not the trademark is registered in the State;

3. If there is no person described in items 1 and 2 of this item, the producer is the brand owner of the paper product; or

4. If there is no person described in items 1 through 3 of this item within the United States, the producer is the person that imports the paper product into the United States for use in a commercial enterprise that sells, offers for sale, or distributes the paper product in the State; and

(iv) For a producer identified in items (i) through (iii) of this paragraph that is a business operated wholly or in part as a franchise, the producer of the packaging is the franchisor if the franchisor has franchisees that have a commercial presence in the State.

(2) “Producer” does not include:

(i) A state, federal or state agency, a political subdivision, or other governmental unit;

(ii) A registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization or 501(c)(4) social welfare organization;

(iii) A de minimis producer;

(iv) A mill that uses any virgin wood fiber in the products it produces;

(v) A paper mill that produces container board derived from 100% postconsumer recycled content and nonpostconsumer recycled content;

(vi) An entity that owns or operates a restaurant, food cart, or similar establishment that:

1. Is headquartered in the State;

2. Primarily sells to members of the public food that is generally intended to be consumed immediately and without the need for further preparation, either on or off the premises; and

3. Is not a producer of food serviceware;

(vii) An entity that owns or operates a single retail sales establishment that:

1. Has no online sales; and

2. Is not supplied or operated as part of a franchise or a chain;

(viii) An entity that:

1. Is licensed under Title 2 of the Alcoholic Beverages and Cannabis Article; and

2. Generated less than $10,000,000 in gross revenue during the immediately preceding calendar year; or

(ix) A producer under paragraph (1) of this subsection that has executed an agreement with another entity, under which the other entity has agreed to assume responsibility by written certification under a producer responsibility program for any packaging materials attributable to the first entity.

(q) “Producer responsibility organization” means a nonprofit organization that is:

(1) Exempt from taxation under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; and

(2) Created by a group of producers to implement a producer responsibility plan in accordance with this subtitle.

(r) “Producer responsibility plan” means a covered materials producer responsibility plan submitted to the Department by a producer or producer responsibility organization in accordance with § 9–2505 of this subtitle.

(s) (1) “Recycling” means the process of collecting, sorting, cleansing, treating, and constituting materials that would otherwise be disposed of and returning them to or maintaining them with the economic mainstream in the form of recovered material for new, reused, or reconstituted products that meet the quality standards necessary to be used in the marketplace.

(2) “Recycling” does not include:

(i) Landfilling;

(ii) Combustion;

(iii) Incineration;

(iv) Energy generation;

(v) Fuel production; or

(vi) Alternative daily cover or other forms of use or disposal within the footprint of a landfill.

(t) “Recycled covered material” means covered material that is sent to a responsible end market.

(u) “Recycling rate” means the amount of recyclable covered material, in aggregate or by individual covered material type, recycled in a calendar year divided by the total amount of recyclable covered materials sold or distributed into the State by the relevant unit of measurement.

(v) “Refill” means the continued use of a covered material by a consumer through a system that is:

(1) Intentionally designed and marketed for repeated filling of a covered material to reduce demand for new production of the covered material;

(2) Supported by adequate logistics and infrastructure to provide convenient access for consumers; and

(3) Compliant with applicable federal, State, and local statutes, rules, ordinances, and other laws governing health and safety.

(w) “Responsible end market” means a material market in which the recycling and recovery of materials or the disposal of contaminants is conducted in a way that:

(1) Benefits the environment; and

(2) Minimizes risks to public health and worker health and safety.

(x) “Return rate” means the amount of reusable covered material, in aggregate or by individual covered materials type, collected for reuse by a producer or service provider in a calendar year, divided by the total amount of reusable covered materials sold or distributed into the State by the relevant unit of measurement.

(y) “Reusable” means being capable of reuse.

(z) “Reuse” means the return of a covered material to the marketplace and the continued use of the covered material by a producer or service provider when the covered material is:

(1) Intentionally designed and marketed to be used multiple times for its original intended purpose without a change in form;

(2) Designed for durability and maintenance to extend its useful life and reduce demand for new production of the covered material;

(3) Supported by adequate logistics and infrastructure at a retail location, by a service provider, or on behalf of or by a producer, that provides convenient access for consumers; and

(4) Compliant with applicable federal, State, and local statutes, rules, ordinances, and other laws governing health and safety.

(aa) “Reuse rate” means the share of units of a reusable covered material sold or distributed into the State in a calendar year that are demonstrated and deemed reusable in accordance with an approved producer responsibility plan.

(bb) (1) “Service provider” means an entity that provides covered services for covered materials.

(2) “Service provider” includes a local government that provides, contracts for, or otherwise arranges with another party to provide covered services for covered materials within its jurisdiction regardless of whether the local government provided, contracted for, or otherwise arranged for similar services before the approval of the applicable producer responsibility plan.