PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 30, 2025
Maine has long been a national leader in environmental stewardship, and our bottle bill, first enacted in 1976, has been one of our proudest accomplishments. It’s helped reduce litter, encourage recycling and set a strong precedent for responsible policy. But even the best-intended laws can have unintended consequences. We’re seeing that play out in real time now. The latest revision to Maine’s bottle bill, which took effect July 1, 2025, expands redemption requirements to include all direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine shipments. In just the past month, all three small wineries where we hold memberships have stopped shipping to Maine. These are small, family-run vineyards that rely heavily on DTC sales to stay afloat. They also happen to be among the most environmentally responsible producers I’ve encountered. We’ve created a system that punishes the very producers who are often the most environmentally conscious. ~ Paul Richardson, Yarmouth