Committee on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

AGENDA Committee on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion July 9, 2025 at 4:30 PM Lansing City Hall, City Council Conference Room 124 W. Michigan Avenue, 10th Floor To provide input or ask questions on any item that is listed on the agenda, members of the public may contact the City Council at city.council@lansingmi.gov or (517) 483-4177 prior to the meeting. To view the meeting live and participate in virtual public comment: https://www.lansingmi.gov/1212/Council-Committee-Meetings Council Member Jackson, Chairperson Council Member Spadafore, Vice Chairperson Council Member Carter, Member 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Minutes A. June 11, 2025 4. Public Comment on Agenda Items (Up to 3 Minutes) 5. Discussion/Action: B. RESOLUTION - Support for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Policy 6. Other 7. Adjourn Persons with disabilities who need an accommodation to fully participate in these meetings should contact the City Council Office at 517-483-4177 (TTY 711) 24 hour notice may be needed for certain accommodations. An attempt will be made to grant all reasonable accommodation requests. Page 1 of 6  Minutes Committee on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Wednesday, June 11, 2025 @ 4:30 p.m. City Council Conference Room CALL TO ORDER Council Member Spadafore called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. PRESENT Council Member Jackson, Chair- absent Council Member Spadafore, Vice-Chair Council Member Carter, Member OTHERS PRESENT Sherie Boak, Council Office Manager Matt Staples, OCA MINUTES MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM MAY 14, 2025, AS PRESENTED. MOTION CARRIED 2-0. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment. DISCUSSION/ACTION RESOLUTION – Appointment; DeAnna Brown; At Large Member; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Board; Term to Expire June 30. 2028 Ms. Brown first provided her past interest in representing the community, looking for the best to speak for those that cannot speak for themselves for their families and businesses. She is small business owner in the South of Lansing, strongly believe she can be a good representation from struggle to success. Council Member Carter spoke in support of the appointment and acknowledged the effort Ms. Brown is making for the Community. MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF DEANNA BROWN TO THE AT LARGE MEMBER OF THE DEI ADVISORY BOARD. MOTION CARRIED 2-0. RESOLUTION – Appointment; Sharon Gillison; 4th Ward Member; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Board; Term to Expire June 30. 2028 Council Member Spadafore noted that Ms. Gillson was an at large member and resigned to serve in the 4th ward position. Page 2 of 6 MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF SHARON GILLISON TO THE 4TH WARD MEMBER OF THE DEI ADVISORY BOARD. MOTION CARRIED 2-0. Other No other topics of discussion. Adjourn Adjourned at 4:35 p.m. Submitted, Sherrie Boak Recording Secretary, Lansing City Council Approved by the Committee on Page 3 of 6 May 15, 2025 President Ryan Kost Lansing City Council 124 W. Michigan Ave. Lansing, MI 48933 Dear Council President Kost: The Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Sustainability strongly urges the Lansing City Council to adopt the attached resolution to support an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging and paper products (PPP) in Michigan so that our communities are no longer unfairly forced to shoulder the burden of managing those materials and paying for needed recycling programs. The responsibilities of recycling must be shared with the producers of the packaging, who are in the best position to reduce waste in the design process. Michigan is still working to reach its goal of recycling 35% of our waste by 2029 but we can recycle much more than that. Like many communities, Lansing’s recycling program is struggling. The financial burden of managing greater volumes of diverse and challenging materials is only growing for the community. There is an effective solution to our recycling problems and two more states passed EPR for PPP laws in 2025, Maryland and Washington bringing the U.S. total to seven states. EPR for packaging is already effectively used across the world, including in Australia, Brazil, and Canada, all 28 countries in the EU, and Russia. These systems successfully shift costs of managing recycling from taxpayers to the producers and increase recycling rates to well over 50%. EPR in Michigan will make recycling: ● More Effective: ○ Producers of packaging materials would have a direct economic incentive to produce packaging that can more easily be managed by municipal recycling programs. ○ Lansing would have economic support to maintain its robust recycling program. ● More Sustainable: EPR is an insurance policy for Michigan municipalities and connects these programs directly to end markets for the recycled material. Our current approach to recycling is not resilient to changes in the global recycling market. If costs rise unexpectedly or the market changes abruptly, we may be forced to stop or restrict our programs. ● More Equitable: By internalizing the full lifecycle costs of products and packaging, we are assuring more equitable distribution impact costs. More and more disposable and wasteful packaging enters the market every day because producers have no incentive to design smarter, less wasteful packaging. We believe it is up to local communities to pass resolutions like this to let the current legislature know that this is an important issue for local communities all across the state. The mayor has already received our letter and recommendation and supports our request that city council consider the resolution. We welcome any questions from you as you consider this important issue. Sincerely, Randy Dykhuis Chair, Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Sustainability Page 4 of 6  DRAFT As submitted from Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Sustainability BY THE COMMITTEE ON EQUITY DIVERSITY & INCLUSION RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LANSING WHEREAS, the City of Lansing is committed to reducing materials landfilled by diverting and capturing value from those materials, ultimately reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and WHEREAS, product packaging, including plastic, glass, metals, paper, and cardboard constitutes approximately 30-40% of the materials managed by Lansing waste and recycling programs; and WHEREAS, a wide variety of other materials, including but not limited to electronics, batteries, mercury switches, mattresses, carpet, and many other materials are problematic and often dangerous to manage at the end of their useful life; and WHEREAS, Michigan taxpayers currently bear 100% of the costs and collectively already pay over $1 billion each year to finance the collection and management of this material through fragmented and increasingly expensive disposal and recycling options; and WHEREAS, producers of products and packaging have little incentive to minimize the use of harmful additives, wasteful packaging, or increase access to recycling; and WHEREAS, there is no organized coordination between the producers of products, packaging, and the residents and municipalities that are responsible for disposing of or recycling these materials; and WHEREAS, producers have taken some or all the responsibility for the management of post-consumer products and packaging in other parts of the world, including all European Union member states and five provinces in Canada, and as a result, have greatly increased recycling rates, expanded infrastructure investment, created jobs, and reduced taxpayer costs; and WHEREAS, producers of products and packaging materials would have a direct economic incentive to produce less harmful and wasteful products and packaging and the shared responsibility between those who create the waste and those who manage the waste would foster recycling system improvements and enable greater participation in recycling across Michigan; and WHEREAS, EPR laws for products and packaging assures safe and productive management programs such as recycling and composting are funded and stable event when global recycling markets are unfavorable; and WHEREAS, Michigan’s counties, municipalities, and taxpayers are currently footing the bill for a problem of which they have little control; Page 5 of 6  DRAFT As submitted from Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Sustainability WHEREAS, Extended Producer Responsibility laws require producers to be bear some of the cost of end-of-life management for covered products and packaging and therefore, taxpayers will no longer be solely responsible for the cost of recycling or end- of-life management since the net costs of recycling or proper handling would be reimbursed or covered by producers, rather the lifecycle costs of the product and its packaging will be internalized and producers will be incentivized to produce less harmful and wasteful, more recyclable packaging; and WHEREAS, EPR policies will help to achieve some of the goals of the City of Lansing’s Sustainability Action Plan and reduce the impacts of these products and packaging on the City and its residents; and NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, City of Lansing supports Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies in Michigan. 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