NWPSC February 2022 Newsletter

King County, Washington sent this bulletin at 02/24/2022 10:25 AM PST

Header V1

Header V1

February 2022

Legislation

Oregon

Mattress EPR bill
The Oregon "short" 2022 legislative session began February 1.
SB 1576, establishing a product stewardship program for mattresses, had a hearing, was voted out of committee, and awaits a vote of the budget writing committee. Sponsored by Senator Manning, this bill is the same as SB 570 A which was considered in 2021. The Bend Bulletin covered news of the bill. Mattress EPR programs exist in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and California.

Bottle Bill update
SB 1520, which would improve the workings of Oregon's bottle bill program, including adding wine in cans, was voted out of committee and awaits further action in joint subcommittee.

Packaging EPR law
The Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act, passed in 2021,effective Jan. 1, 2022 and with recycling program changes starting in July 2025, has a new website with more information: RecyclingAct.Oregon.gov 

Washington

Packaging EPR bill Washington recycling is falling behind - image of bar graph
SB 5697, renewing Washington's recycling system and reducing waste (also known as the RENEW Act), did not move forward past the cutoff deadline for this session. The bill would have created an extended producer responsibility (EPR) system for consumer packaging and paper products (PPP).

Washington's 2022 session is a "short session" of 60 days and a bill of this magnitude will be a multi-year effort. Bill sponsors and their allies made significant progress with stakeholders representing manufacturers, producers, retailers, waste management companies, trade associations, local governments, and environmental NGOs - with much work and many meetings over the past three years. The NWPSC continues to follow how EPR legislation is developing in other states such as New York and Colorado, and how that can inform Washington's efforts in 2023.

Batteries EPR bill
HB 1896, providing for responsible environmental management of batteries, was voted out of committee but did not move forward past the cutoff deadline for this session. The bill would have established a statewide battery stewardship program to ensure proper handling, recycling, and end-of-life management. HB 1896 was developed in collaboration with a large number of stakeholders, attracted a good deal of interest, laid a good foundation for future efforts, but competed with many other priorities in the short session.

Fair Repair
HB 1810, promoting the fair servicing and repair of digital electronic products, and HB 1801, a related bill that would establish a commission to develop a repairability score, both had hearings but did not move forward past the cutoff deadline for this session.

Support for Right to Repair policies continues to grow as states consider legislation, in remarks from President Biden, and as covered in The Stranger and AgeWise King County.

Programs & News

Plastics, History, and Climate Change
Rebecca Altman, in The Atlantic, detailed the history and impacts of plastics: "This failure [<10% recycling rate], like so many other aspects of our relationship with plastics, is often framed in terms of individual shortcomings; plastics' producers, or the geopolitics that have made plastics so widespread, are rarely called out. But to read plastics’ history is to discover another story: Demand for plastic has been as manufactured as plastics themselves. Society is awash in throwaway plastics not because of the logic of desire but because of the logic of history and of integrated industrial systems."

"More than 40% of plastics now goes into containers, cups, packaging, and other short-term-use products. Despite encouragements to refuse disposables when possible and to #bringyourown, most people in most cases have little say over the volume of plastic packaging in their lives. In some places, a sizable proportion of discardable plastics (for example, sachets) has become largely unavoidable, especially in rural and remote regions where alternatives can be either inaccessible or unaffordable.

At no other juncture in its history, though, has plastics faced the scrutiny it does now. This past March, two Democratic members of Congress introduced legislation to address plastic pollution. At least two-thirds of United Nations member states (including, recently, the United States) support negotiations toward a binding treaty to address plastics’ global implications. And this month, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine called on U.S. producers to reduce the volume of plastics entering commerce and, by extension, the environment. Even my dad has been involved in a push to introduce a municipal ban on disposable polystyrene.

All of these efforts call into question plastics’ unfettered production, but there’s another reason, too, to address plastics now—the industry’s carbon-intensive production is driving climate change."

Carpet PRO referred to enforcement in California
The producer responsibility organization (PRO) that runs California’s carpet EPR program – Carpet America Recovery Effort or CARE – did not "demonstrate it met a 24% or greater recycling rate and did not meet requirements in its 2018 to 2022 Plan" according to oversight agency CalRecycle. CalRecycle referred CARE to the Waste Permitting, Compliance, and Mitigation Division for potential enforcement.

Canada plans for zero plastic waste by 2030
Among the Canada-wide Strategy on Zero Plastic Waste are goals including 50% recycled content for certain plastic products by 2030, 90% recycling of beverage containers, support for provincial and territorial EPR, and requiring producers to report annually on plastics supplied into Canada. Read more in Canada's overview of and primer on EPR.

Textile policy report
In California, textiles are the fifth most common material in residential and commercial waste streams, making up 6% of the total waste stream, and over 1.2 million tons of textiles end up in the landfill each year, according to a report from the Statewide Textile Recovery Advisory Committee (STRAC), hosted by the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC). STRAC met with industry experts since 2020 to develop the report, Federal, State, and Local policy recommendations on Textile Stewardship, with the intent to jumpstart California's circular economy with textile recovery.

Events & Webinars

Engage with the Northwest Product Stewardship Counciltwitter icon 30x30
Add your voice and join the Northwest Product Stewardship Council (NWPSC) as an Associate, Steering, or Community member.
Follow the NWPSC on Twitter (@StewardshipNW) for product stewardship information from Washington, Oregon and elsewhere.

Northwest Product Stewardship Council (NWPSC)The Northwest Product Stewardship Council (NWPSC) is a coalition of government agencies in Washington and Oregon working on solid waste, recycling, resource conservation, environmental protection, public health and other issues. Together with non-government agencies, businesses and individuals, we form a network that supports product stewardship and extended producer responsibility (EPR) policies and programs. For more information, contact info@productstewardship.net or visit us at www.ProductStewardship.net.

Subscribe to the NWPSC Newsletter and read our past newsletters. For current subscribers: update your email, password, or unsubscribe on the Subscriber Preferences Page (you will need to use your email address to log in). If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please visit subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com.