NWPSC March 2023 Newsletter

King County, Washington sent this bulletin at 03/24/2023 03:17 PM PDT

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March 2023

Programs & News

British Columbia EPR program accepting more materials
Beginning Jan. 1, 2023, RecycleBC accepts more packaging and paper products in its producer responsibility program, including foam products, flexible plastic products, single use plastic straws, plates, and utensils. Operating a uniform, province-wide curbside and depot recycling system for packaging and paper products since 2014, RecycleBC had a 94% recovery rate in 2021.

Washington WRAP Act, including EPR and Bottle Bill, won't move forward this year
Though the Washington Recycling and Packaging (WRAP) Act passed out of House committees, it did not receive a House floor vote. The bill would have created an extended producer responsibility (EPR) system and bottle bill, but did not manage to get sufficient support.

With increasing interest in addressing packaging, two recent webinars featured global trends in packaging EPR, and a national bottle bill "recycling refund" webinar (and related Waste Dive article on deposit return legislation). An April 13 webinar will explore how packaging EPR and bottle bill programs can coexist.

EPR 'crucial' to hitting resource recovery goal, GFL exec says
During a webinar hosted by the Product Stewardship Institute, waste leaders from across the U.S. and Europe discussed the growth of extended producer responsibility for packaging in the U.S. GFL Environment's vice president of resource recovery, Nicole Willett, spoke on the webinar, discussing how she sees EPR as a means to reach GFL’s goal of increasing recyclables recovered at MRF's by 40% by 2030. Dan Felton, Executive Director of AMERIPEN, also spoke on the webinar, where he discussed EPR for packaging's growth over the past few years and the expectations of seeing at least one more law enacted this year.

The future of EPR in the EU
In February, Ecoveritas spoke with Dr. Thomas Lindhquist about the future of EPR in the EU. Dr. Lindhquist, who is credited with creating the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the 1990s, sees potential for EPR legislation at a Europe-wide scale as the EU works to execute its Green Deal.

Social-economic benefits of deposit return
A January 2023 fact sheet from Reloop described and compared the social-economic benefits of deposit return systems (DRS) for charities and other nonprofit organizations, in seven countries in Europe, and Canada, Australia, and the state of Oregon. Reloop wrote that "DRS - now in place in over 50 jurisdictions worldwide - continue to prove their effectiveness at achieving circular economy outcomes, including the minimisation of waste through the reuse and recycling of drinks containers. But it's not just the environmental benefits that are drawing governments' attention towards DRS. These systems can also generate meaningful social-economic outcomes in terms of additional revenue streams for charities and other non-profit organisations that benefit communities."

Principles for reuse/refill in EPR and DRS
Upstream created six principles for prioritizing reuse and refill within EPR and Deposit Return Systems (DRS). The principles emphasize the need for flexibility to meet individual states' needs and are listed below, with more in-depth information on Upstream's website.

  1. Institutionalize reuse through producer funding and financial incentives
  2. Mandate and measure reuse
  3. Enact DRS and EPR as complementary policies
  4. Clearly define "reusable" packaging
  5. Center justice and equity in process and content
  6. Allow flexibility; avoid barriers to reuse

California considers textile EPR
The California state senate is considering SB 707, the Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2023, which would require textile producers to create a stewardship program for the collection and recycling of covered products, including any apparel, textile, or textile article, and set up free collection sites in every county in California where consumers can drop off unwanted items.

The average U.S. consumer discards more than 81 pounds of clothing per year, and textiles are one of the top materials found in the California waste stream. With the rise of fast fashion across the U.S., this issue will only continue to worsen. This bill aims to enhance recycling and reuse in this sector requiring producers to take responsibility for how their products will be repurposed or recycled, which has long been left to thrifts, collectors, and second-hand markets. There are no textiles EPR laws in the U.S. yet; France began a textile EPR program in 2008.

NWPSC Associate Member Pledge updated
Associate members of the Northwest Product Stewardship Council are local, state, regional, and federal government agencies, or non-profit organizations that support the NWPSC mission and product stewardship principles. The Pledge signals your support for NWPSC's mission and that you want to be in the inner circle of information regarding NWPSC's work. If you have not yet signed the NWPSC Associate Member Pledge, please do so now.

Legislation

Oregon

  • Modernizing Oregon E-Cycles: HB 3220 would amend the Oregon E-Cycles EPR program to increase the scope of covered electronic products and shift DEQ's role from operations to oversight. These amendments are necessary to properly update the 2009 e-cycles program to increase administrative efficiencies while maintaining and ensuring the program’s success in the future. This bill passed the House and awaits a Senate committee hearing.
  • Update to Oregon Drug Take-Back Program: SB 411 would amend Oregon's drug take-back EPR program to add certain hospitals, medical and infectious waste incinerators to facilities at which covered drugs may be disposed. This amendment is essential to update the current pharmaceuticals law to ensure more opportunities and outlets for proper disposal. This bill had a February 22 hearing in the Senate Health Care Committee.

Non-EPR Waste & Recycling Bills

  • Foam-Free Oregon: SB 543 would prohibit the use of polystyrene foam foodware including bowls, plates, cups, lids, clamshells, or other containers and prohibit the sale of polystyrene foam packing peanuts and coolers by January 1, 2025. The bill would also prohibit the use of toxic forever chemicals in foodware containers
  • Reducing Plastic at the Source: SB 544: would require producers to reduce single-use plastic packaging and foodware by 25% over the next decade and move to reusable and refillable packaging.
  • Enabling Reuse: SB 545 would update Oregon’s health code to enable customers to bring reusable and refillable containers for food.
  • HB 2770: relating to a study on the impacts of waste from solar or wind renewable energy facilities. This bill would require the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to conduct a study on the impacts of waste from solar or wind renewable energy facilities.
  • SB 494: relating to a study on municipal solid waste incinerators. This bill would require the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to conduct a long-term study of how municipal solid waste incinerators affect air quality and contaminants in surrounding areas.
  • SB 542: relating to a Right to Repair consumer electronic equipment. This bill would require the original electronic equipment manufacturer to make available to the owner of the electronic device or independent repair provider any tools, documentation, or other devices available to authorized repair providers for diagnosing and repairing such electronic equipment.
  • HB 2871: relating to recyclability claims. This bill would prohibit the sale of certain products unless their recyclability claims meet specific standards. The bill also directs the Department of Environmental Quality to monitor efforts related to developing national labeling standards for recyclability.

Washington

  • Battery EPR SB 5144: providing for responsible environmental management of batteries, this bill would require producers of covered batteries and battery-containing products to participate in a stewardship organization which plans and provides for battery collection and end-of-life management. Under current rules adopted by the Department of Ecology, businesses are allowed to manage most types of batteries as universal waste, which can have dangerous consequences for MRFs and other waste management facilities. This bill passed the Senate and is in the House Appropriations committee.
  • Wind turbines SB 5287, concerning a study on the recycling of wind turbine blades, would require the Washington State University Extension Energy Program to conduct a study on the feasibility of recycling wind turbine blades, including consideration of an EPR program. This bill passed the Senate and awaits a House floor vote.
  • The WRAP Act: EPR for Packaging and Paper Products HB 1131 / SB 5154: the Washington Recycling and Packaging (WRAP) Act would create an extended producer responsibility (EPR) system for consumer packaging and paper products. The bill also sets minimum postconsumer recycled content requirements for different packaging materials. Finally, the bill requires producers of certain beverage containers to set up and operate a deposit return system (DRS) in order to satisfy their producer obligations. A substitute bill passed out of policy committees but did not move forward by the cutoff date.
  • EPR for refrigerant containing appliances HB 1164. This bill would create an EPR program to ensure responsible end-of-life management of appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and heat pumps that contain refrigerants and foams that contribute to global warming. The current regulatory system does not ensure refrigerants in appliances are properly managed at their end-of-life, which can have dire environmental and health consequences. This bill had a hearing in the House but did not move forward by the cutoff.
  • Update to LightRecycle Washington HB 1185, reducing environmental impacts associated with lighting products, would phase out mercury-containing lights by 2026 and update the existing LightRecycle EPR program to include all types of lights – it currently only covers mercury containing lights. The bill would also eliminate the environmental handling fee, and instead require the producers of lights covered by the stewardship program to finance the operations of the program. This bill passed out of committee in February but did not move forward by the cutoff.

Non-EPR Waste & Recycling Bills

  • Right to Repair HB 1392 / SB 5464, promoting the fair servicing and repair of digital electronic equipment, would require manufacturers of digital electronic equipment such as computers, cell phones and tablets, to provide access to parts, tools, and repair information about their products, which could make it easier for independent repair shops and others to repair items. HB 1392 passed the House and awaits a Senate committee vote.
  • Compostable products HB 1033, evaluating compostable product usage in Washington, would establish a stakeholder advisory committee to make recommendations on standards for managing compostable products such as compostable bags, food containers, and serviceware to address contamination in composting facilities.
  • Plastic reduction HB 1085, reducing plastic pollution, would take three step to reduce plastics: 1) prohibit the use of expanded or extruded plastic foam overwater structures such as docks; 2) prohibit hotels and other lodging establishments from providing personal health or beauty products in mini plastic packaging/containers and 3) require water bottle refill stations wherever a drinking fountain is required in all new buildings to reduce single-use plastic bottles.

Events & Webinars

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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.

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