1. Clackamas County, Oregon
2. Lane County, Oregon
3. Washington County, Oregon
4. City of Beaverton, Oregon
5. City of Eugene, Oregon
6. City of Gresham, Oregon
7. City of Lake Oswego, Oregon
8. City of Portland, Oregon
9. Clark County, Washington

Implementation of the Recycling Reform Act is underway. Some upcoming key dates:

• October 6, 2025: Deadline for Advisory Council Applications. The Advisory Council will advise Ecology and the PRO on program implementation, including statewide collection lists, infrastructure needs assessments, PRO plans and more. If you or someone you know is interested in applying, please complete or share the Advisory Council Application. After downloading and completing the application, email it to recyclingreform@ecy.wa.gov.
• October 7, 2025 at 10am: Second kickoff webinar on the Recycling Reform Act. The webinar will start with a repeat presentation from the September 9^th webinar, followed by Q&A. Register here.
• January 31, 2026: Service Provider Registration. Service providers, including local governments with residential recycling programs, will need to register with Dept. of Ecology January 31, 2026. Keep an eye on Ecology’s website and sign up for email notices about the registration process. Registered service providers will be eligible to be reimbursed for costs, when the program starts in 2030.

Check out Ecology’s website for more information and sign up for email notices.

Oregon’s mattress recycling program, launched on January 1, 2025 under the Bye Bye Mattress brand, has achieved more than 55,000 mattresses recycled in its first six months, diverting over 2.3 million pounds of material from landfills.

Under Oregon’s statute (SB 1576), the program is funded via a $22.50 per-unit stewardship assessment collected at point of sale, which covers collection, transportation, processing, outreach, and oversight costs.

The program allows any Oregon resident or organization to drop off old mattresses or foundations at participating sites free of charge—regardless of the unit’s age or condition.

Other highlights from the first six months:

• 312 companies registered under the program
• Nearly 100 municipalities, community groups, and local media outlets engaged in promotion and outreach campaigns
• 41 collection events, with more scheduled over the remainder of 2025

This early success shows strong resident engagement and a solid foundation for scaling operations in rural counties and expanding access statewide.

Local governments in Washington state and British Columbia are pushing for establishing mattress EPR programs as mattresses are difficult to manage in the waste stream, costly to recycle despite being highly recyclable, and frequently illegally dumped. If you are interested in learning more about EPR for mattresses in Washington, please contact info@productstewardship.net

In April, PaintCare submitted an amendment to the Washington Architectural Paint Stewardship Program Plan, seeking approval from the Department of Ecology to adjust the program’s fee structure. This fee increase was proposed to strengthen the program’s financial foundation and ensure its long-term viability.

On July 9, 2025, Ecology approved the amendment, marking an important step in safeguarding Washington’s paint stewardship system. The revised fees will provide the resources needed to sustain and expand core program services—including convenient paint collection, responsible recycling, and statewide education initiatives.

This decision helps guarantee that Washington residents continue to benefit from one of the nation’s leading product stewardship programs, which reduces waste, protects the environment, and saves taxpayer dollars.

You can review the full amendment request and Ecology’s approval letter on the paint stewardship website.

Rep. Kristine Reeves has been convening interested parties to provide feedback to the EPR bill for Textiles (HB 1420) that was introduced in January this year. The bill was based on the Responsible Textile Recovery Act (SB 707) that passed in California last year.

We expect to see a revised bill in the 2026 legislative session that would reduce waste by providing funding for increased reuse, repair, and recycling of apparel and textiles in Washington. Besides reducing GHG emissions and other forms of pollution, it would also boost local businesses and create jobs.

Rep. Reeves is particularly interested in hearing from Washington-based companies, NGOs, community groups, labor organizations, and, reuse and repair service providers.

The Recycling Market Development Center has organized Common Threads: Textile Listening Series that will unravel the textile industry for a regenerative Washington. The next session: Discover How Policy Shapes the Future of Fashion is on October 2 at 11am. Register here and sign up for email notices of future textiles webinars.      

CALIFORNIA HITS RECORD CARPET RECYCLING RATE IN 2024

In 2024, California’s carpet recycling program shattered expectations—achieving a historic 38.5 % recycling rate, well above its target of 34 %. That accomplishment wasn’t just a fluke. The state collected 82.7 million pounds of post-consumer carpet, of which 90.5 % was actually recycled.

Program enhancements helped drive this success:

• 16 new drop-off sites were added in 2024, bringing the total to 159, ensuring much broader access across California’s 58 counties.
• Subsidies and grants (15 awards totaling $881,000) supported infrastructure expansion, grants for fiber identification research, and improved drop-off connectivity.
• The state continues integrating lessons from its 2020 COVID-era Action Plan, folding in supplemental supports to stabilize market conditions.

Bob Peoples, Executive Director of Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE), noted: “Our efforts at growing collection, reuse, recycling and innovations in market development have paid off … 2025 is well ahead of our recycling rate goal, despite the toughest market conditions since the financial crisis of 2008.”

This milestone underscores that with funding, infrastructure, and policy continuity, high-diversion goals for challenging materials like carpet are attainable. California’s trajectory also validates the role of stewardship and performance-based incentives in scaling recycling systems.

Resource Recycling reported that 2025 is proving to be a turning point for extended producer responsibility (EPR) in the United States. What was once seen as a theoretical framework or a niche solution is now moving rapidly into practice, with states across the country implementing laws that hold producers directly accountable for managing the products they put on the market.

According to the publication, the shift is clear: early programs centered on consumer awareness, but today’s EPR systems establish measurable obligations for producers, including fees, audits, reporting, and penalties. This transformation is forcing brand owners to incorporate end-of-life costs and responsibilities into their overall product strategies, not just their marketing.

Resource Recycling highlighted Oregon as the leader in this transition. On July 1, 2025, the state launched the nation’s first fully operational packaging EPR program, making producers financially responsible for collecting and recycling packaging, paper, and foodservice ware. The article also noted that California, Colorado, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, and Washington are all developing or implementing similar systems. These programs move beyond statutes on paper to tackle the details of covered materials, fee structures, compliance mechanisms, and enforcement.

The reporting also underscored the challenges of this new era. State laws lack alignment, meaning compliance is difficult for companies operating nationally. Definitions of “manufacturer,” “producer,” and “brand owner” vary, creating confusion, and many companies are still scrambling to meet new reporting requirements. Regulators, meanwhile, must strike a balance between clear enforcement and flexible adaptation to evolving markets and technologies. Despite these challenges, Resource Recycling reported that 2025 underscores how EPR is becoming the new standard for U.S. recycling and materials management policy. The details being finalized now—on scope, costs, and performance measures—will shape the future of circularity for the next decade and beyond.