AN ACT Relating to procurement of recovered materials; amending RCW 43.19.537 and 43.19.538; adding a new section to chapter 70.95 RCW; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. Section 1, chapter 61, Laws of 1982 and RCW 43.19.537 are each amended to read as follows:

((~~Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout RCW 43.19.538.~~

~~(1) "Postconsumer waste"~~)) "Recovered material" as used in RCW 43.19.538 means ((~~a finished paper, woodpulp material, or cotton rags which would normally be disposed of as solid waste.~~

~~(2) "Recycled paper" means paper and woodpulp products with at least fifty percent of the total weight consisting of postconsumer waste~~)):

(1) "Post consumer waste" which is:

(a) Paper, paperboard, and fibrous wastes from buildings such as retail stores, office buildings, homes, after the wastes have passed through their end-usage as a consumer item, including: Used corrugated boxes, old newspapers, old magazines, mixed waste paper, tabulating cards, and used cordage; and

(b) All paper, paperboard, and fibrous wastes that enter and are collected from municipal solid waste; and

(c) All other items containing plastics, yard waste, metals, glass, rubber, oil, or any other material that is suitable as feedstock in product manufacture; and

(2) "Secondary waste" including manufacturing and other wastes such as:

(a) Dry paper and paperboard waste generated after completion of the papermaking process, that is, those manufacturing operations up to and including the cutting and trimming of the paper machine reel into smaller rolls or rough sheets including: Envelope cuttings, bindery trimmings, and other paper and paperboard waste resulting from printing, cutting, forming, and other converting operations; bag, box, and carton manufacturing wastes; and butt rolls, mill wrappers, and rejected unused stock;

(b) Finished paper and paperboard from obsolete inventories of paper and paperboard manufacturers, merchants, wholesalers, dealers, printers, converters, or others;

(c) Wastes generated by the conversion of goods made from fibrous material, that is, waste rope from cordage manufacture, textile mill waste, and cuttings; and

(d) Fibers recovered from waste water which otherwise would enter the waste stream.

Recovered material does not include internal mill waste.

Sec. 2. Section 2, chapter 61, Laws of 1982 as amended by section 26, chapter 505, Laws of 1987 and RCW 43.19.538 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The director of general administration, through the state purchasing director, shall develop specifications and adopt rules for the purchase of ((~~paper~~)) products which will provide for preferential purchase((~~, when feasible, of paper~~)) of products containing ((~~recycled paper. The specifications shall include~~)) recovered material by:

(a) ((~~Giving preference to suppliers of recycled paper products if the bids do not exceed the lowest bid offered by suppliers of paper products that are not recycled~~)) The use of a weighting factor determined by the amount of recycled paper in a product, where appropriate and known in advance to potential bidders, to determine the lowest responsible bidder. The actual dollars bid shall be the contracted amount. If the department determines, according to criteria established by rule that the use of this weighting factor is not appropriate, the department shall consider and award bids without regard to the weighting factor. In making this determination, the department shall consider but not be limited to such factors as adequate competition, economics or environmental constraints, quality, and availability. In using the weighting factor, the department may not select a responsible bidder whose bid is ten percent above another bidder.

(b) ((~~Requiring paper products with the highest quantity of postconsumer waste.~~

~~(c)~~)) Requiring ((~~paper~~)) products that may be recycled or reused to be purchased if the quality, price, and grade are otherwise equal to other ((~~paper~~)) products.

(c) Requiring an affidavit of the percentage of recovered material content from the bidder providing products containing recovered material. For paper, this percentage shall be established by the mill providing the paperstock based upon the previous year's consumption of recovered material and dividing by the previous year's total tonnage production of the mill.

(2) The ((~~recycled paper content specifications shall be reviewed annually to consider increasing the percentage of recycled paper~~)) director shall develop a directory of businesses that supply products containing significant quantities of recovered materials.

(3) The director shall encourage all parties using the state purchasing office to purchase products containing recovered materials.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 70.95 RCW to read as follows:

The department of ecology, at the request of a local government jurisdiction, may periodically provide educational material promoting household waste reduction and recycling to public and private refuse haulers. The educational material shall be distributed to households receiving refuse collection service by local governments or the refuse hauler providing service. The refuse hauler may distribute the educational material by any means that assures timely delivery.

Reasonable expenses incurred in the distribution of this material shall be considered, for rate-making purposes, as legitimate operating expenses of garbage and refuse haulers regulated under chapter 81.77 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 1989.