AN ACT Relating to recycled newsprint; amending RCW 70.95.030; adding new sections to chapter 70.95 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds in keeping with the provisions of chapter 431, Laws of 1989, that:

(1) Recycling old newspapers saves valuable solid waste landfill space, reduces energy consumption, and preserves timber resources. Specific benefits can be derived by separating old newspapers from the solid waste stream and using them to produce newsprint.

(2) Public awareness of the economic value and environmental benefits from the use of recycled newsprint in newspapers will stimulate and encourage newsprint producers to use larger amounts of old newspapers in their production.

Sec. 2. Section 3, chapter 134, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. as last amended by section 2, chapter 431, Laws of 1989 and RCW 70.95.030 are each amended to read as follows:

As used in this chapter, unless the context indicates otherwise:

(1) "City" means every incorporated city and town.

(2) "Commission" means the utilities and transportation commission.

(3) "Committee" means the state solid waste advisory committee.

(4) "Department" means the department of ecology.

(5) "Director" means the director of the department of ecology.

(6) "Disposal site" means the location where any final treatment, utilization, processing, or deposit of solid waste occurs.

(7) "Energy recovery" means a process operating under federal and state environmental laws and regulations for converting solid waste into usable energy and for reducing the volume of solid waste.

(8) "Functional standards" means criteria for solid waste handling expressed in terms of expected performance or solid waste handling functions.

(9) "Incineration" means a process of reducing the volume of solid waste operating under federal and state environmental laws and regulations by use of an enclosed device using controlled flame combustion.

(10) "Jurisdictional health department" means city, county, city-county, or district public health department.

(11) "Landfill" means a disposal facility or part of a facility at which solid waste is placed in or on land and which is not a land treatment facility.

(12) "Local government" means a city, town, or county.

(13) "Person" means individual, firm, association, copartnership, political subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, public or private corporation, or any other entity whatsoever.

(14) "Recyclable materials" means those solid wastes that are separated for recycling or reuse, such as papers, metals, and glass, that are identified as recyclable material pursuant to a local comprehensive solid waste plan. Prior to the adoption of the local comprehensive solid waste plan, adopted pursuant to RCW 70.95.110(2), local governments may identify recyclable materials by ordinance from July 23, 1989.

(15) "Recycling" means transforming or remanufacturing waste materials into usable or marketable materials for use other than landfill disposal or incineration.

(16) "Solid waste" or "wastes" means all putrescible and nonputrescible solid and semisolid wastes including, but not limited to, garbage, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, swill, demolition and construction wastes, abandoned vehicles or parts thereof, and recyclable materials.

(17) "Solid waste handling" means the management, storage, collection, transportation, treatment, utilization, processing, and final disposal of solid wastes, including the recovery and recycling of materials from solid wastes, the recovery of energy resources from solid wastes or the conversion of the energy in solid wastes to more useful forms or combinations thereof.

(18) "Source separation" means the separation of different kinds of solid waste at the place where the waste originates.

(19) "Vehicle" includes every device physically capable of being moved upon a public or private highway, road, street, or watercourse and in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public or private highway, road, street, or watercourse, except devices moved by human or animal power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks.

(20) "Waste reduction" means reducing the amount or toxicity of waste generated or reusing materials.

(21) "Consumer of newsprint" means a person who uses newsprint in a commercial printing operation or in a commercial publishing operation.

(22) "Deink" or "deinking old newspapers" means a process in which old newspaper is mixed with water, the paper fibers are separated to form a paper pulp, and the pulp is cleaned to remove contaminants.

(23) "Newsprint" means uncoated paper, whether supercalendered or machine finished, of the type generally used for, but not limited to, the publication of newspapers, commercial advertising inserts, directories, or commercial advertising mailers, that is made primarily from mechanical woodpulps combined with some chemical woodpulp. Newsprint includes paper made from old newspapers that have been deinked using recycled pulp in lieu of virgin pulp. Newsprint includes all grades of paper sold as newsprint, supercalendered uncoated groundwood, or machine finished uncoated groundwood.

(24) "Old newspaper" or "recovered newspaper" means any newsprint that is separated from other types of solid waste or collected separately from other types of solid waste and made available for reuse in making new newsprint, and that meets quality standards for use as a raw material in the manufacture of a new paper product.

(25) "Post consumer waste paper" means a finished material that would normally be disposed of as a solid waste, having completed its lifecycle as a consumer item, including, but not limited to, printing plant waste paper.

(26) "Recycled-content newsprint" means newsprint in which not less than twenty-five percent of its fiber consists of post consumer waste paper.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) All newsprint producers in the state and those producers who ship newsprint into this state shall indicate the percentage of recycled-content in their newsprint. The recycled-content information shall be placed on the product label by the newsprint producer.

(2) If the newsprint does not contain recycled-content, this shall be noted on the product label.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) Effective January 1, 1991, a voluntary program for the use of recycled-content newsprint shall be implemented by the department.

(2) Each consumer is encouraged to meet the following voluntary goals for tonnage used of recycled-content newsprint:

(a) By 1992, twenty percent;

(b) By 1993, twenty-five percent;

(d) By 2000, seventy-five percent.

(3) To confirm voluntary compliance, users of newsprint shall report to the department by March 1 of each calendar year, the total tonnage of newsprint used and the percentage that had a recycled-content newsprint during the preceding year.

(4) The department shall annually report the use of recycled-content newsprint to the appropriate legislative committees in the senate and the house of representatives.

(5) Persons who meet the recycled-content newsprint goals may designate their products as meeting state goals for waste reduction and recycling.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Sections 3 and 4 of this act are each added to chapter 70.95 RCW.