Under the state's solid waste management laws, local governments are the primary government entity responsible for implementing state solid waste management requirements.  The Department of Ecology (Ecology) has certain roles in overseeing the administration of solid waste management laws.  Ecology is responsible for working cooperatively with local governments as they develop their local solid waste management plans.  Ecology also evaluates, analyzes, and monitors the state's solid waste stream, and develops a statewide solid waste plan that, in part, addresses organic material wastes.

Since 2019, legislation has been enacted that has established several statutory goals for organic material management, including:

• landfill disposal of organic materials at a level in 2030 that is 75 percent less than in 2015;
• at least 20 percent of the volume of edible food disposed of be recovered for human consumption by 2025; and
• reducing the amount of annual food waste generation by 50 percent by 2030, relative to 2015 levels.

Statewide standards for plastic product degradability were established by HB 1569 in 2019.  These standards include general standards that products labeled as compostable must satisfy, and specific standards for the labeling, tinting, and terms used by plastic film bags and food service products that are not compostable. 

The Department of Ecology must contract with an independent, third-party facilitator to convene a Stakeholder Advisory Committee (Committee) concerning the development of standards for compostable product management, including food service products, by organic materials management facilities.  The Committee is to be made up of representatives from a variety of specified public and private sector entities.  

Among the factors that the Committee must consider in its recommendations are:

• the state's goals for managing organic materials;
• estimates of disposal rates of compostable products at organic materials management facilities; and
• policy options to address contamination of organic waste streams.  

The third-party facilitator is authorized to hire subcontractors as needed to conduct research on issues relevant to the work of the Committee, and is responsible for staffing and supporting Committee meetings.  The first Committee meeting must be convened by September 15, 2023, and the Committee must meet monthly in a virtual format until at least January 2024.  The facilitator must draft and submit the Committee's recommendations to the Legislature by March, 2024.