Solid Waste Management in Washington. 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) also 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. County and city solid waste management plans are required to contain certain elements, including a waste reduction and recycling element, and a recycling contamination reduction and outreach plan.
The Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) regulates haulers transporting solid waste, garbage, and recyclables from residential sites. The certificate to transport garbage and recyclables sets the geographic areas in which the company is authorized to collect waste. Cities and towns have the authority to provide their own solid waste services or to contract for solid waste services. Solid waste services provided or contracted by cities and towns are not subject to UTC regulation. Materials collected for recycling are transported to material recovery facilities, which receive, compact, repackage, or sort materials for the purposes of recycling.
State law establishes that the following priorities for the collection, handling, and management of solid waste are necessary and should be followed in descending order as applicable:
Extended Producer Responsibility and Product Stewardship Programs. The Legislature has enacted laws that require the establishment of product stewardship programs for the management of five types of products:
In general, the state's product stewardship programs require producers to participate in a stewardship organization or program that is responsible for the collection, transport, and end-of-life management of covered products. Ecology is responsible for the oversight of the state's product stewardship programs, with the exception of the Pharmaceutical Stewardship Program, which is overseen by the Department of Health.
Plastics and Packaging Studies. In 2019, the Legislature directed Ecology to evaluate and assess the amount and types of plastic packaging sold into the state, as well as its management and disposal. The report was required to assess specified aspects of plastic packaging markets and processing infrastructure, and to include recommendations to meet the following goals of reducing plastic packaging through industry lead or product stewardship:
In December 2020, Ecology submitted a report to the Legislature that included ten policy recommendations related to the management of packaging materials.
As part of the 2022 supplemental operating budget, Ecology was directed to conduct a study to:
Minimum Recycled Content Requirements. In 2021, the Legislature established minimum recycled content requirements applicable to three main categories of plastic products or products in plastic containers: trash bags, household cleaning and personal care product containers, and plastic beverage containers. Unique minimum postconsumer recycled content (PCRC) rates and timelines over which the minimum recycled content rates increase apply to:
Beginning in 2025, Ecology may annually adjust, review, and determine whether to adjust minimum PCRC requirements for the following year of minimum PCRC standards, including for a type of container within a category of covered products, after considering market conditions, recycling rates, and other specified factors. Manufacturers of products that are subject to PCRC requirements who do not achieve the PCRC requirements are subject to penalties. Penalties are calculated based upon the amounts in pounds in aggregate of virgin plastic, PCRC plastic, and other plastic used by manufacturers to produce covered containers, at a rate of $0.20 per pound of plastic below the amount of PCRC plastic needed to achieve minimum PCRC requirements.
Ecology is currently in the process of adopting rules to implement the minimum PCRC requirements. Producers subject to minimum PCRC requirements were required to register with Ecology and pay fees to cover Ecology's administrative costs related to minimum PCRC standards beginning in 2022.
Litter Tax. The Waste Reduction, Recycling, and Litter Control Act (Act), established in 1971, prohibits littering and establishes statewide programs to prevent and clean up litter, reduce waste, and increase recycling. These programs are funded by the 0.015 percent litter tax on manufacturers', wholesalers', and retailers' gross proceeds on 13 categories of consumer products including:
The programs funded by the litter tax under the Act include litter collection efforts by state agencies including Ecology, and state assistance of local government waste reduction, composting, and recycling programs.
Pollution Control Hearings Board. The Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) is an appeals board with jurisdiction to hear appeals of certain decisions, orders, and penalties issued by Ecology and several other state agencies. Parties aggrieved by a PCHB decision may obtain subsequent judicial review.
Producer Responsibility Organizations. Beginning July 15, 2024, each producer that sells or distributes a covered product in or into Washington must join a producer responsibility organization (PRO) that is registered with Ecology or register with Ecology as a PRO. A producer that has not joined a PRO may not sell or supply covered products in or into Washington.
"Covered product" means packaging and paper products sold or supplied to consumers for personal, noncommercial use. In addition to consumer products sold at retail establishments, packaging also includes materials supplied to consumers for the purpose of facilitating food or beverage consumption that is ordinarily discarded after a single use or short-term use. Paper products include flyers, brochures, booklets, catalogs, magazines, copy and printing paper, but does not include bound books, archival paper, paper designed for use in building construction, and paper products that, by any common and foreseeable use, could reasonably be anticipated to become unsafe or unsanitary to handle.
A producer is the first entity that meets the definition in a descending hierarchy from manufacturer, retail brand owner, licensee, or importer and distributor. For remote sale products, the producer of the product is the same for purposes of other covered products. The producer of the packaging used to ship the product is the person that packages and ships the product. For applicable paper products, the producer is the publisher.
Producers do not include government agencies, municipalities, or other political subdivisions of the state, charitable and social welfare organizations, or small producers:
"Producer responsibility organization" means a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is designated by a producer or group of producers to develop and carry out activities required of producers under the program, or a producer that registers with Ecology as a PRO.
Registration by a PRO must include a list of all member producers and their brands of covered products, and member of the board of directors.
By June 30, 2025, and every June 30th thereafter, every PRO must submit an annual payment to cover the costs of the program.
Within six months of the adoption of rules implementing the program, every PRO must submit a plan describing how the PRO will meet the requirements of the program to Ecology for approval.
A PRO registered with Ecology as of July 15, 2026, must implement its plan by January 1, 2028.
Rates Study and Needs Assessment. To inform the implementation of the program, Ecology must conduct a performance rates study and a statewide needs assessment that must be carried out by a third-party consultant and funded by PROs.
The performance rates study must be completed by September 1, 2024, and recommend performance rates, including:
Recommendations must consider the feasibility of achieving recommended rates based on current rates achieved in the state, rates achieved in other jurisdictions with similar programs, and additional relevant data. The recommended performance rates must be designed to be achieved for covered products statewide by 2032.
The advisory council and any PRO must have the opportunity to review and comment on a draft study prior to its completion.
No more frequently than every five years, Ecology may update the performance rates study.
The statewide needs assessment must be completed by July 1, 2025 and:
The final scope of the needs assessment must be determined after considering comments and recommendations from the advisory council, UTC, and from any PRO registered with Ecology by January 15, 2024.
The UTC, the advisory council, and registered PROs must have the opportunity to review and comment on the draft needs assessment prior to its completion.
The needs assessment must be informed by the findings and recommendations of the performance rates study and the performance rates submitted by PROs and approved by Ecology.
In consultation with the advisory council, UTC, registered PROs, and Ecology may update the needs assessment to inform the development of PRO plans.
The scope of a needs assessment update may include an analysis of the plastic resin market, including analyzing market conditions and opportunities in the state's recycling industry for meeting minimum postconsumer recycled content requirements for covered products and determining data needs and tracking opportunities to increase the transparency and support of a more effective, fact-based public understanding of the recycling industry.
Producer Responsibility Organization Stakeholder Consultation. Registered PROs must maintain a public website informing the public of plan implementation details, including collection services and locations for each type of covered product, and a current list of all participating member producers and brands.
Prior to submitting a plan to Ecology, a PRO must directly and actively consult stakeholders to develop key plan elements. The PRO, through the consultation process, must solicit and respond to input and recommendations from the advisory council, UTC, and other stakeholders.
At a minimum, the consultation process must include:
Plan Contents. All plans and plan updates must contain several elements, including the following information:
Plan Approval, Updates, and Revisions. PRO plans may address no more than five calendar years, and updated plans must be submitted to Ecology one year prior to the expiration of any plan.
If the performance rates set in a PRO plan have not been met as of the time of plan update, the PRO must arrange for an independent evaluation to be conducted of the PRO's efforts to implement the plan. The evaluation must provide information for the PRO to use to target and improve program outcomes relative to the performance rates.
The stakeholder consultation process for PRO plans is not required to be carried out for submitting a revised plan in response to an order from Ecology, or subsequent to a letter disapproving a plan.
Ecology may require a PRO to update its plan more frequently than every five years if:
Program Management Standards. PROs, government entities, and service providers implementing the program must manage covered products in a manner consistent with the state's solid waste management hierarchy.
Covered products must be responsibly managed at facilities operating with human health and environmental protection standards broadly equivalent to or better than those required in the United States and other countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Producer responsibility organizations implementing a plan must include measures to:
Prior to program use of any alternative recycling process for conversion of post-use plastic polymers for the purpose of producing recycled material to be counted toward performance rates under the program, the PRO must seek Ecology's approval and submit a third-party assessment of the process's environmental impacts. For a process to be approved, Ecology must determine that the alternative process produces similar or lesser impacts than those produced in recycling that uses purely mechanical means based on environmental impacts, such as air and water pollution and energy efficiency.
Material recovery facilities and other processing facilities receiving covered products collected through program activities must measure and report annually to Ecology, by commodity types and material category, on several parameters associated with covered products, including:
All data must be verified by an independent third party and shared with each PRO for which the material recovery facility provides a service.
To facilitate recycling of covered products back into covered products and encourage development of circular economic activity, material recovery facilities and other processing facilities handling materials under each program must prioritize agreements with and on behalf of producers or PROs, regarding long-term contracts and other purchase agreements based on fair market pricing for commodities of comparable quality.
Performance Rates. By January 1, 2025, any registered PRO must submit proposed performance rates to Ecology for covered products reported by the PRO as supplied into the state to be achieved by 2033. In proposing the rates, the PRO must consider the rates recommended by the performance rates study, and propose, at minimum:
If the proposed rates differ from those recommended by the performance rates study, the PRO must provide a justification for the rates proposed.
Any PRO plan must include a separate set of performance rates, taking into account the findings of the performance rates study, the statewide needs assessment, and additional relevant data. The rates submitted in a plan must be achieved by the end of the plan implementation period.
At minimum, the plan performance rates must include:
Proposed rates must demonstrate continuous improvement in performance rates of covered products over time.
Ecology must adopt rules for measuring the performance rates of each material category of covered products in a producer responsibility organization plan.
Funding. A PRO implementing a plan must fully fund all activities required under the program. A nonreimbursable point-of-sale fee may not be charged to consumers to recoup the costs of meeting producer obligations under the program.
A PRO must develop a system to collect fees from participating producers to cover the costs of plan implementation. To minimize administrative and reporting costs of producers and the PRO, the fee system must include:
A PRO must allow producers of magazines to satisfy their fee obligations by providing in-kind advertisement or publication supporting the PRO's education and outreach activities.
A PRO must base the system of fees upon the estimated cost of managing the material categories of covered products, while seeking to avoid a material category that subsidizes any other material category. In establishing a system of fees, a PRO must consider the following factors:
The fee system must use eco-modulation factors to incentivize the use of packaging design attributes that reduce the environmental impacts of covered products. Examples of activities that a fee system may include to satisfy this requirement, include encouraging designs that facilitate and improve infrastructure and systems for reuse, recycling, and home and industrial composting, and encouraging designs that discourage the use of problematic or difficult to recycle materials.
Convenience Standards. In every jurisdiction in which covered products are sold or supplied to consumers, a PRO must fund activities to make convenient collection services available for the full list of covered products designated for collection in the plan.
A PRO must provide curbside collection to residents in single-family and multifamily residences wherever curbside garbage collection services are provided, except in areas where a county has adopted an ordinance that designates that covered products be collected exclusively through alternate collection, and except for covered products designated for alternate collection under a PRO plan.
In jurisdictions without curbside garbage collection, and in all areas for covered products designated for alternate collection, free and equitable access to permanent collection facilities must be provided that are located, at minimum, at:
A PRO, after soliciting input from Ecology, the relevant government entity, and the local community, must determine a reasonable number and location of additional drop-off locations and collection events held in underserved areas. A PRO must give special consideration to providing opportunities to island and geographically isolated populations.
A retail establishment may choose to serve as a drop-off location or site of a collection event, through mutual agreement with a PRO, but retail establishments are not obligated to serve as either.
For the duration of initial plan implementation, collection must be provided in the following public places:
In any jurisdiction where collection of source separated recyclable materials from residences is provided by a city, town, county, or UTC-regulated hauler, a PRO must meets its curbside collection service obligation through the collection service in the jurisdiction.
A PRO must, in its plan, establish a statewide list of covered products designated for collection.
Every PRO must provide maps on its website of each location where collection is provided and the type of collection provided.
Government Entity Authority. The program does not obligate a county, city, or town that utilizes its collection service contract authority or that directly provides collection service to its residents to participate in a plan implemented by a PRO, nor does the program restrict their authority.
A city, town, county, or other government entity may enter into agreements with a PRO for the purposes of reimbursement of costs of services.
In areas regulated by UTC, curbside collection of source separated recycled materials must be provided by a company that holds an applicable certificate issued by UTC.
A county may, by ordinance, direct that covered products designated for collection by a PRO plan be collected exclusively through alternate collection in areas regulated by the UTC if the area was designated as rural in the county solid waste management plan and no curbside recycling collection service was offered within those areas as of the effective date of the act.
A city, town, or county may not enact an ordinance requiring producers to provide residential recycling services for covered products that are additional to the requirements of the program unless producers are not required to fully fund the requirements of the program.
Cost Reimbursement. A PRO with covered products designated for curbside collection under its plan must provide reimbursement to a government entity that chooses to seek reimbursement for costs incurred in delivering curbside collection services. Costs that must be reimbursed by a PRO include any administrative, public education, collection, transportation, and sorting or processing costs incurred in delivering curbside collection services. Reimbursements must be calculated using base cost formulas established in the PRO plan approved by Ecology.
Similar reimbursement provisions apply if a PRO elects to use services other than curbside collection from a government entity.
Any government entity that receives reimbursement for costs incurred in delivering curbside collection services must report or publish reimbursed costs to its residents annually and as part of each rate increase notification.
In areas where collection of source separated recyclable materials from residences is regulated by UTC, a PRO must provide reimbursement to the company granted a certificate to provide the service in accordance with the rates approved by the commission.
To be eligible for reimbursement from a PRO, UTC-regulated hauler must provide service that:
Infrastructure Investments. Each PRO must fund and support investments in infrastructure and market development in Washington as needed to achieve program requirements or to address infrastructure gaps as identified through the needs assessment or consultation process.
Investments may include, but are not limited to, those needed to enable reuse of covered products or the recycling or composting of covered products not currently recycled or composted in the residential recycling system, such as installing or upgrading equipment to improve sorting of covered products or mitigating the impacts of covered products to other commodities at existing sorting and processing facilities, and capital expenditures for new technology, equipment, and facilities.
Infrastructure investments must be detailed in the PRO's annual report. A PRO must prioritize investments in preexisting infrastructure. If a PRO did not invest in preexisting infrastructure within Washington, the annual report must include a statement of the reasons why no such investment was made.
Producer Responsibility Organization Education and Outreach. To support the achievement of performance rates and other program requirements, a PRO must develop and provide outreach and educational materials, resources, and campaigns about the program to be used by retail establishments, collectors, government entities, and nonprofit organizations.
A PRO must coordinate and fund the distribution and deployment of statewide promotional campaigns through media channels that may include print publications, radio, television, the Internet, and online streaming services.
A PRO must use consistent and easy to understand messaging and materials that are conceptually, linguistically, and culturally accurate for the communities served.
Some of the aims of education and outreach materials are to educate and engage with residents on recycling, reuse, and refill behaviors, describe where and how to recycle covered products, and reduce resident confusion regarding the recyclability of covered products.
A PRO must establish a process for answering customer questions and evaluate the effectiveness of education and outreach efforts for purposes of making progress toward performance requirements.
A PRO must coordinate with government entities that choose to participate in carrying out education and outreach activities and any other PROs to present a consistent statewide program.
Producer Responsibility Organization Reporting. Beginning July 1, 2028, each PRO must submit an annual report to Ecology for the preceding calendar year of plan implementation. Each report must include data, descriptions, and other information sufficient to allow Ecology to determine whether a PRO has fulfilled its obligations under the program for the preceding calendar year.
Each annual report must include identification of the governing board members of the PRO, the final destinations of recycled material managed by the program, and the total cost of implementing the PRO's plan, as determined by an independent financial audit.
All nonfinancial data and information that is material to Ecology's review of the PRO's compliance with the program must be audited annually by an accredited and nationally recognized independent laboratory or certification body.
Auditing and verification must include documentation of performance rate calculations and encompass management of materials from the point of collection through processing and sale of recycled materials to responsible end markets.
Advisory Council. An advisory council of members representing local government, environmental and community-based organizations, the recycling industry, tribal or indigenous solid waste organizations, producers, retail, and others is established.
Advisory council members must be appointed by the director of Ecology by January 1, 2024. In making the appointments, Ecology must appoint members that, to the greatest extent practicable, represent diversity in race, ethnicity, age, and gender, urban and rural areas, and different regions of the state, and must consider recommendations from relevant groups or associations and from individuals interested in participating on the council.
The terms of initial appointments must be staggered to two- and three-year appointments, with subsequent terms of three years, and members are eligible for reappointment.
The council must elect a chair and vice-chair and adopt bylaws and a charter for its operation of business.
The council must meet at least once every three months for the first three years, at times and places specified by the chair. The council may also meet at other times and places, including virtually, as specified by the call of the chair or a majority of members.
Ecology must provide staff support and facilitation as necessary for the council to carry out its duties, and may select an impartial, third-party facilitator to convene and provide administrative support.
Council duties including advising and making recommendations on PRO plans, reports, Ecology rulemaking, the performance rates study, and the statewide needs assessment.
Penalties. Ecology may impose a civil penalty up to $1,000 per violation per day on any person who violates PRO program requirements or any PRO that violates the PCRC requirements applicable to PROs, and up to $10,000 per violation per day for the second and each subsequent violation.
Prior to assessing a penalty, Ecology must provide notice and allow for a 60-day cure period.
Upon notification to a PRO that it has not met a significant program requirement, Ecology may, in addition to assessing penalties, issue a corrective action order, issue an order to a PRO to provide for continued implementation of the program in the absence of an approved plan, revoke the PRO's plan approval and require the PRO to implement its contingency plan, require a PRO to revise or resubmit a plan, or require additional reporting related to compliant.
Prior to taking these actions, Ecology must provide the PRO or producer the opportunity to respond to or rebut the written finding upon which the action is predicated.
Any person who incurs a penalty may appeal the penalty or order to the Pollution Control Hearings Board.
Penalties levied against PROs are deposited in the Recycling Enhancement Account.
Truth in Labeling. Beginning January 1, 2027, a producer may not make a deceptive or misleading claim about product recyclability, such as the use of a chasing- arrows symbol, if the product is not designated for program collection or a qualifying beverage container covered under a deposit return system.
A label is not considered a misleading or deceptive claim of recyclability if it is required by another state or federal law, part of a widely adopted and standardized third-party labeling system, or uses the chasing- arrows symbol and a slash to convey that the item is not recyclable.
Beginning July 1, 2023, a city, town, or county may not enforce a truth in labeling ordinance for covered products or qualifying beverage containers if the product is designated for collection in a PRO plan.
Petition for Exclusion. Prior to the submission of a new or updated plan, Ecology may review and determine for the duration of the upcoming plan's period of applicability whether to temporarily exclude for reasons of public health and safety from the requirements of the program, packaging used to contain a product regulated as a drug, medical device, or dietary supplement by the federal Food and Drug Administration or a product subject to requirements under federal laws that make their inclusion in the program infeasible or inadvisable.
Ecology's review may be initiated by the department or a petition from a PRO. In making a determination for exclusion, Ecology must consider the technical feasibility of including the product in the program, progress made by the producer of the product in achieving the goals of the program, including packaging reduction, increased recycled content and ability of the product's packaging to be reused or recycled.
Registration Clearinghouse. Ecology is authorized to participate in the development and ongoing operation of a regional or multistate clearinghouse for the purpose of facilitating the implementation of state laws on packaging and paper products. Ecology may direct producers to register and submit any required data, annual reports, fees, and annual payments to a clearinghouse in lieu of the department.
Responsible Packaging Management Account. The Responsible Packaging Management Account is created for the use of funds by Ecology to implement, administer, and enforce the requirements of the program. All receipts received by Ecology from a PRO must be deposited in the account.
Producer Responsibility Organization Management of the Postconsumer Recycled Content. By January 1, 2025, and each January 1st thereafter, a PRO that represents producers that sell or distribute the PCRC products must register with Ecology on behalf of each producer registered with the PRO that sells or distributes PCRC products in or into Washington.
The registration information must include a list of the producers of PCRC products and the associated brand names of the PCRC products.
Each producer of a PCRC product must annually report PCRC to the PRO with which it is registered. Producer PCRC reports must include the amount in pounds of virgin plastic and the amount in pounds of PCRC by resin type used within a single PCRC product sold or distributed in or into Washington and the total PCRC resin as a percentage of the total weight of plastic reported for a single PCRC product category.
A producer must maintain a certificate of compliance, conducted by a third-party certification entity, stating that the covered product is in compliance with PCRC requirements.
A PRO reporting to Ecology must pay fees to cover the cost of PCRC administration.
A PRO may petition Ecology for an exclusion or adjustment covering the upcoming calendar year to the minimum PCRC requirements on behalf of producers registered with the PRO.
A producer that is assessed a penalty for non-compliance of PCRC requirements must remit the penalty to the PRO with which it is registered. A PRO must submit aggregated penalty payments from all producers owing penalties and that are registered with the PRO.
Plastic trash bags andplastic plant pots and trays subject to PCRC are not considered covered products under the PRO program and register, pay fees, report, and are otherwise administered by Ecology.
PCRC for New Product Categories. A producer must meet the following annual minimum PCRC percentage on average for the total quantity of PCRC products or product containers, by weight, that are sold or distributed in or into Washington:
Ecology must consult with the Liquor and Cannabis Board to implement and enforce PCRC for cannabis and cannabis products.
Implementation for existing PCRC requirements for beverages other than wine and dairy milk are delayed till 2024.
Deposit Return System. As an alternative to satisfying their compliance obligation under the PRO program for qualifying beverage containers, a PRO and Ecology may not consider qualifying beverage containers to be covered products under the PRO program upon a distributor responsibility organization's (DRO) establishment and operation of a deposit return system (DRS) for the qualifying beverage containers.
The provisions of the DRS program do not apply to qualifying beverage containers unless and until a DRO, other than a single distributor independently complying with the requirements of a DRO, is established and files a written notice with Ecology at, or prior to, the time of PRO registration, that the DRO will establish and operate a DRS.
Upon the receipt of the written notice by Ecology, all qualifying beverage containers of all producers subject to the PRO program cease to be considered covered products for purposes of the PRO program and are instead subject to the requirements of the DRS program.
"Distributor" means every person or entity who engages in the sale of beverages in beverage containers to a dealer in this state, including any manufacturer or importer who engages in such sales, and dealers who self-distribute their own brands.
"Dealer" means any person, corporation, partnership, business, facility, vendor, organization, or individual that sells or provides merchandise, goods, or materials directly to a customer and engages in the sale of beverages in qualifying beverage containers.
"Distributor responsibility organization" means a cooperative association that is designated by a group of distributors representing the majority of beverages sold in qualifying beverage containers in the state, to develop and carry out activities required of distributors by the DRS program.
"Qualifying beverage containers" mean any individual, separate, sealed glass, metal, or plastic bottle or can, except for a carton, foil pouch, drink box, or metal container that requires a tool to be opened, that contains any beverage intended for human consumption and in a quantity greater than 4 ounces and less than or equal to 1 gallon. Beverage containers for dairy milk and infant formula are not considered qualifying beverage containers.
Distributor Responsibility Organizations. Beginning July 1, 2024, or four months after a DRO is approved by Ecology, whichever is later, each distributor that sells or distributes in or into Washington beverages in qualifying beverage containers must join a DRO or independently carry out all duties of a DRO. Distributors that have not joined a DRO, or that do not independently fulfill the duties of a DRO may not sell or supply beverages in qualifying beverage containers after October 1, 2024, or 120 days after a DRO is approved by Ecology, whichever is later, in or into Washington.
To qualify as a DRO for purposes of establishing the DRS, an organization must demonstrate to Ecology that its initial membership representsthe majority of beverages in qualifying beverage containers sold or made available for sale in the state .
A DRO registering with Ecology must submit with its registration a list of its member distributors, their brands of beverages in qualifying beverage containers, and the total gross sales volume of beverages in qualifying beverage containers distributed by its members in Washington during the preceding year, representing a majority of such sales in the state.
By June 30th of the fiscal year of initial DRO registration and every June 30th thereafter, a DRO registered with Ecology must submit an annual payment to fund the costs to implement, administer, and enforce the program.
Beginning July 1, 2026, or within 180 days of the adoption of rules related to the program, a DRO must submit a plan to Ecology that meets the requirements of the program.
A DRO registered with Ecology must implement a DRS by July 1, 2027, or within one year of adoption of rules relating to the program.
A DRO may not distribute or otherwise disseminate funds from unclaimed refunds to members of the distributor cooperative as a dividend.
Deposit Return System Performance Requirements. A DRO must demonstrate that all qualifying beverage containers are designed to be reusable or recyclable by January 1, 2031, according to criteria established by Ecology.
For materials reclaimed under a DRS, the calculation point for the redemption rate is the number of qualifying beverage containers redeemed statewide by the DRO divided by the number of qualifying beverage containers sold in the state by members of the DRO. The reuse sales rate is the number of units in reusable packaging sold in a year.
At a minimum, each DRO plan must achieve the following performance requirements:
by 2028, a minimum of 60 percent of all qualifying beverage containers are redeemed for reuse or recycling through the DRS;
Deposit Return System Plan. Ecology must make a determination of approval of a DRO's plan to operate a deposit return system based on the following program criteria:
If a deposit return system is approved by Ecology, then for the duration of the plan, all qualifying beverage containers sold or offered for sale must carry a $0.10 refund value, be registered annually with the DRO, sold by a member of the DRO or individually complying distributor, and carry a clear and conspicuous marking indicating the refund value of the container. For wine containers, the indication of refund value may be satisfied through the use of a quick response code.
Operation of Deposit Return System. A DRO must, at its own cost, provide a convenient bulk drop-off option for bagged qualifying beverage containers at geographically dispersed locations in Washington that sell beverages in qualifying beverage containers, and are located a convenient distance from a dealer, or are located at a publicly owned facility.
A DRO may not charge customers for the drop-off service and must credit the cost of any required bag purchase back to the customer when the bag is processed. If drop-off bags are made of plastic film, the bags must have a minimum 50 percent recycled content.
Upon launch of the deposit return system, the DRO must provide at least 270 bag drop sites around the state, with at least one drop site located in each county, and at least one drop site located in each island community served by the state ferry system, distributed by county proportional to the volume of qualifying beverage containers sold in each county. Within two years of operation, the DRO must add an additional ten drop-off locations. The additional locations must be agreed upon by the DRO and Ecology, in consultation with the consumer convenience advisory council, balancing the need for consumer convenience and access in rural counties, small cities, and underserved areas, and data regarding where beverages in qualifying beverage containers are sold. Five years after the DRO is required to provide 280 drop-off locations, every five years after that, the DRO must calculate an updated number using a calculation formula based on proportional volume of beverages sold, with consideration of consumer convenience. If the calculation determines a need for additional sites, the DRO must provide Ecology with a list of proposed locations. The DRO must make the new locations available within three years. Drop-off locations may be located at dealers, or any publicly owned facility convenient to consumers, but dealers or publicly owned facilities are not obligated to accept returned qualifying beverage containers or to allow a bag drop-off site to be sited at the dealer or publicly owned facility.
The DRO is not required to accept or pay refunds for any beverage container that:
Distributor Responsibility Organization Reporting. Beginning July 1, 2028, and July 1st thereafter, a DRO must submit an annual report to Ecology for the preceding calendar year of plan implementation. Each report must include data, descriptions, and other information sufficient to allow Ecology to determine whether a DRO has fulfilled its obligations under the program for the preceding calendar year.
Each annual report must include the final destinations of recycled material managed by the program, the number of qualifying beverage containers redeemed in aggregate, and by material categories , the annual redemption rate and reuse sales rate, and the total budget for the DRO, the total value of unclaimed refunds used by the DRO to support operations.
Consumer Convenience Advisory Council. In coordination with Ecology, the DRO must establish a consumer convenience advisory council, consisting of representatives of the DRO, a grocery association, cities, counties, and an environmental organization. The council must work with the DRO to identify potential bag drop-off locations and achieve consumer convenience requirements.
Consumer Convenience Assessment. In the fifth full year in which a DRO operates a deposit return system, Ecology, in partnership with the DRO, and in consultation with the consumer convenience council must conduct an assessment of consumer convenience, identifying any barriers to achieving the drop-off locations required by the consumer convenience requirements and any other potential barriers to consumer convenience or participation.
Independent Refund Program. A small distributor that is also manufacturer may operate an independent refund program if it meets criteria related to number of beverages sold or distributed, reusable packaging, and refund value for redemption.
Payment for Other Collection Methods. The DRO must accept and pay the full refund value for any qualifying beverage containers presented to it by material recovery facilities, government entities, and other processing facilities handling recyclable materials as long as the qualifying beverage containers have been collected and separated in accordance with standards established by the DRO and are delivered directly to a DRO processing facility.
Education and Outreach. To support the achievement of performance rates and other program requirements, a DRO must develop and provide outreach and educational materials, resources, and campaigns about the program to be used by dealers, government entities, and nonprofit organizations.
A DRO must coordinate and fund the distribution and deployment of statewide promotional campaigns through media channels that may include print publications, radio, television, the Internet, and online streaming services.
A DRO must use consistent and easy to understand messaging and materials that are conceptually, linguistically, and culturally accurate for the communities served.
Some of the aims of education and outreach materials are to educate and engage with residents on recycling, reuse, and refill practices, describe where and how to redeem qualifying beverage containers, and reduce resident confusion regarding the recyclability of qualifying beverage containers.
A DRO must establish a process for answering customer questions and evaluate the effectiveness of education and outreach efforts for purposes of making progress toward performance requirements.
A DRO must coordinate with government entities that choose to participate in carrying out education and outreach activities and any other DROs to present a consistent statewide program.
Penalties. Upon notice of a significant program violation, after a cure period of 60 days, Ecology may assess a civil penalty of at least $200 per violation per day, but no more than $500 per violation per day.
In lieu of any other penalties for not achieving performance criteria, should the redemption rate performance requirements not be met, the DRO must annually calculate the number of containers representing the difference between the redemption rate of qualifying beverage containers and the redemption rate performance requirements, and pay a penalty that is equal to $0.10 multiplied by the number of containers representing the difference. There is no penalty assessed to the DRO related to the reuse performance requirements.
After July 1, 2027, or the date in which a DRO begins operating a deposit return system, whichever is later, and after notification of noncompliance and a 60-day cure period, Ecology must impose a civil penalty to any distributor who fails to participate in a DRO, or fails to otherwise comply with program requirements by independently carrying out the duties of a DRO. The penalty must be at least $0.15 per qualifying beverage container sold or made available for sale, or $10,000, whichever is greater.
Recycling Revenue Augmentation Fund. The Department of Commerce (Commerce) must create and administer a recycling revenue augmentation fund, funded by a DRO, for the first five years in which a DRO operates a DRS in the state. For the first five years in which a deposit return system is operated by a DRO, a DRO must remit $15,000,000 by December 31st of each year for the first five years of the deposit return system's operation to the fund. Beginning January 1st of the year following the year in which a DRO first operates a DRS, and each January 1st for the following four years, Commerce must accept requests annually from local governments, or operators of recycling programs in the state to receive funds to offset revenue losses from the previous year.
These requests must include third-party audited financial data demonstrating any revenue losses from the value of scrap materials diverted by operation of the DRS, less any decreased operating costs from not collecting, hauling, processing, or landfilling the material, and less any material weight losses represented by the operator serving fewer accounts.
Commerce must distribute funds to operators of recycling systems proportionally, based on valid requests and available revenue in the fund.
Deposit Return Organization Program Account. The Deposit Return Organization Program Account is created for implementing, administering, and enforcing the requirements of the DRS program. All receipts received by Ecology under the program must be deposited in the account.
Damages for Failure to Pay Refund Value. Unless specified in a DRO's bylaws or in a contract between a DRO and an individual distributor arranging specifically for the collection of beverage containers sold for the purpose of consumption on premises, any manufacturer, distributor, or importer that fails to pay to the DRO the refund value of beverage containers included in the program is liable to the DRO for treble the unpaid refund value and treble the collection costs incurred by the DRO for any beverage containers that were sold without the refund value of the container being remitted to the DRO.
Prohibition on Uses of Funds. A PRO may not use program funds for costs associated with program penalties, litigation between the PRO and the state, lobbying, or advertisements related to the passage of legislation.
This requirement does limit the authority of a PRO to collect funds, such as through a special assessment, for these purposes or for other non-program purposes.
Department Duties. Ecology must implement, administer, and enforce the PRO program and DRS program. Ecology must prepare a workload analysis that identifies the projected annual costs to implement, administer, and enforce these programs, in the next fiscal year, and determine a total annual fee payment to be paid by each PRO and DRO that is adequate to cover, but not exceed these costs.
For PROs, Ecology must apply any remaining annual payment funds from the current year to the annual payment for the coming fiscal year, if the collected annual payment exceeds the identified costs for a given year, and increase annual payments for the coming fiscal year to cover the identified costs, if the collected annual payment was less than the amount required to cover those costs for a given year.
Ecology must review and approve plans, reports, and PRO proposed performance rates, and make them available for public review.
Ecology may by rule require PROs to fund activities to make convenient collection services available for recycling of covered products from locations or entities determined to be significant sources of covered product waste and that are additional to those locations identified under convenience standard requirements. These locations or entities may include, but are not limited to, public places and official gatherings. Rules for these additional collection services apply to PROs no earlier than January 1, 2029, and may be updated no more frequently than every five years.
In lieu of DRO fees established by Ecology, after October 1, 2024, or 120 days after a DRO is approved, whichever is later, a distributor independently carrying out the duties and requirements of a DRO must pay a registration fee to Ecology equal to $0.10 per qualifying beverage container until such time as a DRO begins operating a deposit return system.
Ecology must maintain a website that lists each PRO and DRO along with its members and covered products and makes available each plan and annual report received by Ecology.
Contingency Plans. PROs must submit a contingency plan to Ecology demonstrating how the activities in the plan will continue to be carried out by some other entity, if needed, such as an escrow company:
The contingency plan must be submitted as a component of the PRO's initial plan submitted to Ecology.
If a DRO ceases to exist and operate a deposit return system, other than for temporary disruptions due to unforeseen circumstances, as determined by Ecology, qualifying beverage containers become covered products under the PRO program.
Feasibility Study. By December 1, 2025, Ecology must complete and publish on its website a feasibility analysis to:
Ecology must deliver policy recommendations to the Legislature by December 1, 2025.
Litter Tax Study. In consultation with PROs and DROs, Ecology and the Department of Revenue (DOR) must study:
By January 1, 2029, Ecology, in consultation with DOR, must provide recommendations to the appropriate committees of the Legislature on:
The committee recommended a different version of the bill than what was heard. PRO: The bill is a much needed modernization of the recycling system, building on work from four years ago when statewide goals were adopted for recycling standards and recycled content for plastic. Today's bill includes recommendations from that 2019 report and brings producers together to reduce statewide packaging and ensure that waste in bins gets turned into something new. Those of us who do recycle play a daily game of can it be. Much of what we think is recyclable can't be recycled. You can't drive down the highway or go to a park without seeing litter. Things won't change unless we act. This system has been in place in Europe and Canada for years resulting in more recycling and less garbage. It has recently been adopted in other states and it is time for the Evergreen State to take action.
The bill was vetted in the legislative process last year and is ripe for passage this year. There is a statewide coalition that recognizes that recycling can do better. It's a big bill that addresses the system holistically. It's important that producer responsibility and beverage deposit go hand in hand for optimal systems.
We want to increase the performance and success of the recycling system but the current process has got us as far as we can. Residents are dealing with a constantly changing waste stream. Those making the decisions are not necessarily facilitating recycling improvement. The bill will increase access to curbside recycling in the state. Only about half of current waste in the system is recycled. There is a need to improve commodity markets to create a circular economy. Reducing waste will also help reduce emissions and help us achieve state greenhouse gas goals.
The WRAP act protects enjoyment of wildlife and habitat and the environment we live in, without the plastic litter that ends up in these places. The act inspires hope in our citizens. Our environment is our legacy. Recycling is something that people wished they had more access to. The bill holds producers of plastic accountable for pollution from their products.
CON: We do believe work can be done to address issues raised, like the definition of producer and the goal setting process and the way the PRO is set up. We are concerned about timeframes for registration, inclusion of a source reduction goal, recycled content rates, and the excessive PRO consultation process.
We are concerned about protection of existing infrastructure and investments. The bottle bill would undermine existing investments and is problematic and burdensome, requiring sites to hold on to bottles until pick up. We are asking that FDA and other federally regulated products be exempt. The current exemption process is cumbersome and puts industries at risk. There is not a specific exemption for excluding packaging recycled outside of the residential system.
Small stores do not have the ability to be producers. We would ask for an additional study to look at impacts to product costs. This bill doesn't address commercial recycling, which is one of the biggest problems in recycling. We have very good recycling rates compared to the rest of the nation. Low hanging fruit in states with low rates such as Colorado will not be addressed with this bill and it will lead to increased costs for consumers.
Nationally, paper product recyclability rates are high, with sustainable end markets. We have concerns about cross material subsidization, and want to ensure producers are responsible for their own products. We would like to see additional tools to allow innovative technologies to enable recycling. We would like to see a needs assessment before passage of the bill. We have concerns over the reuse and refill requirements and the wine industry would like to be able to use a QR code over any labeling requirements.
OTHER: EPR policies should provide convenience to consumers, be financially sustainable, offer materials to producers for closed loop recycling, and achieve positive environmental outcomes. We have supported other states that have embodied these principles but the current version of the bill adds layers of bureaucracy and audits. Oregon has a successful deposit program that is popular with residents there. The goal is to work with the sponsors and take the best of the Oregon system and build from there.
A successful program can provide equitable and universal access and improve current recycling systems and programs. We are pleased to see best practices from other EPR bills in the current proposal, such as use of the assessment to inform performance rates. We would like to see the program start with a single PRO before opening it up to additional PROs.
The WRAP act would modernize and improve the system, increasing recycling access across the state. We are excited to see incentives to increase recyclability and reusability and a statewide list of recyclables. We would like to highlight lost revenue in curbside systems from deposit program and would like to see support for this.
We are supportive of a well structured deposit return system for quality glass leading to higher recycling and reuse rates. We are supportive of refill and reuse rates, but it is a bit of a steep goal. Infrastructure needs to be established before refill goals can be reached. Newsprint is the single most historically recycled product and most valuable product in the recycling system until the onset of internet commerce.