A divided state Senate passed legislation Friday that would give more Washington residents the ability to recycle a greater variety of items and to pay less, or nothing, for the service.
Consumer goods producers would need to reduce unnecessary packaging and fund statewide recycling services starting in January 2030. Hundreds of thousands of residents would get curbside recycling for the first time as part of the ambitious effort to reduce waste going into landfills while creating a sustainable market for recyclable materials.
“We are charting a bold path forward to make sure that companies are accountable, that local governments are reducing their costs, that ratepayers are seeing the benefit of these savings, and that we are leaving a world that our children and our children’s children can be proud of,” said Sen. Liz Lovelett, D-Anacortes, the bill’s sponsor.
Senate Bill 5284 was approved on a 27-22 vote. Three Democrats joined all Republicans in opposition.
Republican senators said that while packaging producers may be forced to foot the tab for recycling, they will pass along those costs to consumers. They also decried the complexity of the proposed program, which will take five years to develop and deploy. The bill is 77 pages long.
“I love recycling. I think most people do. They will not be happy with the complicated, bureaucratic, dictated method if this bill goes forward,” said Senate Minority Leader John Braun, R-Centralia.
The legislation is the culmination of years of negotiations on how best to provide more people an opportunity to recycle more types of products and to give packaging producers incentives to use sustainable materials.
Currently, what can be recycled differs by city, and 11 counties have no recycling services at all. Under this proposal, everyone in the state would use the same system.
If enacted, Washington would join Maine, Oregon, California, Colorado, and Minnesota in establishing such a program.
Under the bill, by Jan. 1, 2026, each producer of packaging and paper products must be part of “a producer responsibility organization.” By March 1, 2026, producers and the organizations must register with the state Department of Ecology.
Producers are required to pay membership fees to that organization to cover the cost of a new recycling system. Fees vary based on the types of products a company uses. If a producer uses more sustainable materials, for example, they would likely pay less.
If a producer does not want to join the statewide organization, they must register as an individual and pay annual fees to the state.
A national producer responsibility organization already exists to help implement this type of system in California, Colorado, and Maryland.
An amendment adopted by the Washington state Senate on Friday bars such organizations from using any fees they collect for lobbying.
By March 2029, producers who are not members of a producer responsibility organization or registered with the state could not sell their products in Washington.
The bill calls for the Department of Ecology to develop a list of recyclable materials in Washington. Most plastic packaging and paper products sold, distributed, or shipped into and within the state would likely be covered.
The Department of Ecology would also work on a new education campaign—paid for by producer fees—to make sure residents know what products they can recycle.
As envisioned, residents could receive free or reduced recycling services starting in 2030.
Opponents argued that the bill creates a large new program and adds expenses on companies that will ultimately be paid by consumers.
“I think recycling is great. This is going to be expensive,” said Sen. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver.
Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, said he is looking forward to their $28-a-month charge for recycling service going away.
“Those costs will be pushed off of me and my neighbors to the folks that produce these products in the first place. That’s a fair deal for the people I represent,” he said.
