Washington鈥檚 recycling system may soon get a makeover. 聽A proposal to require companies to reduce unnecessary packaging and fund statewide recycling services is making its way through the Legislature this year.
The goal is to give more people the opportunity to recycle more types of products and to incentivize packaging producers to use sustainable materials, said bill sponsor Rep. Liz Berry, D-Seattle. 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.
鈥淩ecycling will become really affordable, really convenient and really equitable,鈥� Berry told the Standard. 鈥淚t will create this circular, sustainable economic model for recyclable materials.鈥� Berry鈥檚 bill is similar to laws passed recently in Maine, Oregon, California, Colorado and Minnesota. Different versions of the legislation have been debated in Washington during the past two years but never became law.聽Under the program, manufacturers, brands and importers must join a statewide 鈥減roducer responsibility organization.鈥�