Statement: The Washington Recycling and Packaging Act moves past first legislative hurdle

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OLYMPIA, Wash. — On Thursday, the House Environment and Energy committee advanced the Washington Recycling and Packaging (WRAP) Act with a vote of 8-7. Sponsored by Rep. Liz Berry (D-Seattle), the WRAP Act (HB 1131) would address the growing amount of unnecessary packaging–much of which is plastic and not recyclable. 

The WRAP Act would use two complementary mechanisms to improve recycling and reduce waste:

  1. Establish a producer responsibility system, requiring the companies that actually make packaging decisions to be financially responsible for the end-of-life management of these materials, rather than those costs falling on Washington residents. This model has proven successful around the world, and similar programs have recently been established by state legislatures in California, Oregon, Colorado, and Maine.
  2. Create a bottle deposit program, which has been shown to generate very high recycling rates for beverage containers.

In response, Environment Washington Advocate Pam Clough released the following statement: 

“We are excited to see the WRAP Act move one step closer to becoming law. For too long, Washington individuals and communities have shouldered the costs of recycling and disposing of the increasing amount of packaging coming into our lives. By making companies financially responsible for the waste their products create, companies will actually have a stake in ensuring that their materials get reused, composted or recycled.

“We are committed to ensuring that the programs established by the WRAP Act will increase access to recycling services, improve Washington’s recycling rates and reduce the amount of plastic trash that ends up polluting our environment for centuries to come.”

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Environment Washington is a statewide environmental advocacy organization working for a cleaner, greener, healthier future.

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