Environment Washington helps coordinate day-of-action for the WRAP Act

Plastic, single-use, and other hard-to-recycle packaging has increased dramatically over the years and continues to increase. We’ve all experienced this problem first-hand-  being increasingly confused about what should and should not be recycled, seeing trash littering our neighborhoods and beaches, and seeing our landfills approaching capacity.

Washington’s recycling systems have not been able to keep up with the influx of plastic and paper packaging flooding into our homes and environment. That’s why Rep. Berry and Sen. Rolfes have introduced the Washington Recycling And Packaging (WRAP) Act (HB 1131 / SB 5154)– to address the growing amount of packaging and fix Washington’s inefficient recycling systems. 

The WRAP Act would use two complementary mechanisms to improve recycling and reduce waste. First, it establishes 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. The WRAP Act would also create a bottle deposit program in Washington, which has been shown to generate very high recycling rates for beverage containers in many other states across the country.

Environment Washington’s Advocate, Pam Clough, helped pull together a event on Tuesday in Olympia at the Capitol to support the WRAP Act, with legislators and staff enjoying free gelato from Sofie’s Scoops and games like WRAP Act Plinko, table-top beach clean-up competitions, and a bottle toss competition.

There were also hearings in the Senate Environment, Energy and Technology Committee, and the House Environment and Energy Committee, where Pam testified in support on behalf of Environment.  The final Senate tally showed over 1400 people signed in to support the WRAP Act, compared to 32 in opposition.