Washington House Bill 2003 (2022) - (Failed)

Packaging is defined as any material, substance, or object used to protect, contain, transport, or serve a product or sold for such purposes. The definition also includes materials attached for marketing or communication purposes. Products supplied at the point of sale to facilitate the delivery of goods or the consumption of food or beverage are also covered.

Paper is defined as a product made of paper fiber, regardless of its fiber source, including wood, wheat, rice, cotton, bananas, eucalyptus, bamboo, hemp, and sugar cane or bagasse. A paper product is defined as paper sold and supplied including, but not limited to, flyers, brochures, booklets, catalogs, newspapers, magazines, copy paper, printing paper, and other paper materials.

Excluded covered products include bound books and products that could become unsafe or unsanitary to handle after their intended use and material intended to be used for the long-term storage or protection of a durable product and that is intended to transport, protect, or store the product on an ongoing basis.

Plastic beverage container excludes rigid plastic containers or bottles that are medical devices, prescription medicine, and packaging used for those products. It also excludes beverage containers for baby formula.

Producer is defined as a tiered list based on priority of responsibility for covered products. The highest priority is the brand owner or brand holder of covered products sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the state.

Licensees are included in the definition of producer as brand holders. Brand holder means a person who owns or licenses a brand or who otherwise has rights to market a product under the brand, whether or not the brand trademark is registered.

If brand owner or brand holder does not apply, the producer is the individual that imports covered product into state for sale or distribution (including remote).

Producers that sell, offer for sale, distribute, or import less than one ton of covered products or generate less than $1 million from covered products in the state are not considered producers.

Government agencies, municipalities, or other political subdivisions are not considered producers.

Registered 501(c)(3) charitable organizations and 501(c)4) social welfare organizations are not included as producers.

Producers must register and form one or more PRO. PRO(s) must register with and submit a program plan to the state.

A Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) will be a nonprofit organization that qualifies for a tax exemption under U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3) of the federal internal revenue code.

Producers are responsible for all financial costs of the program. The PRO must reimburse the costs incurred by the county, city, town, or other government agency for any administrative, public education, collection, transportation, and sorting or processing costs whether such services are provided directly or through a contracted service provider.

The program funding covers costs associated with collecting, transporting, and processing covered products.

PRO(s) must develop a plan for education and outreach and reimburse municipalities for education and outreach activities.

Costs to the state related to implementing, administering, and enforcing the program are paid by the PRO(s).

PRO(s) must invest in reuse and recycling infrastructure and market development in Washington state.

PRO(s) must invest in reuse and recycling infrastructure and market development in Washington state.

Fees will be based on estimated costs of managing the total amount of covered products by material category in the state and will be modulated based on material recyclability, management costs, and commodity value.

The fee system must use eco-modulation factors to incentivize the use of recycled content.

The fee system must use eco-modulation factors to incentivize designs intended for reuse and recycling, encourage other design attributes that reduce environmental impact, and discourage problematic materials that increase system costs of managing covered products.

For each listed material category, PRO(s) must achieve the following combined recycling and reuse rates by the sixth calendar year from the effective date:

1. Rigid plastic, 25%
2. Flexible plastic, 5%
3. Paper, 60%
4. Aluminum, 55%
5. Steel, 45%
6. Glass, 50%

PRO(s) must achieve the following combined recycling and reuse rates by the sixth calendar year from the effective date: a minimum of 55% of all covered products reported by the producer responsibility organization as supplied into the state are reused or recycled, with a minimum of 5% reused.

PRO(s) must achieve the following combined recycling and reuse rates by the by the ninth calendar year from the effective date: a minimum of 75% of all covered products reported by the producer responsibility organization as supplied into the state are reused or recycled, with a minimum of 10% reused.

PRO(s) must demonstrate that all covered products are designed to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by January 1st, of the ninth calendar year from the effective date.

PRO(s) must propose combined reuse and recycling rates for each material category of covered products to be achieved by the ninth calendar year from the effective date and by the final calendar year of each plan. It must increase by at least 20 percentage points above the rate required under the previous plan if the previous rate requirement was 60% or below. It must increase by at least 10 percentage points above the rate required under the previous plan if the previous rate requirement was above 60%, up to a rate of 90%.

In every jurisdiction in which covered products are sold or supplied to consumers, a PRO must ensure convenient collection services are available for the full list of covered products designated for collection in the plan.

Each PRO must invest in reuse and recycling infrastructure and market development in the state.

By January 15, 2023, and each January 15th thereafter, PRO(s) must register with the department.

Beginning July 1, 2025, or within six months of the first adoption of rules, every PRO must submit a plan to the department for approval.

A PRO must implement its plan within six months of approval.

The department will review new, updated, and revised PRO plans within 120 days of receipt.

The state must implement, administer, and enforce the requirements of this legislation.

Starting July 1, 2027, and each July 1st thereafter, each PRO must submit an annual report to the department for the preceding calendar year of plan implementation.

The state may administratively impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation per day on anyone who violates this regulation, and up to $10,000 per violation per day on any person who intentionally, knowingly, or negligently violates this regulation.

Any contractors utilized under a producer responsibility plan must meet high labor standards.

Education and outreach materials must be conceptually, linguistically, and culturally accurate for the communities served and tailored to effectively reach the state's diverse populations, including through meaningful consultation with overburdened communities and vulnerable populations.

Education and outreach must include instruction on where and how to recycle covered products designated for collection and how to prevent contamination.

Education and outreach must include instruction on proper end-of-life management of covered products.

Cities and counties may carry out resident education and outreach consistent with producer plan provisions and be reimbursed for the costs of these initiatives, subject to mutual agreement between the jurisdiction and the producer responsibility organization, using an approach specified in the plan.

The Renew Advisory Council will advise and make recommendations to the department and PRO(s) during consultation and reporting.

The Department will appoint members to the Renew Advisory Council. Renew advisory council members must be appointed by the director of the department by January 1, 2023.The council will consist of:

1. Four representatives of local governments representing geographic areas across the state, including urban and rural communities.
2. One representative of tribes or tribal or indigenous services organizations.
3. One representative of special purpose districts.
4. Two representatives of community-based organizations representing the interests of overburdened communities and vulnerable populations.
5. Two representatives of environmental nonprofit organizations.
6. One owner or operator of a small business that is not eligible for representation under other sections.
7. Six representatives of the recycling industry, including local governments' service providers, solid waste collection companies or associations, material recovery facilities or other processing facilities.
8. Four representatives of producers of covered products or producer trade associations representing different types of covered products. A member appointed to the council may not be a representative or a member of the board of directors of a PRO registered with the department.
9. Two representatives of packaging suppliers that are not producers as defined under this act representing different material categories.

Recyclable is defined as a covered product that is regularly collected, separated, and reprocessed into a recycled material, and that does not contain harmful chemical, physical, biological, or radiological substances that will pose a threat to human health or the environment for its intended or likely manner of use.

This bill specifies how rates are measure for different material categories, including rigid plastic, flexible plastic, paper, aluminum, steel, and glass. The bill also includes measurement methods for all other materials not included in the above categories.

A non-reimbursable point-of-sale fee may not be charged to consumers to recoup the costs of meeting producer obligations.

The department will conduct a statewide needs assessment within two years of the effective date. The PRO(s) will fund the assessment.

Starting in 2026, covered products that make deceptive or misleading claims about its recyclability are prohibited. A covered product that displays a chasing arrows symbol, a chasing arrows symbol surrounding a resin identification code, or any other symbol or statement indicating that it is recyclable is deemed to be deceptive or misleading unless it is designated for collection in a producer responsibility organization plan approved by the department.

Starting in 2023, one may only sell, offer for sale, or distribute for use in Washington plastic collection bins made from at least 25% postconsumer recycled content, including at least 10% derived from curbside recycling programs.

The department will determine criteria around whether or not covered products are reusable, recyclable, or compostable starting in 2023.