SB 5697, renewing Washington's recycling system and reducing waste, which would have created an extended producer responsibility (EPR) system for consumer packaging and paper products (PPP), did not move forward in the 2022 session.

The bill would have created a coordinated, transparent statewide system for residential recycling funded by the producers of PPP; residents would no longer have to pay for recycling and local governments could seek reimbursement for their recycling services.

SB 5697 built on the plastic packaging study and recommendations submitted to the legislature in October 2020, which was the result of the study bill passed in 2019, as well as the recycled content requirements (SB 5022) bill passed in 2021.

Bill Status

SB 5697 was heard Jan. 18, 2022 in the Senate Environment, Energy, and Technology committee, was voted out of committee on Feb. 2, and was scheduled for a vote in Ways & Means but did not move forward.

Tools for Local Government in Washington

• About SB 5697 - one pager (PDF)
• Webinar - EPR 101: modernizing recycling in Washington State with the RENEW Act (YouTube). Dec. 9, 2021 NWPSC video recording exploring the "RENEW Act" legislation (SB 5697), with speakers Preston Peck of the City of Tacoma and Kris Major of the City of Spokane.
• Webinar - Packaging EPR 101 (YouTube). Nov. 22, 2021 recording from WSRA and NWPSC.
• Washington State Plastic Packaging Study, 2020
• Improving Recycling in Washington through Producer Responsibility Policy: Costs and Benefits - Dec. 2021 Eunomia report for the NWPSC
• Bill to ramp up recycling a top priority for green coalition in 2022 Washington state legislative session - Seattle Times, Jan. 18, 2022
• EPR is a solution for packaging (YouTube), NWPSC video
• Tour Recycle BC's residential recycling EPR program, October 2020 (YouTube recording)

More than 45 countries have packaging EPR laws and the U.S. is "the only member nation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that does not have an industry-financed packaging stewardship program," according to a letter in support from the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI). "Similar programs have been operating with great success in many areas of the world for more than 30 years, including Belgium, which has achieved an 80% recycling rate for packaging, and in British Columbia, which has achieved a 75% recovery rate."

Watch the NWPSC video on why EPR is a solution for the problem of packaging (YouTube):