Watch Craig Lorch, owner of Total Reclaim and EcoLights Northwest, articulate product stewardship's purpose in 60-seconds of testimony before the Feb. 5 House Environment Committee hearing on paint stewardship (HB 1571):

"Recyclers are savvy business people and we're willing to take risks but we don't go where we're going to lose money with every pound or gallon of material we process. Product stewardship programs belong where there are market failures, where the recovered materials do not have enough value to pay for the collection system. We have examples of that already in this state: TVs, residential [fluorescent] light bulbs, unwanted medicines, and the list does keep going. Leftover paint is in this group. The cost of managing paint is more than the value of the recycled product. We have an opportunity to build a robust paint recycling program through passage of this bill and I urge your support of the bill."