Packaging: NWPSC Activities

Analyzing Product Stewardship Policies for Packaging and Printed Paper in Washington State

The 2011 report (PDF 1.9MB) was developed by the NWPSC to stimulate dialogue among the various stakeholders in the solid waste and recycling fields in Washington State and to examine alternative ways to incentivize and finance recycling programs in the state. The report provides an overview of the current recycling system in Washington State and explores ways to increase the rate of recycling, especially for packaging and printed paper. The report features successful recycling programs in Europe and Canada that have implemented product stewardship policies, whereby the product producer is responsible for financing and ensuring the delivery of the recycling program, and have achieved recycling rates between 60 and 90 percent. The goal of this report is to start a dialogue with stakeholders in Washington state to help identify and craft viable strategies to increase recycling of packaging and printed paper in Washington.

The report was presented at the Product Stewardship Strategies for Local Governments conference held on July 22, 2011. The conference was sponsored by Seattle Public Utilities, the Northwest Product Stewardship Council, and US EPA Region X, to provide municipal, county and state elected officials, local government policy staff, and solid waste industry stakeholders with an understanding of product stewardship, an overview of product stewardship policies and regulations currently in place in the U.S. and Canada, and an introduction to the kinds of local and state product stewardship legislation that may be used to reduce waste and increase recycling. The conference featured presentations by experts with hands-on experience in developing and managing product stewardship programs at the local government level in Canada and Europe.

Sustainable Packaging Training

The NWPSC offered an all day course on Dec 15, 2009 covering the concepts of sustainable packaging via video conference and webinar. Topics covered included the basics of packaging regulation, the criteria for sustainable packaging, clean production processes, selection of packaging materials, recycling and disposal options including composting and extended producer responsibility and the latest on the industry’s efforts to reduce their environmental footprint.

Washington State Beverage Container Recycling Initiative: 2008 Report

In 2006, the Northwest Product Stewardship Council and EPA Region 10 initiated a process to explore ways to develop an incentive system to increase the collection and recycling of used beverage containers without the use of cash deposits. The effort lasted 18 months and involved 48 individuals representing 35 industry stakeholders.

The initial meeting resulted in three educational conference calls reviewing current US and Canadian beverage container recovery programs (see presentations below). In the follow-up meeting, the group agreed to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for incentive programs. Two proposals were selected for joint funding to be provided by local, state and federal governments, the Beverage Packaging Environmental Council (BPEC) of the National Recycling Coalition (an industry organization), and in-kind donations from pilot program partners.

The proposals were not funded, and in March 2008 the committee unanimously agreed to end the effort to come to a mutually agreeable solution to the problem of used beverage container recovery. The NWPSC steering committee agreed to terminate work on the project and begin exploring other options to increase the recycling of used beverage containers and other packaging materials.

Learn more about the process from the 2008 report:

Final Report: History of Beverage Container Stakeholder Process in the State of Washington (PDF file, 75KB)
Appendix A: Economic & Environmental Benefits of a Deposit System for Beverage Containers in the State of Washington (PDF file, 806KB)
Appendix B: Agenda for the First WA Beverage Container Initiative Meeting(PDF file, 83KB)
Appendix C: Meeting Minutes from the First WA Beverage Container Initiative Meeting (PDF file, 68KB)
Appendix D: NWPSC Container Recovery Program Summary and Process (PDF file, 25KB)
Appendix E: Overview of Existing Container Recycling Programs (PDF file, 25KB)
Appendix F: Presentation at the 2005 NRC National Convention about BPEC (PDF file, 252KB)
Appendix G: BPEC FAQs (PDF file, 20KB)
Appendix H: Final RFP for Incentive Programs (PDF file, 62KB)
Appendix I: Summary of RFP Proposals (PDF file, 70KB)
Appendix J: White River Amphitheatre Proposal (PDF file, 121KB)
Appendix K: Northtown Mall Proposal (PDF file, 70KB)

Tour of Product Stewardship Programs in British Columbia, Canada

The Northwest Product Stewardship Council hosted a day-long tour on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 to experience British Columbia’s successful product stewardship programs for handling difficult to manage products including beverage containers. Learn more from presentations during the tour.

Beverage Container Recycling Educational Conference Calls

The NWPSC and the Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 held a series of educational conference calls to explore ways that beverage container recycling could be increased by employing the product stewardship principles of shared responsibility.

Conference Call - Dec 21, 2006: Public/Private Partnerships in BC and Technology