Photo by Washington State Standard
SB 5284 narrowly passed the Senate on March 7 and now moves to the House for consideration. WR has significant concerns with the bill in its current form, particularly regarding changes to the definition of “producer,” which now exempts beverage container distributors and agricultural commodities from responsibility for recycling their packaging.
The financial impact on consumers remains unknown, and the unique needs of each county have yet to be assessed.
California, which passed a similar law (SB 54), recently projected implementation costs at an astonishing $36 billion. This staggering amount caused the Governor to send the department back to the drawing board to implement the law.
WR supports responsible packaging recycling through extended producer responsibility (EPR). However, SB 5284 falls short. Before adopting such a program, the state should conduct a comprehensive, county-by-county needs assessment and cost analysis. Additionally, learning from other states, like California and Oregon, would help avoid costly mistakes before implementing a statewide program.
