Producers of packaging, paper products and food service ware will be required to share responsibility for supporting in-state recycling programs.
Oregon became the second state to require producers of packaging, paper products and food service ware to share responsibility for supporting in-state recycling programs when Gov. Kate Brown signed SB 582, known as the Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act, into law Aug. 6. Sen. Michael Dembrow and Rep. Janeen Sollman were the chief sponsors of the bill.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed a similar extended producer responsibility (EPR) law into effect July 12.
Under Oregon’s new law, brand owners selling packaging, paper products and food service ware into Oregon will join stewardship organizations and pay fees to support the improvement and expansion of recycling programs and infrastructure statewide. This new packaging EPR program is intended to reduce the impacts of waste on the environment and human health, keep plastics out of rivers and oceans and take steps toward addressing the inequitable impacts of the waste system on vulnerable communities, legislators say.
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“With this new law, Oregon ratepayers will be provided a much more accessible, responsible and stable recycling system,” says Scott Cassel, CEO and founder of the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI), which advocates for the promulgation of responsible recycling through EPR legislation. “It will also provide producers with the financial incentive to make their packaging more sustainable, and local communities with funding for reuse and waste prevention programs.”
Under the new system, consumer brand payments will cover roughly one-quarter of the costs of a modernized recycling system. In contrast to Maine’s law, which covers all recycling costs, producers under Oregon’s law will not cover the costs of collection, which will continue to be paid for by residential and commercial ratepayers. Local authorities will maintain operational control for collection services and public education programs, while producer funding will enable improvements such as recycling facility upgrades, broader collection services and more accessible educational resources.
Producers will finance their obligations through fees on covered products that they pay to stewardship organizations. These fees will be based on factors such as recyclability, use of post-consumer recycled content, and the life cycle impacts of the materials they use. The largest producers also will be required to perform lifecycle assessments on 1 percent of their products every two years.
