Legislators in the state of Washington are considering a pair of bills, House Bill 1204 and Senate Bill 5397, that would ban sales in the state of packaging involving plastic - including plastic food or beverage service products - if the packaging producers are not participating in a plastic packaging stewardship organization.
Producers are defined as the owners of a brand of a plastic packaged products sold in or into the state, an importer into the state of a plastic packaged product produced by a company outside the United States, manufacturers of unbranded products sold in or into the state, or wholesale or retail sellers of plastic packaged products who assume compliance responsibility for such products.
The Washington State Department of Ecology, producers, clean-up service providers, and stakeholders would be required to establish a product stewardship program by Jan. 1, 2022.
The House Bill is before the Committee on Environment and Energy while the Senate Bill is before the Committee on Ways & Means.
