Changing systems through state and local-level policy

Local, regional, and state zero waste laws are important ways to make a big impact. We work with city and county government and advocacy groups across Washington to address issues important to you. We’re also involved in every legislative session working to implement policies that demand strict accountability around waste management and to oppose potentially harmful bills. Crucially, we do the hard work of following up on all the laws we help pass to ensure that they are implemented effectively and reflect public desires.

“Reuse and refill” policies are a cornerstone of our advocacy work, so we helped update the Washington State Food Code to allow consumers to use and refill their own containers. This allows people to bring their own containers to purchase bulk products at grocery stores, farmers markets, and restaurants.

The impacts of plastic pollution are seen at every stage of its manufacture. From extraction (fracking, for example) and production to disposal in landfill, each stage must be addressed to reduce plastic waste and ultimately eliminate plastic pollution. For example, banning products such as foam food containers removes tremendous volumes of unrecyclable waste. We work to compel producers to redesign their products with reduced plastic and fewer toxic chemicals. Moreover, we help build end markets that guarantee recycled materials have a second life, made into other useful products.

One of the greatest obstacles to recycling waste is that our systems are outdated. This limits the materials that can be recycled and the efficiency of the process, making it difficult for consumers to know when and how to recycle. To address this problem, our work focuses on updating Washington’s recycling system so that packaging is reduced, the system is less confusing for consumers, and the remaining material is truly recycled here in the state. Our goal is to ensure all residents across the state will have access to recycling with a state-wide standardized list of accepted recyclables and a guarantee that those items are actually being recycled.

Toxic chemicals are a part of all plastics production and are found in some non-plastic products as well. Food packaging alone is found to contain around 4,000 industrial chemicals, at least 148 of which are known to be hazardous. These chemicals are bad for the health of people and our planet, demonstrating the direct connection between zero waste and public health. We advocate for the elimination and reduction of toxic chemicals in the products that are put into the world. Examples of our past work include a bill to reduce PFAs in food service products and research conducted to analyze products for phthalates to find safer alternatives.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies are programs that hold producers responsible for the disposal of the materials they make. EPR policy is a proven solution to putting the responsibility of waste management of their products on the manufacturers and brands. Over the past two decades, we have worked on bills requiring these manufacturers and brand owners to pay for end-of-life safe recycling or disposal of electronic devices, mercury light bulbs, unwanted medicines, leftover paint, and batteries. By imposing additional costs on producers for these materials, they are incentivized to redesign their products.

Around 17 million tons of textiles end up in landfills each year (EPA)—we work to help reduce this waste in Washington through policy and advocacy. Our 2018 Waste Summit was entirely dedicated to the pressing issue of reducing fashion and textile waste. Additionally, we support bills that help address waste through accountability solutions, such as requiring brands to have clothing tags that disclose the carbon footprint, as well as other waste and social equity measures. We are looking forward to including the textile industry in future EPR bills.

As of a 2020 baseline study by the Washington Department of Ecology, the state generated approximately 1.2 million tons of food waste a year, over 390,000 tons of which were edible food waste. Diverting this food waste is an important solution for reducing landfill waste and improving systems to compost and process food waste. We helped craft policy and advocate for improved surplus food donation and composting—as well as anaerobic digestion of food waste in our state. This work led to the state’s Food Well Washington Plan, a roadmap to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030. We published our own study about organic waste management in 2021, which seeded ideas for an even bigger bill passed in 2022 which created in statute a target to divert 75% of the organic material (food waste and yard debris) from our landfills in Washington.

Anyone who is conscious of their disposal and recycling habits inevitably encounters challenging items to deal with, e.g., expanded polystyrene (aka “styrofoam”), electronics, pet waste, diapers, and materials made of composite materials. We are working at the policy level to find solutions to reduce waste from these items. Moreover, we are advocating for the redesign of such products to help address the underlying cause of the issue.