Washington Senate Bill 5284 Chaptered (2025) - (Passed)

Covered material means packaging and paper products introduced into the state. Covered materials type means a singular and specific type of material, such as paper, plastic, metal, or glass, that is a covered material and that:

1. May be categorized based on distinguishing chemical or physical properties, including properties that allow a covered materials type to be aggregated into a discrete commodity category for purposes of reuse, recycling, or composting; and 2. Is based on similar uses in the form of a product or packaging.

"Packaging" means a material, substance, or object that is used to protect, contain, transport, serve, or facilitate delivery of a product and is sold or supplied with the product to the consumer for personal, noncommercial use.

Paper product means paper sold or supplied to a consumer for personal, noncommercial use, including flyers, brochures, booklets, catalogs, magazines, printed paper, and all other paper materials.

Paper product does not include:
Bound books, conservation-grade and archival-grade paper, newspapers, including supplements or enclosures, magazines that have a circulation of fewer than 1995,000 and that includes content derived from primary sources related to news and current events, copy paper, paper for use in building construction, and paper that could reasonably be anticipated to become unsafe or unsanitary to handle.

Beverage container means any container in which a producer originally prepackaged and sealed a beverage.

Beverage means a drinkable liquid intended for human oral consumption.

Beverage does not include:
A drug regulated under the federal food, drug, and cosmetic act
100 percent fluid milk
Infant formula
A meal replacement liquid

Exempt materials means materials, or any portion of materials, that are:

1. Packaging for infant formula
2. Packaging for medical food
3. Packaging for a fortified oral nutritional supplement used by persons who require supplemental or sole source nutrition to meet nutritional needs due to special dietary needs directly related to cancer, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, malnutrition, or failure to thrive
4. Packaging for a product regulated as a drug, medical device, or dietary supplement by the United States food and drug administration, including associated components and consumable medical equipment, or a product regulated as a biologic or vaccine by the United States food and drug administration
5. Packaging for a medical equipment or product used in medical settings that is regulated by the United States food and drug administration, including associated components and consumable medical equipment
6. Packaging for drugs, biological products, parasiticides, medical devices, or in vitro diagnostics that are used to treat, or that are administered to, animals and are regulated by the United States food and drug administration and by the United States department of agriculture
7. Noncompostable film plastic packaging used in direct contact with raw meat
8. Packaging for products regulated by the United States environmental protection agency under the federal insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide act
9. Packaging used to contain liquefied petroleum gas and are designed to be refilled
10. Packaging used to contain hazardous or flammable products classified by the 2012 federal occupational safety and health administration hazard communication standard, 29 C.F.R. Sec. 211910.1200 (2024), that prevent the packaging from being reduced or made reusable, recyclable, or compostable, as determined by the department;
11. Packaging that is associated with products managed through a paint stewardship plan
12. Excluded materials, as determined by the department
13. Used to protect or store a durable product for a period of at least five years
14. Packaging used for bulk construction materials

Covered materials that:
A producer distributes to another producer
Are subsequently used to contain a product and the product is distributed to a commercial or business entity for the production of another product; and
Are not introduced to a person other than the commercial or business entity that first received the product used for the production of another product; and

Covered materials for which the producer demonstrates to the department that the covered material meets all of the following criteria:
The material is not collected through a residential recycling collection service;
The material is recycled at a responsible market;
The material is intended to be used and collected within a commercial setting

The producer annually demonstrates to the department that the material has had a state recycling rate of 65 percent for three consecutive years, until December 31, 2029. Beginning January 1, 2030, the producer must demonstrate to the department every two years that the material has had a state recycling rate of at least 70 percent annually; or

The producer annually demonstrates to the department that the material is directly managed by the producer and has had a reuse or recycling rate of 65 percent for three consecutive years, until December 31, 2029.

Beginning January 1, 2030, the producer must demonstrate to the department every two years that the material controlled by the producer has had a reuse or recycling rate of at least 70 percent annually; and If only a portion of the material sold in or into the state by a producer meets the criteria, only the portion of the material that meets that criteria is an exempt material and any portion that does not meet the criteria is a covered material for purposes of this chapter.

A single-family residences and multifamily residences are covered entities.

A public place where a government entity managed recycling collection receptacles as of August 1, 2025, and any additional public place identified in an approved plan are covered entities.

Producer means the following person responsible for compliance with requirements under this chapter for a covered material introduced into the state:

For items sold in or with packaging at a physical retail location in this state:

1. If the item is sold in or with packaging under the brand of the item manufacturer or is sold in packaging that lacks identification of a brand, the producer is the person that manufactures the item
2. If there is no manufacturer, the producer is the brand owner of the item

For items sold or distributed in packaging in or into this state via e-commerce, remote sale, or distribution:

1. For packaging used to directly protect or contain the item, the producer of the packaging is the same as the producer above

2.For packaging used to ship the item to a consumer, the producer of the packaging is the person that packages the item to be shipped to the consumer

For paper products that are magazines, catalogs, telephone directories, or similar publications, the producer is the publisher.

For paper products not described above: If the paper product is sold under the manufacturer's own brand, the producer is the person that manufactures the paper product.

Producer means the following person responsible for compliance with requirements under this chapter for a covered material introduced into the state:

For items sold in or with packaging at a physical retail location in this state:
If there is no manufacturer, the producer is the person that is licensed to manufacture and sell or offer for sale to consumers in this state an item with packaging under the brand or trademark of another manufacturer or person is the producer

A person is the ""producer"" of a covered material sold, offered for sale, or distributed in or into this state, as defined except where another person has mutually signed an agreement with a produce that contractually assigns responsibility to the person as the producer, and the person has joined a registered producer responsibility organization as the responsible producer for that covered material under this chapter. If another person is assigned responsibility as the producer, the producer must provide written certification of that contractual agreement to the producer responsibility organization

The following persons are not eligible to be the assigned recipient of responsibility as a producer under this agreement: A person who produces an agricultural commodity introduced under the brand or trademark of another manufacturer or person or distributor of a beverage sold in a beverage container

If the producer is a business operated wholly or in part as a franchise the producer is the franchisor, if that franchisor has franchisees that have a commercial presence within the state.

Producer means the following person responsible for compliance with requirements under this chapter for a covered material introduced into the state:

For items sold in or with packaging at a physical retail location in this state:

1. If there is no brand or licensee within the United States, the producer is the person who is the importer of record for the item into the United States for use in a commercial enterprise that sells, offers for sale, or distributes the item in this state; or
2. If there is no brand, licensee or importer, the producer is the person that first distributes the item in or into this state

For items sold or distributed in packaging in or into this state via e-commerce, remote sale, or distribution:
For packaging that is a covered material and is not included as a brand, the producer of the packaging is the person that first distributes the item in or into this state

For paper products that are not magazines, catalogs, telephone directories, or similar publications, and there is no brand or manufacturer the producer is the person that is the owner or licensee of brand or trademark under which the paper product is used in a commercial enterprise, sold, offered for sale, or distributed in or into this state, whether or not the trademark is registered in this state. If there is no person as describe above, the producer is the person that first distributes the paper product in or into this state.

Producer does not include De minimis producers.

De minimis producer means a producer that:
In their most recent fiscal year introduced less than one ton of covered materials or has a global gross revenue, not including on-premises alcohol sales, for the prior fiscal year of:
Until January 1, 2031, less than $5,000,000; or Beginning January 1, 2031, less than $5,000,000, as adjusted for inflation.

The department must use the consumer price index for urban wage earners to calculate the annual rate of inflation adjustment effective January 1st of each year, beginning January 1, 2031.

Is an agricultural employer, regardless of where the agricultural employer is located, with less than $5,000,000, as adjusted for inflation as above, in gross revenue in Washington from consumer sales of agricultural commodities sold under the brand name of the agricultural employer.

Producer does not include Government entities.

Producer does not include registered 501(c)(3) charitable organizations and 501(c)(4) 5social welfare organizations.

Each producer must register with and be a member of a PRO that administers a producer responsibility program.

If more than one producer responsibility organization is established, the producers and producer responsibility organizations must establish a coordinating body and process to prevent redundancy. After the first plan approved by the department expires, the department may allow registration of more than one producer responsibility organization.

Individual plans may be submitted by a producer that registers with the department as a PRO to address the covered materials of the producer.

Producer Responsibility Organization means a 501(c)(3) non profit organization.

The PRO is responsible for the costs and operations by providing service or contracting with public and private service providers.
Reimbursement rates must be established equivalent to net costs as established by a methodology in an approved plan as follows:

(1) No less than 50 percent of the net costs by February 15, 2030
(2) No less than 75 percent of the net costs by February 15, 2031
(3) No less than 90 percent of the net costs by February 15, 2032 and each year thereafter

Cost coverage must include the costs to transfer collected covered materials from consolidation or transfer facilities to reuse, processing, recycling, or composting facilities or to responsible markets and the cost to sort and process covered materials for sale or use and remove contamination.

Cost coverage must include education and outreach and increase public awareness.

Cost coverage must include administration costs to the department.

Cost coverage must include infrastructure investments.

The PRO must collect a fee from each member producer that must vary based on the total amount of covered materials each producer introduces in the prior year calculated on a per-unit basis, such as per ton, per item, or another unit of measurement.

Fees must incentivize using materials and design attributes that reduce the environmental impacts and human health impacts of covered materials and discourage the use of covered materials that are not on the statewide lists.

Fees must incentivize increasing the proportion of post-consumer material in covered materials.

Fees must incentivize increasing the amount of covered materials managed in a reuse system, prioritize reuse by charging covered materials that are managed through a reuse system only once, upon initial entry into the marketplace.

Fees must incentivize reducing the amount of packaging per individual covered material that is necessary to efficiently deliver a product without damage or spoilage and without reducing its ability to be recycled or composted and reduce paper used to manufacture individual paper products.

Fees must incentivize eliminating intentionally added toxic substances or residual toxic substances from manufacturing in covered materials.

Fees must incentivize enhancing the recyclability or compostability of a covered material.

Fees must incentivize increasing the amounts of inputs derived from renewable and sustainable sources without reducing its ability to be recycled.

The department must establish statewide requirements and a date by which those requirements must be met for each of the following categories:

1. Recycling rate
2. Composting rate
3. Reuse rate
4. Return rate
5. The percentage of covered materials introduced that must be plastic source reduced
6. The percentage of post-consumer recycled content that covered materials must contain, including an overall percentage for all covered materials, as applicable, excluding compostable materials that cannot include post-consumer recycled content due to unique chemical or physical properties or health or safety requirements that prohibit introduction of post-consumer recycled content.

No more than eight percent of a producer responsibility organization's plastic source reduction performance target may be met by switching from virgin covered material to post-consumer recycled content through a sliding scale alternative compliance formula developed by the department based on the ratio of virgin plastic to post-consumer recycled plastic. For producers subject to the existing post-consumer recycled content requirements, the post-consumer recycled content used to comply with those requirements may be credited towards the plastic source reduction performance target, subject to the eight percent limit.

The PRO draft plan must include performance targets to each covered materials type to be accomplished within a five-year period.

The PRO must propose performance targets based on the needs assessment that meet the statewide requirements that must be included in an approved plan.

Performance targets must include reuse rates, return rates, recycling rates for materials delivered to responsible markets, composting rates, and targets for plastic source reduction and post-consumer recycled content by covered materials type.

For products for which post-consumer recycled content rates are established in existing laws those rates must be included in an approved plan. The producer responsibility organization must propose the unit or units that are most appropriate to measure each performance target as informed by the needs assessment.

For infrastructure investments, preference must be given to existing facilities and providers of services in the state for waste reduction, refill, reuse, collection, recycling, and composting of covered materials.

Collection services for covered materials determined to be suitable for residential recycling collection must be available wherever residential garbage collection services are available, unless otherwise determined.

If bottle deposit return system is enacted in the future, it will be harmonized. Ensuring materials covered in that system are exempt or related financial obligations are reduced, colocation of drop-off collection sites is maximized, education and outreach are integrated between the two programs, and waste reduction and reuse strategies are prioritized between the two programs.

The department shall contract with an independent consultant to conduct two studies on the potential statewide impacts of a recycling refunds program, also known as a beverage container deposit return system, in Washington state. The studies must prioritize equity, accessibility, and community perspectives. Registered producer responsibility organizations are responsible for payment of the department's cost to complete these studies as part of the one-time payment due to the department on September 1, 2026.

By January 1, 2026, each producer must appoint a producer responsibility organization or producer responsibility organizations to address its covered materials.

By March 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, a producer responsibility organization must register with the department on behalf of its producers.

After July 1, 2026, a producer must be a member of a producer responsibility organization registered in this state or register as a producer responsibility organization that will implement an individual plan.

By September 1, 2026, a producer responsibility organization must submit a one-time payment to the department, and each May 1st thereafter, a producer responsibility organization must submit an annual registration fee to fund all costs of the department to implement, administer, and enforce this chapter, including the costs of the department of labor and industries to implement and enforce.

By October 1, 2028, and every five years thereafter, each registered PRO must submit a plan to the department for approval.

By January 1, 2030, or within six months of plan approval, whichever is later, the PRO must implement the plan approved by the department.

Beginning July 1, 2031, and annually thereafter, the department must review and approve annual reports.

The department must review annual reports and make annual reports available for public review and comment for at least 30 days, review within 120 days of receipt of a complete annual report, determine whether an annual report meets the requirements and notify the producer responsibility organization of the approval or reasons for denial. The producer responsibility organization must submit a revised annual report within 60 days after receipt of the denial letter.

By January 1, 2028, the department must contract with an independent consultant to carry out a one-time ex-ante analysis of each draft plan submitted to the department by October 1, 2028 to address impacts on consumer prices, environmental justice, and if beverage container deposit return program could be established as a complement to the proposed plan. The analysis must be completed and submitted to the department by January 15, 2029.

By September 1, 2038, the department must contract with an independent consultant to analyze the impacts of the initial seven years of program implementation and must submit a report summarizing the analysis to the appropriate committees of the legislature.

Each producer responsibility organization must annually fund and implement a reuse financial assistance program to reduce the negative environmental impacts of covered materials through reuse.The reuse financial assistance program must collectively be funded by registered producer responsibility organizations in the amount of $5,000,000 beginning in 2029 and adjusted annually thereafter for inflation. The department must use the consumer price index for urban wage earners to calculate the annual rate of inflation adjustment effective January 1st of each year.

The Responsible Recycling Management account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts received by the department under this chapter must be deposited in the account. Only the director of the department or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account.

By July 1, 2031, and each July 1st thereafter, a producer responsibility organization must submit an annual report to the department.

Beginning March 1, 2029, a producer that is not a member in good standing with a registered producer responsibility organization or has not submitted an individual plan may not introduce covered materials into the state. The department may assess a penalty on a person that continues to sell or distribute covered materials of a producer that is in violation of this chapter 60 days after receipt of the written warning. The amount of the penalty that the department may assess under this subsection is twice the value of the covered materials sold in violation of this chapter or $500, whichever is greater.

The department may administratively impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation per day on any producer who violates this chapter up to $10,000 per violation per day for the second and each subsequent violation.

The department may administratively impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation per day on any producer responsibility organization that violates this chapter and up to $10,000 per violation per day for the second and each subsequent violation.

The following persons are ineligible to serve on the board of the producer responsibility organization or to be hired as an officer or employee of the producer responsibility organization:

1. Any state or local elected official
2. Any former employee of the department's solid waste program or that worked on solid waste policies for the department, if such an employee has served in that role within the most recent two calendar years
3. Any former state or local elected official that has served in such a role within the most recent two calendar years

Develop and provide education and outreach materials that are able to be used by retail establishments, collectors, government entities, service providers, schools, institutions, youth organizations, and nonprofit organizations. Outreach materials must be accessible in multiple languages and culturally appropriate formats to reach non-English-speaking communities.

By January 31, 2032, the department must complete a study, conducted by a contracted third party that is not a producer or producer responsibility organization, of facilities operating in the state that manage covered materials. The producer responsibility organization must cover the cost of conducting the study.

The PRO should assist producers in improving product labels as a means of informing consumers about refill, reuse, recycling, composting, and other environmentally sound methods of managing covered materials.

The PRO plan must include education materials on waste reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and composting for producers and the general public and increase public awareness of how to use and manage covered materials in an environmentally sound manner and how to access waste reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and composting services.

A producer responsibility organization must develop and maintain a public website that uses best practices for accessibility and contains information regarding a process that members of the public may use to contact the producer responsibility organization with questions.

A producer responsibility organization must coordinate with registered service providers and any government entities that choose to participate in carrying out education and outreach consistent with the plan.

The PRO plan must include a summary of consultations held with the advisory council and other interested parties to provide input to the plan, a list of recommendations that were incorporated into the plan as a result, and a list of rejected recommendations and the reasons for rejection.

By January 1, 2026 the department must establish and appoint the advisory council.

1. Two members representing manufacturers of covered materials or a statewide or national trade association representing those manufacturers
2. Two members representing recycling facilities that manage covered materials
3. One member representing a solid waste collection company or a statewide association representing solid waste collection companies
4. One member representing retailers of covered materials or a statewide trade association representing those retailers
5. One member representing a statewide nonprofit environmental organization; One member representing a community-based nonprofit environmental justice organization
6. One member representing a material recovery facility
7. One member representing a waste facility that accepts and processes compostable materials for composting or a statewide trade association that represents those facilities
8. One member representing an entity that develops or offers for sale covered materials that are designed for reuse or refill and maintained through a reuse or refill system or infrastructure or a statewide or national trade association that represents those entities
9. Three members representing government entities, with at least one member representing counties
10. One member representing tribal or indigenous solid waste services organizations
11. Two members representing other interested parties or additional members of interests represented above, as determined by the department;
12. One nonvoting member representing each registered producer responsibility organization; and
13. One member representing the department

The department must appoint an equity subcommittee to the advisory council comprised of six representatives from overburdened communities or socially vulnerable populations. "

Recycling means transforming or remanufacturing covered materials into usable or marketable materials for use other than landfill disposal or incineration and does not include reuse or composting.

The legislature exempts from state antitrust laws, and provides immunity through the state action doctrine from federal antitrust laws.

Recycling rate means the amount of covered materials, in aggregate or by individual covered materials type, delivered to responsible markets for recycling in a calendar year divided by the total amount of covered materials introduced by the relevant unit of measurement and excluding covered materials that are reusable or compostable.

By December 31, 2026, the department must complete the preliminary needs assessment.

By December 31, 2027, and every five years thereafter, complete the statewide needs assessment In conducting a needs assessment, the department must:
(a) Initiate a consultation process to obtain recommendations from the advisory council, government entities, service providers producer responsibility organizations, the utilities and transportation commission, and other interested parties, regarding the type and scope of information that should be collected and analyzed in the needs assessments required by this section
(b) Contract with a third party who is not a producer, a producer responsibility organization, or a member of the advisory council to conduct the needs assessment

When determining the extent to which any statewide requirement or performance target under this chapter has been achieved, information contained in a needs assessment must serve as the baseline for that determination, when applicable.

By October 1, 2026, the department must develop the initial statewide collection lists. The department must develop lists of covered materials determined to be recyclable or compostable statewide. By October 1, 2026, the department must develop initial lists for use and evaluation in the needs assessment.

A group of producers representing a majority of a distinct covered material type or distinct packaging type may petition the department, prior to the department finalizing a list, to consider designating that material or packaging as suitable for multiple modes of collection other than commingled residential, depending on location. The department may grant a petition that is submitted at least six months prior to the publication of the lists and that justifies why different methods are appropriate in different jurisdictions.

One year prior to the submission of a plan, a producer, group of producers, or a producer responsibility organization may submit a petition to the department to request for reasons of public health or safety the temporary exclusion of packaging used to contain the following categories of products, subcategories of the following categories of products, or individual products:

1. Raw meat products that are demonstrated to transfer pathogens to direct contact packaging
2. Products regulated under the poison prevention packaging act
3. Products subject to requirements under federal laws that make their inclusion in the requirements of this chapter infeasible or inadvisable.

The department must make a determination and notify the petitioner within 90 days of receipt of the petition. The producer of a product that is temporarily excluded from the requirements must report directly to the department in a form created by the department, the information related to the temporarily excluded product that is required to be reported to the department by producer responsibility organizations.

Plastic source reduction means the reduction in the amount of covered plastic material introduced by a producer relative to a baseline year of 2023, or relative to an alternative baseline year of no earlier than 2013 where a producer submits data documenting the plastic source reduction to a producer responsibility organization. Methods of source reduction include, but are not limited to, shifting covered material to reusable or refillable packaging or a reusable product, eliminating unnecessary packaging, or reducing the packaging to product ratio.

Plastic source reduction must include elimination, which means the removal of plastic covered materials.

Plastic source reduction does not include either of the following:
Replacing a recyclable or compostable covered material with a non-recyclable or non-compostable covered material or a covered material that is less likely to be recycled or composted.

Switching from virgin covered material to post-consumer recycled content, except as allowed under an alternative compliance formula.

Reuse means the return of a covered material to the marketplace and the continued use of the covered material by a producer or service provider when the covered material is:
(a) Intentionally designed and marketed to be used multiple times for its original intended purpose without a change in form
(b) Designed for durability and maintenance to extend its useful life and reduce demand for new production of the covered material
(c) Supported by adequate logistics and infrastructure at a retail location, by a service provider, or on behalf of or by a producer, that provides convenient access for consumers
(d) Compliant with all applicable federal, state, and local statutes, rules, ordinances, and other laws governing health and safety

"Reuse rate" means the share of units of a reusable covered material introduced into the state in a calendar year that are demonstrated and deemed reusable in accordance with an approved plan.

A producer responsibility organization must implement an alternative collection program for covered materials included on the alternative collection list.

An alternative collection program or programs for each covered material included on the alternative collection list must be provided under a plan. For purposes of the first plan implementation period, an alternative collection program may be proposed by a producer responsibility organization, a group of producers with a petition granted by the department, or a majority of producers of a unique product type whose packaging is designated for alternative collection. A proposal must be submitted at the same time as the plan, and is subject to the same approval process as the plan. A retail establishment may choose to serve as a drop-off location or collection event as part of an alternative collection program, through mutual agreement with a producer responsibility organization.