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State recycling reform (EPR) and solid‑waste funding seen as major near‑term changes; counties plan follow‑up
Summary
A Washington State Association of Counties representative summarized 2025 legislation, including the Recycling Reform Act (extended producer responsibility) and ongoing efforts to secure new solid‑waste funding, and warned of grant reductions driven by declining MTCA revenue.
Travis Dutton of the Washington State Association of Counties updated the committee on 2025 legislative developments affecting solid waste, focusing on extended producer responsibility (EPR, called the Recycling Reform Act in the session), organics requirements, and proposed funding changes for county solid‑waste programs.
Dutton summarized that the 2025 session included a heavier-than-usual slate of solid‑waste bills and that implementation of several will play out in the coming years. He described the Recycling Reform Act (EPR) as a major change that will shift a portion of recycling program costs from local ratepayers to product producers and a producer responsibility organization (PRO). Under the law’s structure, producers pay into a PRO that funds state‑wide recycling program performance targets; counties and local service providers would continue to deliver services and contracts, while the PRO would fund improvements needed to meet recycling performance metrics.
Dutton said implementation details remain many and that Ecology, counties and other stakeholders are studying models from other states. He noted potential benefits — expanded service areas and more consistent recycling outcomes — and concerns, including the likelihood producers will pass some costs through in product pricing. “What you will see is very little change aside from likely knowing that your recycling is more likely…to be recycled,” he said, but added that the full effects and cost shifts remain uncertain.
Dutton also described a proposed county solid‑waste funding bill (House Bill 2018) that would augment the existing solid‑waste collection tax and create more direct county allocations to fund capital projects and programs; he said full implementation would take several years and that the proposal aims to provide stable revenue for counties that currently rely on tip fees and tenuous grant allocations.
Dutton warned that some state grant funds the counties rely on — specifically accounts funded from gasoline‑related revenues (used by Ecology’s grant programs) — were forecast to decline as electric vehicle adoption reduces fuel sales. Ecology was asked to reduce program expenditures against those accounts, and counties are seeking to protect local solid‑waste grants from sweeping reductions.
Dutton urged SWAC members to watch for rulemaking and public comment windows tied to EPR and organics laws, to engage in county‑level discussions about procurement and capital projects, and to consider participating in statewide meetings the Washington Association of County Solid Waste Managers (WACSWIM) is organizing.
