News

While the number of fluorescent (and other mercury-containing) lights collected and recycled in Washington continues to increase, their sales (and hence the fee collected to fund their recycling) are declining. On Feb. 1, 2018, LightRecycle Washington's environmental handling charge (EHC) increased from $0.50 to $0.95 per mercury-containing light.

In 2017, Washington passed ESSB 5939, the Solar Incentives Job Bill, the first law in the nation to require manufacturers to manage and finance the safe recycling of solar units at end of life, at no cost to the owner of the product.

With a lack of progress in the Washington legislature towards a statewide producer responsibility system since 2012, as an interim step, King County initiated in 2018 a for-fee latex paint recycling service partnership with GreenSheen and local stores via the Take it Back Network.

Washington's 2018 legislative session ran Jan. 8 to March 8 and Oregon's 2018 session ran Feb. 5 to March 3:

H 560 passed the Vermont House on March 21, 2018 and awaits their Senate. If the bill passes (the Governor pledged not to impose any new taxes or fees, including H 560):

A Feb. 5, 2018 feature in Floor Covering Weekly by Janet Herlihy examined the difficulties facing the carpet recycling industry: the drop in oil prices resulted in a dramatic drop in demand for recycled polymers, carpet being but one example, which has been "devastating for businesses involved in [carpet] recycling."

In the January 2018 Resource Recycling, Clarissa Morawski highlights recent legislative amendments to six key waste directives in Europe as part of their Circular Economy Package:

SB 168, which would require CalRecycle to establish by 2023 minimum recycled content standards for metal, glass, or plastic beverage containers, passed

In 2016, Ontario passed the Waste-Free Ontario Act, 2016, which enacts the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 (RRCEA) and the Waste Diversion Transition Act, 2016, (WDTA) and replaces the Waste Diversion Act, 2002, with "a new producer responsibility framework that makes producers individually responsible and accountable for their products and packaging at end of life." With the Waste-Free Ontario Act, 2016, the former W