Oregon's Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act, which takes effect Tuesday, is the first “producer responsibility” law for packaging and paper products to go online in the United States. The new law, first passed by the Oregon legislature in 2021, seeks to improve the recycling system by:
- Creating a uniform list of what can be recycled statewide;
- Expanding recycling service to more Oregonians;
- Bringing more transparency and accountability to where recyclables end up to ensure that they are recycled responsibly;
- Implementing a shared responsibility model where producers of packaging and paper products bear some of the costs of the waste management system;
- Requiring producers to pay an annual fee that goes to waste prevention and reuse projects across the state.
To date, seven states have passed similar producer responsibility laws for packaging. Oregon's program is the first to launch.
Environment Oregon State Director and Oregon Recycling System Advisory Council Member Celeste Meiffren-Swango released this statement in response:
“This new law is further proof that no one recycles better than Oregon. The Recycling Modernization Act will bring recycling to even more Oregonians and help ensure that we recycle well. Now, the companies that decide what type of packaging wraps our stuff will help ensure those items get collected, recycled and repurposed instead of littering our communities and wasting away in our landfills. We're hopeful that this new law won't just expand recycling, but ultimately result in less unnecessary and wasteful packaging. For our kids to inherit a less polluted earth, that's exactly what we need."
OSPIRG State Director Charlie Fisher released this statement in response:
"The Recycling Modernization Act incentivizes companies to stop producing so much wasteful packaging. It also supports the expansion of recycling so we can reuse materials instead of continuously extracting natural resources to make bags, boxes, bottles and more. This is a great day for Oregon and hopefully this will encourage other states to adopt producer responsibility for packaging to help boost their recycling rates and reduce waste. Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to get us to this point.”
Source: Environment Oregon