This bill creates a new statewide producer responsibility program for packaging and paper products by adding a new chapter to Title 70A RCW, amending and reenacting multiple existing RCW sections, and adding a new section to chapter 49.46 RCW. It establishes detailed definitions (producers, covered materials, producer responsibility organizations or PROs, service providers, responsible markets, etc.), creates an advisory council, assigns the Department of Ecology (referred to as “the department”) primary authority to implement, administer, and enforce the chapter, and requires the department to publish lists, needs assessments, and other public materials. The act also amends county and city comprehensive solid waste plan requirements and references the Utilities and Transportation Commission’s role. Substantive procedural changes require producers to join or form a registered PRO (or register as an individual PRO), with producers to appoint PROs by Jan 1, 2026 and PROs to register by Mar 1, 2026. PROs must submit plans by Oct 1, 2028 and implement approved plans by Jan 1, 2030, collect producer fees, fund a reuse financial assistance program (at least $5,000,000 beginning 2029, adjusted for inflation), reimburse service providers under approved methodologies, and meet performance targets for reuse, return, recycling, composting, plastic source reduction, and postconsumer recycled content. The department must conduct needs assessments, an equity study due Jan 31, 2032, and an independent program review by Sept 1, 2038. The bill sets specific timelines and processes for plan review, public comment, service provider registration, alternative collection programs, and approval criteria for alternative recycling processes. The bill creates new enforcement and fiscal mechanisms and workplace rules: the department may impose administrative civil penalties on producers (up to $1,000 per violation per day, and up to $10,000 per violation per day for subsequent violations), may assess penalties on distributors of noncompliant producers (twice the value of materials sold or $500, whichever is greater), and penalties are deposited to the recycling enhancement account; appeals go to the Pollution Control Hearings Board. It adds a new wage-related requirement (Sec. 304) to chapter 49.46 RCW requiring employers at material recovery facilities that manage 25,000 tons or more annually to pay minimum industry standard compensation beginning Oct 1, 2028, enforces that requirement through the Department of Labor and Industries, and reenacts/amends RCW 49.48.082 to reflect enforcement provisions. The act includes a responsible recycling management account for receipts, a severability clause, and a nullification trigger if specified funding is not provided in the omnibus appropriations act by June 30, 2025. Some details are not contained in the provided excerpts: the exempt materials list is incomplete, several referenced sections (for example certain plan methodologies, subsection (10) statewide requirements, and some advisory council details) and some lists and formulas are not fully shown, and other implementation specifics appear in sections not included in these extracts.

If enacted, the bill forces companies that sell packaging and paper into Washington to organize into producer responsibility organizations (PROs) or register individually, pay fees, and fund a statewide program to redesign packaging, expand collection, and pay service providers. PROs must register and win department approval of five‑year plans, run a $5 million minimum reuse assistance program beginning in 2029, and collect producer fees sized to cover department costs, reimbursements to collectors/processors, and program operations; service provider reimbursements ramp up to cover 90% of net costs by February 15, 2032. The Department of Ecology runs the program with an advisory council, statewide needs assessments, lists of covered materials and collection requirements, enforcement authority including penalties and a ban on selling noncompliant producers’ materials after March 1, 2029, and the Department of Labor and Industries enforces a new minimum industry compensation for workers at large material recovery facilities beginning October 1, 2028. The people and entities most directly affected are producers (who will face new fees, reporting, design and material requirements, and a risk of fines or sales bans if noncompliant), PROs (which must manage plans, procure infrastructure competitively, run outreach, and administer reimbursements), service providers and recycling/composting facilities (which must register, provide data, and will likely see higher reimbursement rates and more technical assistance), local governments (which must update solid waste plans and coordinate collection), and workers at large MRFs (who gain wage protections). Important implementation details that determine actual costs and responsibilities—such as the exact list of covered materials, the fee formulas, the department’s statewide targets and the full plan approval rules—are not fully included in the provided excerpts, so precise financial impacts and compliance burdens remain uncertain.