Keeping it Green

INTERESTING LEGISLATION ON PLASTICS CONSIDERED IN OREGON:

Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden have introduced two recycling bills to the U.S. Senate, one of which is modeled after the successful Oregon “bottle bill.” Oregon’s U.S. senators are hoping to replicate the state’s recycling success on the national level, having introduced a pair of bills that take aim at the prevalence of plastics in American waste.

Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden put forward a national version of Oregon’s Bottle Bill Feb. 12, which would set up a collection and reimbursement system for plastic bottles, alongside a bill that would establish minimum recycled content requirements for some plastic products. Both are designed to increase the frequency and reliability of recycling programs and behaviors around the country.

“We’re trying to show the rest of the country an opportunity to take the Oregon Way nationwide,” Wyden said.

Since the early 1970s, Oregon law has required some glass, plastic and metal cans and bottles sold in the state be returnable with a minimum refund value, now 10 cents. In 2018, Oregon recycled 90% of items covered by the Oregon Bottle Bill, according to the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative.

The law works like this: a distributor charges a 10-cent deposit on delivery of items covered by the bill; the store then charges a 10-cent deposit when it sells those items; a customer gets 10 cents from the store or a BottleDrop redemption center when returning the container; the distributor then pays 10 cents per container to the store or redemption center when empty containers are returned to them.

The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020 would require large corporations to design, manage and finance waste and recycling programs; establish minimum recycled content requirements for beverage containers, packaging and food-service products; and standardize recycling and composting labeling. -Adam Duvernay, The Register-Guard, Feb. 16, 2020. To read the full story, visit http://www.registerguard.com/news/20200216