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A new law in Oregon will update the state’s recycling systems to make recycling easier and more reliable, expand access to services and upgrade the facilities that sort recyclables. The Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act (Senate Bill 582), signed Aug. 6 by Gov. Kate Brown, will also ensure collected materials are recycled responsibly, and reduce social and environmental harms, such as plastic pollution. 

DEQ received PaintCare’s updated Oregon Program Plan for 2021-2025 for review and approval. The program plan describes how PaintCare will conduct a program for the collection, transportation, and end-of-life management of paint, including reuse and recycling. The plan also describes how PaintCare will provide other services such as registration of manufacturers, management of funds, and conduct of education and outreach about the program.

The Democratic-led Maine Legislature has endorsed a first-in-the-nation bill that would shift some recycling and waste disposal costs from local taxpayers to producers of hard-to-recycle packaging materials.

The bill, from Rep. Nicole Grohoski, D-Ellsworth, is backed by environmental interests and the cities and towns that would draw from a new fund to bolster recycling programs, but business groups argue that it will increase the costs of essential goods, including groceries.

A public hearing to consider additional amendments to the Plastic Pollution & Recycling Modernization Act (currently SB 582-1) has been scheduled for Thursday, April 8 at 1 pm.

A new paint recycling program beginning in the state of Washington allows households and businesses to recycle leftover paint, stain, and varnish conveniently and sustainably. The program is operated by PaintCare, a nonprofit organization created by the paint industry through the American Coatings Association (ACA) to manage leftover paint in states that have enacted paint stewardship laws. PaintCare will provide more than 200 drop-off sites across Washington, which include paint retail stores and locally managed government facilities.

The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) announced March 30 that the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) will pay the state of California $1,175,000 in penalties for its repeated failure from 2013 through 2016 to meet recycling and landfill diversion goals under California’s Carpet Product Stewardship Law. The settlement agreement follows a California Third District Court of Appeal ruling affirming administrative civil penalties against CARE, which is an organization that represents carpet manufacturers.

California legislators introduced a bill that creates a packaging stewardship organization and adds packaging fees paid by producers. The bill is the latest in a flurry of plastics-related legislative activity in the state.

“America’s Plastic Makers are helping lead the way toward ending plastic waste by investing, innovating, and driving policies that treat used plastics as a resource for making new products. One of the reasons plastics are so widely used in packaging is that they allow us to do more with less, which inherently reduces waste and carbon emissions, an increasingly important factor as we collectively work to address climate change.