Broad support for a new law signed by Gov. Jay Inslee adopts the nation’s most comprehensive plastics ban and recycling revamp
No ketchup packets, please: The law signed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee requires requesting that array of condiments usually included in your takeout bag. Photo courtesy of Office of Governor Jay Inslee
By Jordan Rane, May 18, 2021. A sweeping plastics and recycling bill signed into law in Washington this week aims to put stray bottles, styrofoam packing peanuts and other forms of environmental kryptonite on the endangered list.
Signed on May 17 by Gov. Jay Inslee with wide bipartisan support, the law (SB 5022) leads off with the country’s toughest ban on expanded polystyrene products. It’s been praised by environmental organizations and industry trade groups, and championed by the bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Mona Das (D-Kent) as “the most advanced in the nation.”
Becoming the sixth state to adopt restrictions on polystyrene, Washington now becomes the first state to outright ban foam coolers, foam packing peanuts and food service products such as hinged clamshells, plates and cups.
Single-use foodware, such as plastic utensils, straws and cup lids, as well as that automatic confetti of condiments included in your takeout bag, are also on the hit list with the nation’s first and only comprehensive opt-in requirement for such items. In other words, don’t blame the Door Dash guy about a missing spoon or ketchup packet if you didn’t specifically request them. The usual toss-ins are no longer there just for good wasteful measure.
Washington also becomes the second state with recycled-content requirement laws for plastic beverage containers and trash bags—enforcing more stringent recycling standards than its predecessor, California.
Supported by a disparate range of nonprofits and business organizations—from Oceana and the Surfrider Foundation to the Washington Beverage Association—the new law has drawn widespread praise as a means of reducing waste while improving markets for recycled material in an apparent across-the-aisle win-win as welcome as it is rare.
Jordan Rane is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in CNN.com, Outside, Men’s Journal and the Los Angeles Times.
