COURTESY  :  ecology.wa.gov

Development of recycled materials

Recycling in Washington State is a growing concern, and in April 2019, the Washington State
Legislature passed House Bill 1543 to create a Recycling Development Center (Center) in the
state. The Center is housed within the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) in
partnership with the Department of Commerce (Commerce) and is mandated by law to provide
or facilitate research and development, marketing, and policy analysis to bolster recycling
markets and processing in Washington. This law’s passage comes at a time when recyclers
increasingly struggle to find markets for recycled materials in the face of rising contamination
standards, volatile international markets, and dwindling local buyers.
In December 2018, Ecology contracted with the University of Washington’s Evans School of
Public Policy and Governance Student Consulting Lab to prepare for the new Recycling
Development Center in Washington. This study used interviews and case studies to answer the
question: What are the most effective approaches that the Washington Recycling
Development Center can take to reduce overall waste and increase recycling rates
in response to changing markets and China’s National Sword policy? This report has
six chapters that are organized as follows:
● In Chapter Two: Background and Review of Literature, we provide context for changing
recycling markets, review the regulatory context, and explore the literature on recyclable
materials, recycling market trends, and financial opportunities in Washington State.
● In Chapter Three: Research Methodology, we provide an overview of our research
process.
● In Chapter Four: Findings, we present the results of the case studies and interviews with
industry professionals.
● In Chapter Five: Recommendations and Work Plan, we provide recommendations for
the Recycling Development Center, as well as a work plan for the first two years of the
Center.
● In Chapter Six: Conclusion, we provide a brief conclusion of the purpose and outcome of
the report.
● In the Appendices, we include a list of interviewees, a case study matrix, a regulatory list,
a life-cycle energy analysis comparing virgin inputs to recycled inputs, and an interview
findings matrix.
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Chapter Two: Background and Review of Literature
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2.1 China National Sword
Washington first required recycling in 1989 with the Waste Not Washington Act, and by 1991, 85
percent of Washington residents had access to curbside recycling.
1 As a western state with
proximity to the Pacific Rim markets, Washington had access to growing markets for these
recycled materials. Recycling companies became heavily reliant on exporting the materials they
collected through recycling programs to Asian countries, mainly China. International cargo
companies who shipped Chinese-produced goods to the United States offered low shipping costs
to American recyclers in cargo containers that would otherwise return empty. In 2016,
Washington State recycling companies shipped 790,000 metric tons of materials to China
through the ports of Seattle and Tacoma.
2
However, contamination of bales sent overseas had been a major problem for decades.
Contamination occurs when a non-recyclable material, or the incorrect recyclable material, ends
up in a bale of recyclable materials; food is a common contaminant, as are broken glass and
plastic bags. Contamination is a serious issue and can reduce efficiency and lower the value of the
bale significantly. But because bales of recycled materials were low-cost to send overseas, and
because recycled materials were in such high demand, few restrictions were placed on
contamination levels until recently.
In 2017, China announced its National Sword Policy, which banned the import of 24 types of
recycled commodities and limited the amount of contamination on other materials to below 0.5
percent.
3 Since the typical contamination level for recycling falls between three and five percent,
the policy effectively bans the importation of these materials from the current U.S. recycling
processing system.
4 This policy became effective in early 2018 and was expanded to include an
additional 32 materials in April 2018.
5
As a result, recyclers in Washington State have had to ask for permission to landfill materials,
6
cities have suspended their recycling programs,
7 municipalities have restricted the types of
materials they will accept,
8 and rates have had to rise as materials that formently generated
revenue now cost haulers and processors money.
9 While some recyclers have found markets in
other Southeast Asian countries, this does not offer a long-term solution, since these countries
are also beginning to increase restrictions of scrap imports.
10 With a large amount of collected
material from its recycling programs, Washington State faces an issue of how to divert this waste
from the landfill to appropriate markets.
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2.2 Regulatory Context
The new Recycling Development Center does not exist in a vacuum; it will need to adhere to
Washington State’s existing regulatory framework. The Recommendations in Chapter Five were
developed with this framework in mind to determine which recommendations are politically and
legally feasible and which policies could be translated into tools to advance the Center’s purpose
to reduce waste and increase material recovery. The state’s solid waste policy is defined by several
legislative bills that have passed since 1969.
Most recently, the Washington State Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 1543
11—an act relating to
sustainable recycling in 2019. HB 1543 amends sections of chapter 70.95 RCW, chapter 70.93
RCW, and adds a new chapter to Title 70 RCW. The bill states the value of recycling and waste
reduction and stresses the importance of recycling commodity markets in response to strict
international regulations. HB 1543 also creates the Recycling Development Center within
Ecology. According to the bill:
“The purpose of the center is to provide or facilitate basic and applied research and
development, marketing, and policy analysis in furthering the development of markets
and processing for recycled commodities and products. As used in this chapter, market
development consists of public and private activities that are used to overcome
impediments preventing full and productive use of secondary materials diverted from the
waste stream and that encourage and expand use of those materials and subsequent
products. In fulfilling this mission, the center must initially direct its services to
businesses that transform or remanufacture waste materials into usable or marketable
materials or products for use rather than disposal.”
12
The new law also outlines a number of activities pertaining to the above purpose, and mandates
an advisory board to advise the Center. In parallel with the work of the Center, the bill mandates
contamination and reduction plans in any comprehensive waste management plan by July 1,
2021.
2.2.1 Overview of Revised Code of Washington
Solid waste planning in the State of Washington is regulated by the Revised Code of
Washington (RCW), and specifically chapter 70.95 RCW Solid Waste
Management—Reduction and Recycling.
13 The last major guideline revision of 70.95 was in
1999; relevant changes since then include permit exemptions regarding beneficial use (RCW
70.95.305) and the transport and handling of recyclable materials (RCW 70.95.400-440).
Local governments prepare comprehensive solid waste management plans, and Ecology is
responsible for the review and approval of these plans (RCW 70.95.094). For a list of the most
pertinent sections of chapter 70.95 RCW, see Appendix 3.
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2.2.2 Department of Ecology Responsibility
Ecology is responsible for providing technical assistance, such as planning guidelines, to cities
to help them prepare, review, and revise their waste management plans and information
related to unique local recycling and reduction plans (RCW 70.95.100).
14 Ecology is also
responsible for developing a comprehensive public education program to encourage waste
reduction, source separation, and recycling as well as operating a toll-free public information
hotline.
According to RCW 70.95.263, Ecology is also responsible for developing a statewide
comprehensive waste management plan in coordination with other state departments.
15
Ecology is authorized by RCW 70.95.268 to disburse funds to local governments to help them
develop solid waste recovery or recycling projects.
16 Finally, RCW 70.95.280 through RCW
70.95.295 mandate Ecology to develop best practices for solid waste management, including
waste reduction and recycling, through waste stream evaluations and analyses, and to
incorporate findings into the state’s comprehensive plan.
17
2.2.4 Comprehensive Waste Management Plans
Local counties and cities are required by RCW 70.95.110 to adopt comprehensive waste
management plans.
18 According to the RCW 70.95.080, the purpose of the comprehensive
plans is “to plan for solid waste and materials reduction, collection, and handling and
management services and programs throughout the state, as designed to meet the unique
needs of each county and city in the state.”
19 RCW 70.95.090 defines the required contents of
these waste management plans.
20
Importantly, the requirements include the creation of a
comprehensive waste reduction and recycling program. We explore this further in 2.2.6
Recyclable Materials below. The plans may span more than one county and must be created in
cooperation with the cities located within the county (RCW 70.95.080).
21
The State of Washington also has a comprehensive waste management plan, called the Beyond
Waste and Toxics plan,
22 spanning a 20-year horizon. As stated previously, Ecology is
responsible for developing the plan. Components of the plan include data management,
materials evaluations, market identification, strategies for incentives, and technical assistance
for local jurisdictions. Importantly, the plan also includes research and data to develop solid
waste recovery and recycling projects throughout the state (RCW 70.95.260 and RCW
70.95.263).
2.2.5 Waste Handling and Rates
The state defines solid waste handling as “the management, storage, collection, transportation,
treatment, utilization, processing, and final disposal of solid wastes, including the recovery
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and recycling of materials from solid wastes, the recovery of energy resources from solid
wastes or the conversion of the energy in solid wastes to more useful forms or combinations
thereof” (RCW 70.95.030).
According to RCW 35.21.120, a municipality establishes the system(s) of solid waste handling
in its jurisdiction. The handling may be through the city itself or can be contracted out to
private firms. This section of the RCW also outlines fees a city must pay a private contractor.
State regulations allow several ways for waste collection to be handled in municipalities.
23
Municipalities may provide all collection and billing services, or work with private haulers to
delegate some or all of the collection and billing services. If a municipality does not provide
collection service or contract for such service, the Washington Utilities and Transportation
Commission (WUTC) sets the service area and rates (RCW 35.02.160). Unincorporated areas
in counties (RCW 36.58 RCW; RCW 81.77) must use the WUTC Franchise service providers.
In 2005, an amendment to RCW 70.95 passed that required transporter registration and
recycling facilities notification with penalties for noncompliance. This amendment ensures
that recyclable materials from commercial and industrial facilities are transported to MRFs or
companies that reuse recyclable materials, and not to disposal facilities or landfills.
2.2.6 Recyclable Materials
RCW 70.95.030 defines recyclable materials as “those solid wastes that are separated for
recycling or reuse, such as papers, metals, and glass, that are identified as recyclable material
pursuant to a local comprehensive solid waste plan.” Conversely, solid waste(s) is defined in
the chapter as “putrescible and non-putrescible solid and semi-solid wastes including, but not
limited to, garbage, rubbish, ashes, industrial wastes, swill, sewage sludge, demolition and
construction wastes, abandoned vehicles or parts thereof, and recyclable materials.”
24
Per the required county and city comprehensive waste management plans, jurisdictions are
required to include waste reduction and recycling plans that “reduce the amount of waste
generated, provide incentives and mechanisms for source separation, and establish recycling
opportunities for the source separated waste.”
25 The recycling program should be supported by
data, such as existing recyclable markets, waste generation trends, and waste composition; a
description of existing programs and program needs; and an implementation schedule for
designated recyclable materials.