I was thrilled to see the tip guide “Reuse, reduce, recycle for greener holiday season in Clark County,” about how Washingtonians can reduce waste given the sheer quantity of trash that moves through our homes around the holidays (The Columbian, Dec. 22). While we all need to do our part to reduce, reuse, and recycle properly, companies should also do their part to reduce, reuse, and make successful recycling possible for the packaging that they use for their products.
Even when we try our best, it can feel impossible to avoid single-use and nonrecyclable packaging. This influx of waste has resulted in a recycling system that can’t handle all these materials: only 5 percent of plastic in America is actually recycled, and more than 50 percent of paper and packaging from municipal recycling is landfilled or incinerated.
So long as Washington residents are the ones to bear the end-of-life costs of consumer products and packaging, companies will have little incentive to make changes. That’s why the Washington Legislature should prioritize passing the Washington Recycling and Packaging (WRAP) Act, which will establish a producer responsibility program for paper and packaging materials to make companies — the ones that actually make packaging decisions – financially responsible for the waste their products become. For me, this would be the best gift of all.
