Comments

2

@1 What you say is true, but its also besides the point. Where the cost is formally incurred matters in the structuring of incentives. This will provide manufacturers with an incentive to simplify their packaging which does not currently exist. That, in turn, will reduce the total burden of packaging on the economy.

3

A Seattleite with a Starbucks cup- or almost anything - standing in front of the 'Trash- Compost-Recycle' bins is the very definition of a nervous breakdown!

4

Paper, cardboard, glass and plastic go in the recycle bin. Everything else goes in the trash. That's as complicated as the American public will accept.

5

But if we did this, then we might use glass for milk bottles and liquids, paper bags instead of plastic, and wax paper instead of plastic.

Think of the millions of lives destroyed by petrochemicals that might be saved!

What would we do then? A healthier, more sustainable economy, not held hostage by Petro Terror nations in the Middle East and Russia ... the horrors!

6

@4:

You forgot aluminum cans and uncrumpled sheet foil.

And not all paper, cardboard or plastic can be recycled. For example, contaminated paper or cardboard food containers and shredded or small pieces of paper (generally less than 2 inches square) need to go into the compost as they'll clog up recycling sorting equipment. Likewise, plastic soda six-pack rings go into the trash (but, cut through all the openings first, so birds won't get caught in them), as do clear plastic blister packs, and bread and grocery bags (although some stores will still accept them, so long as they're clean and dry.)

https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/your-services/collection-and-disposal/where-does-it-go#/a-z

7

@1 this is right on and something else to consider. What type of food is usually put in this crappy packaging? It’s not stuff from Whole Foods. It’s the junky, inexpensive food usually purchased by guess who? Lower income people. I agree with #1 but realize this probably translates to a hidden regressive tax that will be borne by lower income communities much like soda tax.

8

Oh FFS! I love sorting recycling. Long been a fan of taking it to the distribution center myself. You just need enough intelligence to read the "1" on the plastic, then find the corresponding number on the bin where you toss it. Same with "2", same with "5" and so on. There are even pictures on the bins to help you - at least in Tacoma.

But I guess what I've long believed is true: our collective IQ is going down. Way down to the point where matching digits is just too hard. So very, very hard. Especially for women and minorities - always hit the hardest no matter what.

9

I'm with Heather Trim on passing SB 5697. Let's do it.

@8: "But I guess what I've long believed is true: our collective IQ is going down. Way down to the point where matching digits is just too hard. So very, very hard. Especially for women and minorities--always hit the hardest no matter what".
Spoken like a true racist misogynist MAGA troll. Overgeneralize much?
Maybe next time you take out the trash, climb into the bin and wait for the garbage truck.

11

Sure, I'm in favor of anything that will increase recycling. But why not start with something simpler that would have much more immediate impact -- namely, a deposit-driven returnable container law such as the one Oregon has had for, like, 50 years now? For some reason that never seems to be up for discussion in Washington, even among the bluest Democrats. Enabling the homeless to collect bottles and cans from the streets and sidewalks for a quarter each would be a huge win for everyone. Is the beverage lobby that all-powerful here that we can't even consider it? If so, why are we talking about this new recycling bill?

12

@9 - busted! I never did like other women very much....

13

[[ A study in Oregon found that the impact to consumers was, on average, $0.0056 per item — that is, half a penny. (And some items were actually cheaper.) ]]

Yes, that's what 'on average' means.

14

Remember when we had all the colored bins for the different kinds of recycling? Weren't they yellow and green or something?

CKathes dear, when I was growing up in Iowa back in the bronze age, bottles had a ten cent deposit, and then they enacted a nickel deposit on cans. Almost overnight, the park near our house had a marked reduction in the amount of garbage people left there.

17

Not sure how relevant this is, but here in Pierce County I was behind a Waste Connections garbage truck last week. It was collecting/dumping not only garbage bins but also the (mixed) recycling bins into the garbage truck.

So it would appear that Waste Connections is misrepresenting their service - - everything is ending up dumped as garbage anyway.


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