SEATTLE — At a news conference hosted in the Seattle Aquarium Wednesday, state lawmakers Sen. Christine Rolfes and Rep. Liz Berry outlined their hopes for the "Washington Recycling and Packaging Act," or "WRAP," a program modeled in part after other states and countries aimed at reducing packaging and modernizing recycling.
According to lawmakers and their partners on the proposal, more than 50% of consumer paper and packaging statewide ends up in landfills and incinerators. WRAP aims to reduce needless packaging in the first place by requiring certain businesses to join a cooperative that would come up with ways to meet reduction benchmarks and cover some of the costs of recycling and recycling education.
Juanita High School senior Manya Gupta was at the event. Gupta says she participates in a small group that hosts clean-ups in a park nearby.
"I have never known a year where I knew what plastic was and didn't see it in my environment, streets or sidewalks," Gupta said. "Having to pick that up and not knowing, is this recycling? The fact that we have to ask that question every time we see something new is just not feasible for everybody."
Gupta is hopeful about the producer responsibility part of the bill, and a beverage container collection and re-use program.
When asked whether major corporations are on board with the program, lawmakers said that Seattle-based Amazon was "at the table" in discussions, but not yet making a formal endorsement and that they also had plans to meet with Starbucks.