Oregon Legislature passes bill to improve state recycling system

For decades, Oregonians and our environment have paid the price for plastic pollution. A new bill will shift some of that cost to the plastics producers.

On June 25, the Oregon Legislature passed SB 582 to update the state’s recycling system and require producers to cover some of the costs to manage the waste their products become. The bill now heads to Gov. Kate Brown’s desk for signing.

“This bill will lead to a lot of much-needed improvements to our recycling system,” said Environment Oregon State Director Celeste Meiffren-Swango. “But the reality is recycling is not going to fix all of our environmental challenges. It is simply not enough to have a place for our garbage to go — we need to focus on creating less garbage in the first place.”

Environment Oregon will continue calling for bans on the single-use plastic products that pollute our communities and environment and threaten wildlife.

Read more about the bill.

Learn more about our Wildlife Over Waste campaign.