ReWRAP Act’s recycle policy works well in B.C.

We can all agree that trash is a problem, whether it’s on the side of U.S. 2, in our beautiful forests, or even in Puget Sound. In fact, according to my mother (a retired ranger), Stevens Pass has a dedicated day to clean up trash at the end of the ski season. Even then, we can’t throw things in landfills forever. But at the same time, we already pay enough for recycling through taxes.

The solution, the ReWRAP Act, would shift the financial responsibility for recycling on big businesses. It wouldn’t affect small businesses earning less than $5 million or processing less than 1 ton of materials per year.

Plus, the impact on the everyday prices we pay would be negligible, based on studies in Canada, where this kind of policy is commonplace. Big international businesses are already used to accommodating these standards; they already do in the EU, several Canadian provinces, and four other states here in the U.S. In fact, they’d create local supply chains, creating 1,650 jobs and boosting our state’s economy by $207 million!

We know this policy works, since the recycling rate in British Columbia is almost twice our state’s. Of course, as the studies showed, it doesn’t impact the prices people pay for everyday things in B.C. For more information, please go to tinyurl.com/ReWRAPact.

Please contact your state legislators in Olympia. Ask them to vote for the ReWRAP Act so we can recycle more and pay fewer taxes.

Marisa Lammers

Monroe