Letter to the Editor

Washington needs a producer-responsibility law

Posted

To the Editor:

Recently, and especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of the environmental issues have moved out of the 24-hour news cycle and out of the public consciousness.

One of those issues is that of plastic pollution, and despite what you might think, there are quite a few pieces of legislation attempting to tackle the problem in recent years.

Holding plastic makers accountable for the plastic they produce has long been an effort among environmentalists, but it also could be beneficial for our wallets and our garbage bins. By forcing the companies directly responsible for their waste, we gain back a huge amount of the money being put into constantly cleaning up our cities and biodiverse environments. This reduces the monetary strain on cities, recycling plants, and ultimately the community you live in.

Unfortunately, the interests of these plastic companies have overcome the interests of our communities. They don’t want to be held accountable, because that will affect their bottom line, and ultimately make them more open to future legislation that could deter them from making non-recyclable plastic.

This is why Washington State needs to pass a producer responsibility bill, just like many other states have.

          ~ Jackson Hoppis, Olympia 

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