Please pass HB 1607/SB 5502, the Recycling Refund Act in 2026!

Washington’s recycling system is letting us down. Only 30% of beverage containers – plastic, aluminum, or glass – are recycled today. Too much recyclable packaging ends up as litter and plastic pollution in Washington’s waterways, parks, and streets.

HB 1607/SB 5502 establishes a Recycling Refunds program where Washingtonians pay a 10-cent deposit when they purchase a drink in plastic, aluminum, or glass containers, and they receive a 10-cent refund when they return the container to be recycled or reused. Drop-off locations would be located throughout the state and would be funded by beverage companies, not taxpayers.

Research from other places that have similar programs – including Oregon and British Columbia- shows a recycling refunds program will increase recycling for these drink containers from 30% to 90%. This means a significant reduction in the waste we send to landfills and pollution to our waters. A recycling refunds program could reduce litter by more than 80%!

Across political parties and across the state, a recycling refunds program has overwhelming public support, and the more Washingtonians learn about it the more supportive they are. When Washingtonians learn about how the program works, statewide support grows from 67 to 75%.

Getting litter off the roads and out of waterways means helping the environment, protecting our waters, marine life, and food supply, as well as saving Washingtonians millions of dollars in litter clean up.