National Stewardship Action Council Applauds Washington’s Passage of EPR for Packaging, Stands Ready to Support Implementation

The national nonprofit urged Gov. Ferguson to sign and credits its board and engaged membership for helping deliver this landmark policy victory

OLYMPIA, Wash. (May 17, 2025) — The National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC) applauds Gov. Bob Ferguson for signing Washington State’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Packaging bill into law—making Washington the seventh U.S. state to adopt a comprehensive EPR policy that ensures producers fund and manage the recycling of their packaging and paper products.

The new law establishes a producer-funded system designed to reduce environmental and climate impacts, raise recycling rates, and improve equity in access to recycling services across Washington—all without placing new burdens on taxpayers, rate payers, or local governments.

“We are excited to see EPR for packaging become law in the seventh U.S. state,” said Heidi Sanborn, Executive Director of NSAC. “It holds producers financially responsible for the packaging they choose to put into the marketplace which ensures the costs previously externalized onto the environment and public sector is internalized which drives greener design, while supporting Washington’s climate goals and creating a more equitable and efficient recycling system.”

“This is the kind of smart, upstream policy we need to build a circular economy—state by state, with national momentum growing,” Sanborn said. “We especially recognize the significant contributions of NSAC Board Member David Stitzhal and our incredible members in Washington. Their leadership, partnership, and persistence were critical in getting this policy across the finish line.”

NSAC also applauds the law’s strong emphasis on equitable education, and outreach—ensuring that historically underserved and rural communities have access to recycling services and a voice in the program’s development.

Under the new law, producers will be required to meet performance targets, incorporate more post-consumer recycled content, and improve transparency and data reporting across the packaging value chain. The policy is part of a national movement toward producer-funded systems that are more supportive of the free market instead of socializing waste management costs, more accountable, and better for the environment.

NSAC submitted a letter urging Governor Ferguson’s signature, and activated its national network to help build momentum for this landmark legislation.

Membership in NSAC makes this work possible. As a member-supported nonprofit, NSAC relies on contributions from companies, organizations, and individuals committed to advancing smart policy and holding producers accountable for the materials they place on the market.

NSAC Board Member David Stitzhal joins other who have advocated for EPR for packaging in Washington state as the bill is signed into law on May 17, 2025

About the National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC)

The National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that advocates and provides consulting services to advance a responsible, circular economy—anywhere in the U.S. and at any level of government. NSAC has been instrumental in the passage of several first-in-the-nation laws, including SB 212 (Extended Producer Responsibility for medicines and sharps) in 2018, SB 54 (California’s packaging EPR law) in 2022, and played a role in supporting the passage of Washington’s EPR for Packaging law in 2025. Learn more at www.nsaction.us.