WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.919 Furiously? It's going fast and furious. Fast 00:00:02.919 --> 00:00:08.359 and furious. Fast. Fast and furious? So in this 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:11.880 fast and furious state that you're in at the 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:14.259 moment. I'm Vin Diesel in this situation is what 00:00:14.259 --> 00:00:16.420 I'm trying to. Without a doubt. Yeah, without 00:00:16.420 --> 00:00:20.629 a doubt. Without a doubt. Yeah. Welcome to County 00:00:20.629 --> 00:00:22.910 Connection, the official podcast of the Washington 00:00:22.910 --> 00:00:25.289 State Association of Counties, where we dive 00:00:25.289 --> 00:00:27.429 into the legislative issues shaping the future 00:00:27.429 --> 00:00:29.890 of our communities. From budgets to public safety, 00:00:30.070 --> 00:00:32.689 infrastructure to elections, we'll break down 00:00:32.689 --> 00:00:35.329 what's happening in Olympia and how it impacts 00:00:35.329 --> 00:00:37.950 counties from across the Evergreen State. Stay 00:00:37.950 --> 00:00:40.890 informed, stay engaged, and join us as we amplify 00:00:40.890 --> 00:00:46.880 the voice of Washington's 39 counties. Welcome 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:48.679 back, everybody, to the County Connection podcast. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:51.799 I'm Paul Jewell, your host and government relations 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:53.820 director for the Washington State Association 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:56.979 of Counties. We're still here in Olympia in the 00:00:56.979 --> 00:00:59.439 first week of the session. It's actually Friday. 00:00:59.539 --> 00:01:01.920 It's a beautiful day outside, but we're in the 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:05.019 studio and I've got Travis Dutton. Travis, how 00:01:05.019 --> 00:01:08.280 are things so far? You know, things are good. 00:01:08.939 --> 00:01:13.530 First week was intense. Covering some new topic 00:01:13.530 --> 00:01:15.829 areas and having to really make sure I understand 00:01:15.829 --> 00:01:17.730 the breadth of those topic areas. Yeah, you've 00:01:17.730 --> 00:01:19.290 got some stretch goals this year a little bit. 00:01:19.469 --> 00:01:21.209 Yeah, big stretch goals, both personally. I'd 00:01:21.209 --> 00:01:23.569 love to be more able to stretch and touch my 00:01:23.569 --> 00:01:25.329 toes and things like that, but also professionally. 00:01:25.650 --> 00:01:28.370 Yeah, the older we get. I'm always envious of 00:01:28.370 --> 00:01:31.129 the people at like 45 can touch their toes. Right? 00:01:31.170 --> 00:01:33.069 Yeah. Oh, you just tie your shoes that easily? 00:01:33.150 --> 00:01:35.849 Cool. Good for you. Yeah, I'm kind of like grown 00:01:35.849 --> 00:01:39.930 just to tie my shoes. Yeah. I just started asking 00:01:39.930 --> 00:01:43.390 strangers. Hey, while you're down there. Hey, 00:01:43.769 --> 00:01:46.430 kid, come here. Can you help a brother out over 00:01:46.430 --> 00:01:48.709 here? While you're tying your shoes, could you 00:01:48.709 --> 00:01:51.650 also get mine, please? That's good. Do the young 00:01:51.650 --> 00:01:54.010 people know how to tie, or are you instructing 00:01:54.010 --> 00:01:57.290 them simultaneously? I usually don't approach 00:01:57.290 --> 00:01:59.730 strangers. I usually don't approach young people 00:01:59.730 --> 00:02:01.930 to ask. That's not what you just told us, though. 00:02:02.189 --> 00:02:05.609 I said strangers. I approach strangers. Just 00:02:05.609 --> 00:02:07.989 strangers, not necessarily children. No, not 00:02:07.989 --> 00:02:10.050 necessarily. Oh, thank you. That's good to know. 00:02:10.169 --> 00:02:12.830 That's good to know. All right. Well, Travis, 00:02:13.069 --> 00:02:17.770 you are. covering some new areas for us this 00:02:17.770 --> 00:02:19.370 year. And I know we're going to have a chance 00:02:19.370 --> 00:02:21.830 to get into that this session, but we're going 00:02:21.830 --> 00:02:24.430 to go back to an old favorite and just really 00:02:24.430 --> 00:02:27.349 talk about a couple of bills in the solid waste 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:31.610 kind of arena that are important to the work 00:02:31.610 --> 00:02:34.030 that we're doing this year. I know that kind 00:02:34.030 --> 00:02:37.250 of EPR or product stewardship has been a theme. 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:40.659 geez, it feels like for the last, maybe almost 00:02:40.659 --> 00:02:43.000 the last decade in solid waste where legislation 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:46.120 is concerned. Are you still seeing that kind 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:49.360 of proposal coming forward this year? Yeah, we're 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.159 seeing a lot of similar types of proposals and 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:54.759 even some proposals that go back and potentially 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:59.250 fix or update bills that were passed. within 00:02:59.250 --> 00:03:01.550 the last 10 years or so. So some fixes or some 00:03:01.550 --> 00:03:03.210 adjustments based on what they've learned. Any 00:03:03.210 --> 00:03:06.469 shoe -related EPR bills just to keep on the theme 00:03:06.469 --> 00:03:08.729 of tying your shoes and that sort of thing? Or 00:03:08.729 --> 00:03:10.669 are they for other things? You know, that's a 00:03:10.669 --> 00:03:12.590 good question because one of the things we're 00:03:12.590 --> 00:03:15.090 going to talk about is a textiles bill. So I 00:03:15.090 --> 00:03:17.889 guess it is kind of shoe -related. Yeah. It doesn't 00:03:17.889 --> 00:03:20.189 specifically... I need to go through and understand 00:03:20.189 --> 00:03:22.289 if whether the material that shoes are made out 00:03:22.289 --> 00:03:24.669 of fall under this textiles bill. But I don't 00:03:24.669 --> 00:03:27.129 know. Nothing has come out specific to shoes 00:03:27.129 --> 00:03:31.919 or footwear. or boots, or anything that I've 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:33.740 seen so far. But I will do a little bit more 00:03:33.740 --> 00:03:35.460 digging into this textile bill and make sure 00:03:35.460 --> 00:03:39.639 that everybody's shoes are bound for the proper... 00:03:40.030 --> 00:03:42.750 End of life location. Sounds good. So just to 00:03:42.750 --> 00:03:45.189 remind the folks who are listening, a product 00:03:45.189 --> 00:03:47.330 stewardship program is one where the manufacturers 00:03:47.330 --> 00:03:52.509 are actually made responsible for the end of 00:03:52.509 --> 00:03:54.270 life management of the product that they produce. 00:03:54.409 --> 00:03:57.469 Right. So like last year, we had a big sweeping 00:03:57.469 --> 00:04:00.610 bill that's going to have major impacts in the 00:04:00.610 --> 00:04:02.370 next several years on our solid waste management 00:04:02.370 --> 00:04:04.569 systems. And that was for product packaging and 00:04:04.569 --> 00:04:08.159 for paper products. Right. And so. It puts the 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:11.159 onus on the manufacturers of any type of product 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:14.300 packaging out there, whether it's a can or a 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:17.579 cup or, you know, those plastic, what do they 00:04:17.579 --> 00:04:19.720 call those, blister packs or vacuum seal packs? 00:04:19.779 --> 00:04:22.360 Or clamshells. Yeah, those clamshells, boxes, 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:25.639 no matter what it is. The boxes your shoes come 00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:28.680 in. Exactly. Perfect. Yeah. Full circle, buddy. 00:04:28.779 --> 00:04:31.620 Nice job. Nice job. County connections. Yeah. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:36.920 Oh, wow. People online are groaning right now, 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:39.279 the people who are listening. But getting back 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:41.319 to the point, the manufacturers of those products 00:04:41.319 --> 00:04:44.120 in Washington State can be held responsible. 00:04:44.220 --> 00:04:47.860 They do that through what's called a PRO, right? 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:51.220 A Producer Responsibility Organization. And what 00:04:51.220 --> 00:04:54.560 does that organization do? So the Producer Responsibility 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:58.120 Organization is an independent nonprofit agency 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:00.180 that's funded by the producers, and their job 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:04.680 is to help. beef up the existing infrastructure 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:07.079 to make sure that there's enough places for people 00:05:07.079 --> 00:05:09.279 to take things from that packaging bill. It would 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:10.899 be largely the things that are going into your 00:05:10.899 --> 00:05:13.339 recycling bin, shoe boxes, et cetera. And good 00:05:13.339 --> 00:05:16.000 examples of that, like right now are the paint 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.519 stewardship program that was passed a few years 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:20.019 ago, right? We have stuff, we have programs for 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:22.959 electronics. We have programs for mercury containing 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:25.620 light bulbs. And in those cases, instead of throwing 00:05:25.620 --> 00:05:27.420 that stuff in the landfill, right? You take it 00:05:27.420 --> 00:05:30.500 to another location and they either dispose of 00:05:30.500 --> 00:05:35.569 it properly. Or they reuse it. Where paint's 00:05:35.569 --> 00:05:36.990 concerned, my understanding is they're planning 00:05:36.990 --> 00:05:39.769 to reuse as much of that as they can, whether 00:05:39.769 --> 00:05:42.790 they mix it into other colors or they just put 00:05:42.790 --> 00:05:45.790 surprise cans of paint. Or burn it for fuel, 00:05:45.930 --> 00:05:47.910 like repurposing. There you go. They call it 00:05:47.910 --> 00:05:50.350 higher and better use. It's better than dumping 00:05:50.350 --> 00:05:52.250 it in the landfill. And so they extract that 00:05:52.250 --> 00:05:54.810 heat, essentially, out of that product, burn 00:05:54.810 --> 00:05:57.230 it for fuel to produce electricity or some other 00:05:57.230 --> 00:06:00.889 fuel -based use. Yes. Where the product packaging 00:06:00.889 --> 00:06:03.649 and... products are concerned the idea there 00:06:03.649 --> 00:06:06.649 of course was to beef up our recycling by making 00:06:06.649 --> 00:06:09.009 these manufacturers responsible for end -of -life 00:06:09.009 --> 00:06:11.649 management they actually are required under state 00:06:11.649 --> 00:06:15.699 law to collect a certain amount of that which 00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:18.959 then either can be disposed of properly or recycled 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:21.860 into another product or for another use, right? 00:06:22.459 --> 00:06:25.339 And then the other benefit, of course, is if 00:06:25.339 --> 00:06:27.899 they produce less packaging, then there's less 00:06:27.899 --> 00:06:29.939 material for them to be responsible for. So it's 00:06:29.939 --> 00:06:33.660 kind of a two -pronged approach, right? So those 00:06:33.660 --> 00:06:36.480 are the different types of EPR programs that 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:38.639 already exist. What are we seeing this year as 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:40.879 far as new proposals? Well, I'm glad you brought 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:42.699 up paint care. That was a good segue statement 00:06:42.699 --> 00:06:44.000 right there. Well, Paul, I'm glad you brought 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:47.220 up paint care. Well, you know, we're big paint 00:06:47.220 --> 00:06:50.339 care fans here at the County Connection podcast. 00:06:50.779 --> 00:06:53.019 Our new sponsor today brought to you by paint 00:06:53.019 --> 00:06:56.100 care. That's not exactly true, but it is an important, 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:59.339 it's an important program. A lot of people don't 00:06:59.339 --> 00:07:01.360 know what to do with their paint. And until paint 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:03.879 care came along, you know, in some cases you'd 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:06.300 have, you'd walk into somebody's barn or somebody's 00:07:06.300 --> 00:07:08.839 shop and there'd be, geez, if they live there 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:11.660 30 years, there might be 30 cans of. A little, 00:07:11.740 --> 00:07:14.480 you know, parcel cans of paint just laying there 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:15.879 because they don't know what to do with them. 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:18.980 Yeah, I think I've we've we've I think we purchased 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:21.740 a house and it was obviously a used house. I 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:22.980 don't know if you probably don't call them used 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:25.180 houses. We just bought a house and it came with 00:07:25.180 --> 00:07:27.459 probably 10 gallons of. I'm sorry you had to 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:32.819 buy a used house. It was awful. It came with 00:07:32.819 --> 00:07:35.899 probably 10 gallons of paint that. were dried 00:07:35.899 --> 00:07:37.680 up and useless and we had to figure out what 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:39.379 to do with well yeah because you can't ever buy 00:07:39.379 --> 00:07:41.899 you know you you can't say i need exactly enough 00:07:41.899 --> 00:07:45.000 paint to roll the last roll or paint the last 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.399 you know little bit of this particular room you 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:49.139 got to buy it by the court by the gallon or by 00:07:49.139 --> 00:07:52.360 the five gallon bucket right so you know what's 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:54.980 left is what's left i've painted a lot of stuff 00:07:54.980 --> 00:07:57.540 in my life and i can't ever remember you know 00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:00.459 going oh perfect timing you know perfect amount 00:08:00.459 --> 00:08:02.720 right there's always some little bit left so 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:04.560 yeah it's not like like brownie batter where 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:06.939 you're just you know just right you get to scrape 00:08:06.939 --> 00:08:09.160 it all into the bowl and then lick the last spoon 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:11.439 and then you're it's all gone like yeah it's 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:13.500 not like making cookies or making brownies that's 00:08:13.500 --> 00:08:17.120 for sure at all so um but uh paint care the organization 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:20.740 that runs um the states Paint Product Stewardship 00:08:20.740 --> 00:08:24.399 Program has proposed a bill that will expand 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:26.800 the existing paint care program. So right now, 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:29.019 the paint care program is focused on architectural 00:08:29.019 --> 00:08:31.100 paint, which is what you talked about, the stuff 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:32.820 that goes inside your house, outside your house, 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:35.179 on your walls. So they call that architectural 00:08:35.179 --> 00:08:38.139 paint? They call it, yes. It's referred to as 00:08:38.139 --> 00:08:41.720 architectural paint. And so this year, the bill 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:44.639 on the table proposes expanding that to all paint 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:49.360 products. So that includes... Primarily the biggest 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:51.519 one that I think we're watching is just aerosols. 00:08:51.659 --> 00:08:54.080 So spray paint. So like a can of spray paint. 00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:58.679 Excuse me. But other paints like maybe, like 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:01.679 if I were a painter and I'm getting oil -based 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:03.360 acrylic paints or something like that and I had 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:05.980 extras that I didn't know what to do with or 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:08.059 wanted to dispose of, those would now be taken 00:09:08.059 --> 00:09:10.399 back by paint care as well? From what I understand, 00:09:10.460 --> 00:09:12.399 I need to do a little bit more digging into exactly 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:14.720 all the different types of paint. Like I don't 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:17.179 know if my little... acrylic art paints at home 00:09:17.179 --> 00:09:19.360 are going to be part of that program, but I need 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:23.419 to go through. But overall, it's going to expand 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:26.460 to include some of the paint products that come 00:09:26.460 --> 00:09:28.320 into our household hazardous waste facilities 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:31.240 in larger amounts, things that people need to 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:34.279 get rid of. Now, remind me, were stains part 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:39.360 of that as well originally? You can paint your 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:42.409 house, or if you've got... like cedar or something, 00:09:42.529 --> 00:09:44.809 you can stain it as well, and there's different 00:09:44.809 --> 00:09:47.289 types of wood stains. There's kind of the traditional 00:09:47.289 --> 00:09:49.529 ones, and then there's the colored ones that 00:09:49.529 --> 00:09:51.330 are water -based that kind of go on like paint. 00:09:51.429 --> 00:09:54.110 Are those included in the paint care program? 00:09:54.370 --> 00:09:55.549 You know, it's been a while since I've looked 00:09:55.549 --> 00:09:58.070 at the full list, and I haven't been in solid 00:09:58.070 --> 00:09:59.929 waste for a while, so I need to look at that. 00:09:59.990 --> 00:10:02.409 I honestly don't know where stains would fall 00:10:02.409 --> 00:10:04.509 into some of that. I seem to remember they were, 00:10:04.669 --> 00:10:06.850 but I thought just maybe for our listeners we 00:10:06.850 --> 00:10:08.669 could remind them. You are A, smarter than me, 00:10:08.710 --> 00:10:10.639 and B, have a much better memory than me. So 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:13.480 I would likely default this audience to your 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:16.720 statement, and I will just verify later. So that's 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:22.399 one that the solid waste managers will appreciate. 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:25.059 It's something that has the potential to take 00:10:25.059 --> 00:10:27.039 something that cost us quite a bit of money in 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:32.139 labor and materials to collect, sort, package 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:33.679 all of that. Well, it's a contaminant too in 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:35.679 landfills, right? It can be, yeah. And it can 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:40.879 be also a pollutant. it can be pretty toxic. 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:42.980 So if not handled properly, just like architectural 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:46.460 paint or the paint gallon jugs of paint, it can 00:10:46.460 --> 00:10:50.279 be a big environmental detriment if not disposed 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:54.179 of appropriately. So the paint care program is 00:10:54.179 --> 00:10:57.259 something that we like, and this expansion of 00:10:57.259 --> 00:11:00.179 the program is also something that we like. Yes. 00:11:00.179 --> 00:11:02.080 What was that bill number again? The bill number 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:05.669 on that is House Bill 2301. Okay. Great. Now, 00:11:05.730 --> 00:11:08.149 does it have a hearing coming up? It has a hearing 00:11:08.149 --> 00:11:10.610 coming up this next week. Okay. So we will be 00:11:10.610 --> 00:11:13.230 working with our solid waste folks. Paint Care 00:11:13.230 --> 00:11:15.769 has a hearing coming up on the 22nd of January. 00:11:16.029 --> 00:11:18.389 Okay. So next week on the 22nd. So if folks are 00:11:18.389 --> 00:11:20.690 interested, they can get online, find that bill, 00:11:20.850 --> 00:11:24.190 sign up for the hearing, and either testify or 00:11:24.190 --> 00:11:29.019 just sign in in support. Are there other EPR 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:32.019 programs being proposed this year? There are 00:11:32.019 --> 00:11:34.820 quite a few in discussion. We've only seen a 00:11:34.820 --> 00:11:36.399 couple of them come up. And one of the other 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:39.919 big ones that came up last year and that we were 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:43.759 fortunate enough to hear from the sponsor during 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:46.279 our conference in November is one around textiles, 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:48.620 so clothing and fabric materials. Okay, because 00:11:48.620 --> 00:11:50.120 you mentioned that one when we were making jokes 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:53.399 about shoes. Yes, yes. So textiles, of course, 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:55.769 you're talking about fabric, right? Yeah, we're 00:11:55.769 --> 00:11:59.649 talking about clothing, bedding, curtains, and 00:11:59.649 --> 00:12:03.370 then it's a very long list of what could be included. 00:12:03.690 --> 00:12:05.769 Okay, so really anything that's made out of textiles. 00:12:05.909 --> 00:12:11.990 Correct, yes. Okay, furniture? I assume if, I 00:12:11.990 --> 00:12:13.889 don't know if it's attached. I'll have to look 00:12:13.889 --> 00:12:15.850 into that because it's pretty structured, right? 00:12:15.870 --> 00:12:17.289 Yeah, you might have to strip that off first. 00:12:17.429 --> 00:12:19.149 Okay. Because another one that's, there's one 00:12:19.149 --> 00:12:21.710 on the table too that was introduced. There was 00:12:21.710 --> 00:12:23.309 another bill that was introduced last year around 00:12:23.309 --> 00:12:25.809 mattresses. Okay. And that is separate because 00:12:25.809 --> 00:12:27.850 it's so many different kinds of material all 00:12:27.850 --> 00:12:32.090 stuck together. Right. I don't know if the fabric 00:12:32.090 --> 00:12:34.470 that's attached to mattresses or furniture would 00:12:34.470 --> 00:12:36.330 be part of some other program or if they need 00:12:36.330 --> 00:12:38.909 to be pulled off and then put into this program. 00:12:39.009 --> 00:12:41.029 So why textiles? I mean, if you're going to – 00:12:41.029 --> 00:12:43.350 I can see mattresses, right? Mattresses are big 00:12:43.350 --> 00:12:45.129 and bulky. Oftentimes they've got springs in 00:12:45.129 --> 00:12:46.970 them or they've got material that can be recycled. 00:12:46.990 --> 00:12:49.250 And there are – mattress recyclers out there. 00:12:50.029 --> 00:12:53.029 You know, if you think about like removing the 00:12:53.029 --> 00:12:54.769 inner spring and melting that down and making 00:12:54.769 --> 00:12:57.830 new and different things like that, right? But 00:12:57.830 --> 00:13:00.529 textiles, I mean, fabric for clothes, fabric 00:13:00.529 --> 00:13:02.389 for, like you said, drapes and other things. 00:13:02.690 --> 00:13:05.610 Why is it important to get that stuff out of 00:13:05.610 --> 00:13:07.929 the waste stream? Why are they targeting that? 00:13:08.889 --> 00:13:13.750 It can be a very large impact on our solid waste 00:13:13.750 --> 00:13:16.980 programs. Even, you know, there's a couple of 00:13:16.980 --> 00:13:19.200 reasons that they're a big problem for counties. 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:23.399 One is people's optimism when recycling or wish 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:25.700 cycling, where they assume that whatever goes 00:13:25.700 --> 00:13:27.460 in the recycling bin, we will figure out what 00:13:27.460 --> 00:13:29.799 to do with and clothing gets in there. And it 00:13:29.799 --> 00:13:31.740 tangles up our machines. It gets in as contamination 00:13:31.740 --> 00:13:33.220 for other things. People put clothing in the 00:13:33.220 --> 00:13:35.820 recycling bin? We should just do a whole podcast 00:13:35.820 --> 00:13:38.440 on the things that people find in the recycling 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:40.740 bins when they process them. That's fascinating. 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:43.860 Every MRF operator, which is the facility where 00:13:43.860 --> 00:13:46.399 they sort recyclables, will tell you. and they 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:48.159 all almost use the same quote, and it's great, 00:13:48.299 --> 00:13:50.600 is that they could put together an entire car 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:52.960 based on what they've seen come through the recycling 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:58.080 center. Bowling balls? I would like to do that 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:00.059 podcast, I think. I think that would be an interesting 00:14:00.059 --> 00:14:02.100 one. Absolutely. I think we should. That would 00:14:02.100 --> 00:14:04.480 be a good one. Get a couple of those MRF operators 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.899 in here and say, okay, what's the craziest thing 00:14:06.899 --> 00:14:08.899 you ever saw come out of the machine? And then 00:14:08.899 --> 00:14:10.559 do a follow -up with wastewater treatment facility 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:13.019 operators. Oh, sure. That one might be a little 00:14:13.019 --> 00:14:14.700 gross. Oh, no, it's the best. We might have to 00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:17.460 put some more. labels on that one morning labels 00:14:17.460 --> 00:14:20.460 are good yeah but um no so uh the other piece 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:23.389 is that for there aren't a lot of consistent 00:14:23.389 --> 00:14:25.350 options to recycle them. There's lots of places 00:14:25.350 --> 00:14:27.529 to donate them. There are a lot of places where 00:14:27.529 --> 00:14:29.529 you can go. That's how you recycle clothes, right? 00:14:29.590 --> 00:14:33.049 They go to the Salvation Army. They go to a thrift 00:14:33.049 --> 00:14:34.750 shop like the Goodwill or somewhere else, or 00:14:34.750 --> 00:14:37.330 you just hand them down within your family or 00:14:37.330 --> 00:14:39.950 within your neighborhood. I mean, when we had 00:14:39.950 --> 00:14:41.990 our kids, right, we had lots of clothes left 00:14:41.990 --> 00:14:44.610 over because newborns grow so fast. They grow 00:14:44.610 --> 00:14:47.049 out of that stuff. And I'm pretty sure those 00:14:47.049 --> 00:14:49.269 clothes have been worn by about six or seven 00:14:49.269 --> 00:14:52.759 other children. until they just get kind of worn 00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:58.539 out. I mean, that's how you recycle textiles 00:14:58.539 --> 00:15:01.059 or clothing. Are people not doing that as much, 00:15:01.059 --> 00:15:07.259 or is there just too much volume out there? I 00:15:07.259 --> 00:15:09.399 think it's a combination of things. I think there's 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:11.500 a good amount of volume. There's a lot of clothing. 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:15.519 I mean, if you think about the prevalence of... 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:18.740 fast fashion, this idea of buying clothing at 00:15:18.740 --> 00:15:22.460 stores that sell cheap clothing that's only intended 00:15:22.460 --> 00:15:25.379 to last maybe a season or a couple of wears and 00:15:25.379 --> 00:15:28.019 start to fall apart, or they know that it's going 00:15:28.019 --> 00:15:30.100 to be out of style next year, so they know that 00:15:30.100 --> 00:15:31.919 they don't need to make it high quality. So there's 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:34.580 a, I think over the last... Well, and you wouldn't 00:15:34.580 --> 00:15:36.419 be caught dead wearing last year's pants, right? 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:39.049 I mean, come on. I mean, I don't know how you 00:15:39.049 --> 00:15:41.350 can be taken serious as a lobbyist in the Capitol 00:15:41.350 --> 00:15:44.230 here if you have last year's pants. I wear a 00:15:44.230 --> 00:15:46.230 new pair of pants every day. I'm not going to 00:15:46.230 --> 00:15:48.230 tell you how old some of the suits are that I 00:15:48.230 --> 00:15:50.230 wear, Travis. Well, and that's something too. 00:15:50.289 --> 00:15:53.490 I think it's a generational thing too. Like why 00:15:53.490 --> 00:15:55.789 old houses have smaller closets. They had less 00:15:55.789 --> 00:15:58.330 clothing and now we have walk -in closets. That's 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:01.830 true. So there's a growing increase in the amount 00:16:01.830 --> 00:16:03.850 of clothing that's available to people. There's 00:16:03.850 --> 00:16:06.830 an increase in the amount of... cheaply made, 00:16:06.870 --> 00:16:10.289 but affordable clothing. And I've also come to 00:16:10.289 --> 00:16:12.309 understand in some of the presentations and some 00:16:12.309 --> 00:16:15.230 of the meetings we've had that it's a small, 00:16:15.230 --> 00:16:17.950 small portion of the clothing that goes to some 00:16:17.950 --> 00:16:22.169 of those thrift stores that is resellable. Like 00:16:22.169 --> 00:16:24.490 a very small percentage, which means they either 00:16:24.490 --> 00:16:26.830 need to, you know, if it's soiled. So they end 00:16:26.830 --> 00:16:28.490 up throwing away a lot of what actually comes 00:16:28.490 --> 00:16:31.190 to them in the form of donations. Or they have 00:16:31.190 --> 00:16:33.370 to get rid of it to some international market. 00:16:33.470 --> 00:16:36.090 So we had a really great presentation from a 00:16:36.090 --> 00:16:42.029 foundation that shared that a lot of textiles 00:16:42.029 --> 00:16:44.929 that aren't marketable here get bundled and sent 00:16:44.929 --> 00:16:47.250 over to like Ghana, where they have these massive 00:16:47.250 --> 00:16:51.440 clothing. Repair and fix operations. They're 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:54.519 taking what's salvageable. They're making new 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:57.320 things out of it. They're cleaning it or selling 00:16:57.320 --> 00:16:59.039 it into markets where it'd be more appropriate. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:00.960 Don't tell me they're fixing it and then sending 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:03.480 it back as vintage and doubling the price. That 00:17:03.480 --> 00:17:05.740 would be brilliant because we absolutely like, 00:17:05.859 --> 00:17:09.460 yeah. Portland would eat that up. My kids are 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:13.759 crazy for older stuff. They go through my closet 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:15.279 constantly and they go, why don't you wear this 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:17.059 anymore? Why don't you wear that anymore? Can 00:17:17.059 --> 00:17:19.480 I have this? Can I have that? I finally gave 00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:21.819 my son my old leather jacket from when I was 00:17:21.819 --> 00:17:24.460 in my 20s and he's wearing it around town like 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:29.500 it's brand spanking new. And he loves it. Just 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:33.509 loves it. They just don't make them like they 00:17:33.509 --> 00:17:36.789 used to. I guess not. I guess not. So what does 00:17:36.789 --> 00:17:40.170 this mean for the consumer? Like a person like 00:17:40.170 --> 00:17:42.089 me or a person like you, we've got some clothes 00:17:42.089 --> 00:17:47.609 that maybe aren't suitable to donate. Maybe it's 00:17:47.609 --> 00:17:51.430 an old pair of work jeans or it's an old sweatshirt 00:17:51.430 --> 00:17:54.130 that's got paint all over it. Bringing it back 00:17:54.130 --> 00:17:57.529 to paint care now, maybe. But we use it as some 00:17:57.529 --> 00:18:01.569 sort of really used it, used it. It's time for 00:18:01.569 --> 00:18:04.930 it. What is that going to mean as far as disposing 00:18:04.930 --> 00:18:08.470 of that material? I think a lot of the actual 00:18:08.470 --> 00:18:10.849 technical or operational aspects of what this 00:18:10.849 --> 00:18:12.509 is going to look like is still kind of a mystery. 00:18:12.609 --> 00:18:15.089 But with the, like you mentioned, with the existence 00:18:15.089 --> 00:18:18.730 of so much take back infrastructure. you would 00:18:18.730 --> 00:18:21.269 hope that if I'm taking my good clothes to Goodwill, 00:18:21.390 --> 00:18:23.710 they're also, sorry, if I'm taking my good clothes 00:18:23.710 --> 00:18:26.829 back to a thrift store or someplace that's taking 00:18:26.829 --> 00:18:28.430 those used clothes and will sell what they can, 00:18:28.529 --> 00:18:31.809 that they will also have some type of place for 00:18:31.809 --> 00:18:33.869 me to drop off. Were you revealing our new sponsor, 00:18:34.029 --> 00:18:36.490 the Goodwill Corporation? I wasn't sure. I know 00:18:36.490 --> 00:18:38.109 I'm not allowed to say it when I testify, so 00:18:38.109 --> 00:18:39.990 I don't know if I should say it here. It's okay. 00:18:39.990 --> 00:18:42.630 I don't want to throw... They're not a sponsor. 00:18:43.230 --> 00:18:45.710 But I also don't want to throw them under the 00:18:45.710 --> 00:18:50.200 bus in a... I don't think anybody's going to 00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:54.500 be worried about that. So hopefully there will 00:18:54.500 --> 00:18:57.539 be, you know, using a lot of the existing infrastructure 00:18:57.539 --> 00:18:59.940 where people are already taking back their clothing. 00:19:00.980 --> 00:19:03.680 And it may not look like much to the consumer. 00:19:03.740 --> 00:19:07.160 It may all happen behind the curtain type of 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:10.490 thing as they're sorting through materials. Shipping 00:19:10.490 --> 00:19:12.609 them overseas to someplace where they might not 00:19:12.609 --> 00:19:15.470 be certain that it's going to be reused or recycled 00:19:15.470 --> 00:19:20.930 or repurposed. We may not see a lot of that. 00:19:21.809 --> 00:19:25.250 But I also expect to see new infrastructure potentially 00:19:25.250 --> 00:19:29.170 at our transfer stations or at retailers, wherever 00:19:29.170 --> 00:19:33.029 it makes sense for us to have these facilities 00:19:33.029 --> 00:19:37.009 to take back clothing. And then we'll send them 00:19:37.009 --> 00:19:39.670 to markets that can. That we can be sure are 00:19:39.670 --> 00:19:41.950 processing and aren't causing. We're not just 00:19:41.950 --> 00:19:44.210 shipping our problems someplace else. Okay. Okay. 00:19:44.430 --> 00:19:48.589 Well, I think people. Especially with what happened 00:19:48.589 --> 00:19:50.269 in the past with China's sword and some of those 00:19:50.269 --> 00:19:53.549 issues, that really woke people up to the realities 00:19:53.549 --> 00:19:56.269 of where some of their material was going that 00:19:56.269 --> 00:19:58.950 they thought was being recycled. Hopefully, we've 00:19:58.950 --> 00:20:01.450 learned the lesson of those days, and we're not 00:20:01.450 --> 00:20:03.650 going to repeat that with programs like these 00:20:03.650 --> 00:20:07.009 textile EPR programs, and they'll actually go 00:20:07.009 --> 00:20:10.309 to places that are processing them in an ethical 00:20:10.309 --> 00:20:12.990 way, reusing them if they can, and disposing 00:20:12.990 --> 00:20:15.690 of them properly so that they're not creating 00:20:15.690 --> 00:20:18.039 more. harm for the environment in another place 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:22.500 rather than just here. So I hope truly that we've 00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:25.359 learned our lesson in that regard. Now, one more 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:27.880 thing really quickly. Yeah, go ahead. You got 00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:29.019 something else you want to add? I wanted to make 00:20:29.019 --> 00:20:32.160 one more point on the clothing too. There's things 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:34.119 in the bill we still need to work on, but from 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:36.700 a beneficial standpoint, counties that have the 00:20:36.700 --> 00:20:39.339 resources or counties where it makes sense will 00:20:39.339 --> 00:20:44.400 have clothing swaps. Skagit County will hold 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:46.660 a clothing swap where you can bring clothes in 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:48.559 and take other clothes out. I've seen those and 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:50.759 they do like gear swaps too, right? For maybe 00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:52.599 ski equipment or golf equipment where people 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:56.099 maybe want to trade. Yeah. So those sorts of 00:20:56.099 --> 00:20:57.799 things are still going on. Those things go on. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:20:59.960 A lot of counties will host repair fairs where 00:20:59.960 --> 00:21:01.500 people can bring things to be fixed. And those 00:21:01.500 --> 00:21:03.740 are all things that take. time and money for 00:21:03.740 --> 00:21:05.519 counties that are above and beyond what they 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:06.619 like to do. These types of programs don't necessarily 00:21:06.619 --> 00:21:08.420 prevent that from happening. They don't prevent 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:11.119 that from happening, but they wouldn't require 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:13.779 a county to do things like this to create a market 00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:16.900 or a place for clothing to go. So it's something 00:21:16.900 --> 00:21:20.259 that potentially could take some of the cost 00:21:20.259 --> 00:21:22.980 and time and burden away from counties to do 00:21:22.980 --> 00:21:26.210 something more broadly. Okay. Travis, as you 00:21:26.210 --> 00:21:27.490 know, we're trying to keep these things kind 00:21:27.490 --> 00:21:32.009 of tight. So I want to be respectful of your 00:21:32.009 --> 00:21:35.309 time and the folks who are listening. But before 00:21:35.309 --> 00:21:39.190 we get out of here, from talking about EPR programs, 00:21:39.470 --> 00:21:42.690 I've heard the bottle deposit bill might be back 00:21:42.690 --> 00:21:45.549 this year. What? Is that a rumor or is there 00:21:45.549 --> 00:21:48.710 any truth there? I have not seen them released. 00:21:50.419 --> 00:21:53.460 Officially, but I have seen updated drafts. And 00:21:53.460 --> 00:21:56.079 yes, the bottle deposit bill is coming back with 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:57.859 a version in the Senate and the House, as far 00:21:57.859 --> 00:22:01.339 as I understand. Okay. The versions, I don't 00:22:01.339 --> 00:22:03.500 know how widely circulated the new versions are, 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:05.940 but I know that they're out there and that we're 00:22:05.940 --> 00:22:08.000 going to be taking a pretty close look at that. 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:11.220 Okay. And seeing how we can work with them. So 00:22:11.220 --> 00:22:13.299 maybe more on that later. More on that later. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:17.230 Probably maybe a three -parter. Oh, ooh. Wow, 00:22:17.289 --> 00:22:19.089 a three -parter. Wow. Well, that's a complicated 00:22:19.089 --> 00:22:22.130 bill. And just for folks' memory who are listening 00:22:22.130 --> 00:22:25.970 now, the bottle deposit bill or bottle deposit 00:22:25.970 --> 00:22:27.990 program we're talking about would be something 00:22:27.990 --> 00:22:30.990 similar to what you have in place in Oregon, 00:22:31.089 --> 00:22:32.950 our neighbor to the south, where you actually 00:22:32.950 --> 00:22:36.069 pay a deposit when you buy a beverage like a 00:22:36.069 --> 00:22:39.289 soda or bottled water or something like that. 00:22:39.309 --> 00:22:40.650 And then you have to take that. You have to keep 00:22:40.650 --> 00:22:44.160 that container, return it. And then you get that 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:46.839 container back. I'm sorry, you don't get the 00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:49.039 container back. You get your deposit back, whether 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.000 it was nickel or a dime or whatever it may be. 00:22:51.619 --> 00:22:54.420 And then you're also maybe going to be looking 00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:58.940 at mattress EPR again and then for vaping products. 00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:01.059 Is that right? Yeah, there's a couple of bills 00:23:01.059 --> 00:23:03.599 out there that have been introduced. One last 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:05.920 year for mattresses. Don't know what's happening 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:08.059 with that this year yet. And there was a new 00:23:08.059 --> 00:23:10.480 nicotine and tobacco products bill that includes 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:13.000 a study for what. to do with vape cartridges 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:15.380 and the batteries that are connected to the nicotine 00:23:15.380 --> 00:23:18.019 is a very difficult thing for counties and schools. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:20.319 So we're going to be looking at those pretty 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:23.000 closely. Oh, well, lots going on then in the 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:26.140 EPR arena. Solid waste is changing and we're 00:23:26.140 --> 00:23:29.680 right here giving the information as it develops. 00:23:29.819 --> 00:23:32.140 Thanks for joining us, Travis. Thanks for having 00:23:32.140 --> 00:23:33.839 me. It's been a while. I'm glad to be sitting 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:35.880 in this chair again. Yeah, I'm glad you are as 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:40.039 well. As we mentioned, you are pursuing some 00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:42.880 other policy areas for us this year, too, especially 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:46.539 around juvenile rehabilitation and some correction 00:23:46.539 --> 00:23:48.420 stuff. And we'll bring you back and we'll chat 00:23:48.420 --> 00:23:49.640 about that a little bit later. Does that sound 00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:51.140 good? That sounds great. I'm looking forward 00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:53.079 to that. Take care, Travis. Thank you, Paul. 00:23:56.480 --> 00:23:58.980 Thanks for tuning in to County Connection. Stay 00:23:58.980 --> 00:24:00.759 in the loop by subscribing to us through your 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:03.099 preferred podcasting app and following us on 00:24:03.099 --> 00:24:05.920 LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. 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