Negotiated version of recycling bills clear committees

Plus more leave for railroad workers, a stylistic shift and some beer money

Identical negotiated versions of that big recycling bill cleared the environment committees in both the House and Senate late last week, a sign of momentum for sweeping changes to how Washington handles its vast sea of poorly flattened cardboard and unrinsed beer cans.

House Bill 1131 and Senate Bill 5154 do two main things: First: They put the responsibility for recycling the packaging of stuff sold in Washington — a task currently carried out mostly by private garbage companies on the ratepayers’ dime — on the producers of that packaging. Second, the bills would impose a separate Oregon-style deposit system on most beverage containers. Consumers would pay a 10-cent deposit on each such container and get the money back if they return it for recycling.

Here’s why you should care about this. It’s a major overhaul of a significant business that touches pretty much every Washingtonian and a shift to a system in which the beverage drinkers of the state will essentially pay for the recycling of their bottles and cans.