• Policy Category: Aquatic Litter, Healthy Rivers
• State: Oregon
• Date Implemented: 01/01/2022

01/01/2022, with additional dates for rolling out statewide program

The legislation develops a program to reduce aquatic litter by holding producers of packaging and products accountable for product lifecycle management, enhancing recycling, educating the public on litter impacts, restricting single-use plastics, and funding clean-up efforts in waterways and coastal areas.

Key language: Section 46. j: “Producers of materials sold or distributed in Oregon, regardless of their location, are responsible for creating and implementing appropriate actions that ensure their products and packaging designs consistently reduce negative environmental, health and social burdens across the life cycle of their products and packaging. Such actions include incorporating sustainably extracted raw materials, implementing sustainable manufacturing best practices
that are more resource-efficient and less environmentally harmful and toxic, minimizing the generation of waste and release of pollution and sharing in the responibility for appropriate
management of discarded materials at the end of their useful life.”

• Action Agency(ies): Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
• Read the full policy language

Additional Resources

• Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's webpage on the Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act has many resources, including ways the public can be engaged in shaping the plan, rulemaking, and implementation milestones.
• Oregon's Environmental Quality Commisison adopted two rules to clarify and implement the Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act of 2021. This is the first one (Administrative Order No DEQ-18-2023)