RCW 70A.208.190 — Education and outreach.

1. (1) A producer responsibility organization must develop and maintain a public website that uses best practices for accessibility and contains, at a minimum:

   1. (a) Information regarding a process that members of the public may use to contact the producer responsibility organization with questions;
   2. (b) A directory of all service providers operating under the plan administered by the producer responsibility organization, grouped by location or government entity;
   3. (c) Registration materials submitted to the department;
   4. (d) The draft and approved plan and any draft and approved amendments;
   5. (e) The list of exempt materials under this chapter;
   6. (f) Current and all past needs assessments;
   7. (g) Annual reports submitted to the department by the producer responsibility organization;
   8. (h) A link to administrative rules implementing this chapter;
   9. (i) Comments of the advisory council on the documents listed in (d) and (f) of this subsection and the responses of the producer responsibility organization to those comments;
   10. (j) A list, updated at least monthly, of all member producers that will operate under the plan administered by the producer responsibility organization and, for each producer, a list of all brands of the producer's covered materials; and
   11. (k) Education materials on waste reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and composting for producers and the general public.

2. (2) A producer responsibility organization must implement education and outreach activities that are conceptually, linguistically, and culturally tailored to effectively reach diverse residents and include culturally responsive materials and methods that rely on evidence-based practices, are accessible, clear, and support the achievement of the performance targets, including by developing and providing educational materials, resources, and campaigns that encourage and support recycling, composting, and reuse behaviors by residents and visitors. Activities must:

   1. (a) Assist producers in improving product labels as a means of informing consumers about refill, reuse, recycling, composting, and other environmentally sound methods of managing covered materials;
   2. (b) Increase public awareness of how to use and manage covered materials in an environmentally sound manner and how to access waste reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and composting services;
   3. (c) Encourage behavior change to increase participation in waste reduction, refill, reuse, recycling, and composting programs including by considering motivational structures for recycling and reuse by engaging local communities in the design and implementation of programs and developing community-led solutions that are tailored to their specific cultural practices and waste generation patterns;
   4. (d) Reduce resident confusion regarding the appropriate solid waste collection container or end-of-life management option for each type of covered material; and
   5. (e) Develop and provide education and outreach materials that are able to be used by retail establishments, collectors, government entities, service providers, schools, institutions, youth organizations, and nonprofit organizations. Outreach materials must be accessible in multiple languages and culturally appropriate formats including by reaching non-English-speaking communities and by using a variety of tailored media and behavior change strategies.
3. (3) A producer responsibility organization must coordinate with registered service providers and any government entities that choose to participate in carrying out education and outreach consistent with the plan.

[ 2025 c 316 s 119.]