Needs assessments

Key dates

Preliminary needs assessment 

The preliminary assessment documents Washington's residential recycling and composting system. It provides an inventory of the infrastructure, services, and material flows that exist today. Its purpose is to establish a shared, evidence-based picture of what Washington's recycling system looks like right now, which the full needs assessment will then analyze and build upon. 

The preliminary assessment includes: 

• An overview of recycling and composting collection programs across Washington, including service types, coverage areas, service costs, and accepted materials.
• A description of existing infrastructure including processing capacity and tons managed by material recovery facilities (MRFs), composting facilities, transfer stations, and drop-off collection sites.
• A summary of the amounts and types of covered packaging and paper products introduced by producers in the state, alongside tonnages collected for recycling statewide.
• A review of how services are currently structured, including contractual arrangements between local governments, solid waste service providers, and processors.
• A description of available end markets for covered materials and the capacity of those markets.

Full needs assessment 

The full needs assessment serves as the foundation for designing an effective EPR program. Ecology will provide the results of both needs assessments to the producer responsibility organization (PRO) who must incorporate the findings of the needs assessments into the program plan.  

The full needs assessment includes: 

• A critical analysis of the existing recycling and composting system's capacity, performance, and structural limitations relative to the demands of a statewide EPR program.
• Recommended performance targets, including statewide recycling and composting rates, service coverage standards, and material-specific outcomes, that the EPR program must achieve.
• An assessment of gaps in collection, sorting, processing, and end markets that currently prevent Washington from meeting those targets.
• Identification of the investments, infrastructure improvements, and system changes the PRO will be required to make or fund in order to close those gaps and operate an effective program.
• A recommended methodology for calculating reimbursement rates to service providers, under which producers will cover most recycling system costs beginning in 2030.
• Recommendations on education, outreach, and community engagement approaches, with attention to equitable access and environmental justice.
• An evaluation of accountability mechanisms and the metrics by which program performance will be measured over time.

Request for information 

We issued a request for information (RFI) to collect technical information, datasets, and recommendations to inform development of statewide recycling and composting collection lists and required needs assessments.  

Input from service providers, producers, community organizations, end markets, and other interested parties was solicited to help us evaluate covered materials, understand current system performance and market conditions, and identify opportunities to improve Washington’s recycling and organics systems. The RFI was open from April 1 – May 8, 2025. 

Previous Research 

• Improving Recycling in Washington through Producer Responsibility Policy: Cost and Benefits. Northwest Product Stewardship Council, 2021 
• Washington Consumer Packaging and Paper Study: Recycling Rate Assessment and Recommendations – 2023 
• Washington Recycle, Reuse, and Source Reduction Target Study and Community Input Process – 2023