California Launches Sweeping Rules Aimed at Cutting Plastic Packaging Waste

Regulations are now rolling out to make manufacturers responsible for reducing the amount of plastic they use, recycling currently single-use plastic and ensuring that all of their packaging is recyclable or compostable by 2032.

The regulations, spurred by a state law signed in 2022, also require producers to pay into a fund to help clean up plastic pollution and restore ecosystems, focusing on low-income communities and rural areas.

“The producers of a material should be responsible for the end-of-life costs to manage that material, not the local communities who pay for waste management and recycling,” state Sen. Ben Allen, the bill’s author, said while advocating for SB 54 on the floor of the Senate.

The SB 54 regulations approved last month will set step-by-step targets for packaging producers over the next several years: reduce single-use plastic 10% by 2027, 20% by 2030 and 25% by 2032; and recycle 30% of their single-use plastic by 2028; 40% by 2030 and 65% by 2032.

This week, producers were required to submit baseline data about how much plastic packaging they produce to California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or CalRecycle, which is administering the regulations.

“It’s bigger than anything we’ve ever done at CalRecycle,” said Zoe Heller, the department’s director. “Right now about 40% by volume of what we’re sending to landfill is packaging. This is an opportunity for us to reduce that material that’s being sold into the state in a very meaningful way.”

Some producers have warned that the regulations will increase food costs. While compliance will call for major investments and may increase the cost of packaged foods, a state analysis (PDF) indicated Californians would save money overall — at a rate of about $2.50 for every additional dollar spent — by bearing less cleanup costs and avoiding illness.

Many producers are working with the Circular Action Alliance, a nonprofit set up to help them comply with the law.

On a webinar hosted by the CAA, plastic producers asked questions about the finer details of how to accurately measure the amount of packaging in products and requested that the organization advocate for more time to comply with deadlines, which was denied.

“We can’t do anything about the implementation timelines,” said Shane Buckingham, chief of staff for the CAA.

Some environmental groups, meanwhile, have expressed concern with how the regulations were drawn up and announced Thursday they are suing CalRecycle in a San Francisco court, hoping to close workarounds.

“The regulations create giant loopholes that undermine the law’s recycling and plastic reduction goals,” said Avi Kar, senior attorney and senior director for toxics at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The law is meant to exclude types of plastic recycling that produce significant amounts of hazardous waste. But according to the NRDC, lots of the chemical plastic recycling that should be exempted is allowed as long as the producer has a permit from the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

“Right now, the regulations say as long as you have a permit, no matter how much hazardous waste you might produce, you’re okay under the regulations. And we think that’s inconsistent with the law,” Kar said.

NRDC joined Californians Against Waste Foundation and international advocacy coalition Oceana in filing the complaint on June 2.

The CAA has until June 15 to submit a plan to the state detailing how its members will comply with the regulations.