California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed another batch of relevant waste and recycling laws this week. These bills update hauler franchise labor rules, carpet recycling regulations, bottle bill fees and food waste prevention efforts.
Force majeure provisions in hauler franchise agreements
Union-backed SB 1371, signed by Newsom on Monday, makes changes to solid waste labor strike rules and force majeure provisions. The bill was unpopular with major waste companies.
Starting Jan. 1, 2027, the law will prohibit a city or county from entering into or updating a solid waste hauling agreement if a labor dispute would excuse the hauler from carrying out its duties. The law will also void any existing force majeure provisions from such contracts if that provision is meant to be used due to a work stoppage from a labor strike.
Force majeure clauses typically cover “acts of God” that prevent haulers from providing services, such as extreme weather. SB 1371 clarifies that “lawful labor disputes are not ‘acts of God’ and should not automatically relieve companies of their contractual obligations to provide essential services,” according to an August bill analysis.
Supporters include Teamsters California and the California Federation of Labor Unions AFL-CIO. These labor groups say the bill holds haulers accountable for providing services and paying workers, instead of placing costs on municipalities. AFL-CIO said the practice of using force majeure during a labor strike was an “abusive tactic.”
"Waste workers have one of the toughest jobs in America. Their work is made even harder by greedy employers trying to take money out of their pockets," said Victor Mineros, co-chair of Teamsters California and director of the Teamsters Solid Waste and Recycling Division, in a statement.
WM, Recology, Republic Services, the Resource Recovery Coalition of California and Waste Connections all opposed SB 1371 in August, saying the bill did not provide enough flexibility and would raise costs both for local agencies and for customers.
Some chambers of commerce also opposed the bill, saying it could make trash service less reliable and lead to illegal dumping.
A version of the bill passed the legislature in 2023, but Newsom vetoed it, saying local jurisdictions already had the ability to negotiate amendments to contracts. Waste groups also opposed the 2023 version.
Force majeure clauses have been used during labor strikes in California’s past, including in 2021 during a Republic Services strike in Chula Vista that halted some waste collection services for about a month and shielded the company from liability, according to bill analysis.
Updating California’s carpet stewardship program
AB 904 makes numerous updates to California’s carpet stewardship program, including clarifying certain recycling rules and postconsumer content requirements.
The law sets a 5% of post-consumer recycled content requirement by 2028 and stipulates that at least 20% of all convention carpet content must be reused by 2028.
Starting Jan. 1, 2029, all carpet removed from a residence or business is required to be collected for recycling and transported to a recycling facility by the producer responsibility organization. The PRO must also offer free drop-off locations for postconsumer carpet.
Rugs are excluded from the carpet stewardship program, according to the update. That’s because rugs are covered under the state’s textile EPR law that was passed in 2024, according to an email from Carpet America Recovery Effort, which manages the state’s carpet stewardship program.
Other updates include adjusting how union apprenticeship programs are funded, setting requirements for a 14-member voting board and updating requirements for manufacturers to disclose certain chemicals used in carpets.
Adjusting bottle bill fees for bag-in-box containers
SB 1341 temporarily adjusts the processing fee for “bag in box” beverage containers under the state bottle bill to not more than 12 cents per container. These containers include formats like those used for boxed wine. The adjustments would sunset on Jan. 1, 2031.
CalRecycle sets a processing payment for each type of container by calculating the difference between the cost to recycle and the scrap value of the beverage container. Materials that are more recyclable and have higher scrap values have lower processing payments, according to a bill analysis.
Certain wine containers were added to the state’s bottle bill in 2024, including some bag-in-box options that include multilayered pouches and paperboard cartons. CalRecycle initially set an estimated processing fee for bag-in-box containers while it gathered recycling data to inform an updated processing fee.
Using the new data, CalRecycle set the 2026 processing fee for bag-in-box containers at more than 30 cents per container, which is 50 times the fee paid in 2025, according to the bill analysis. That raised concerns that it would negatively impact packaging manufacturers that hadn’t planned for such a steep increase, according to the bill analysis.
SB 1341 sets a 12-cent processing fee ceiling as a “middle ground” that aims to still pay recyclers for handling the containers while also “allowing wine manufacturers to remain solvent.” The fee sunset in 2031 is meant to prompt bag-in-box manufacturers to switch to “more recyclable alternatives.” TetraPak supported the bill.
Food donation tax credit extension
Gov. Newsom signed SB 881 on Sunday. It extends a tax credit from 2027 to 2032 for qualified agricultural donations, which some farmers use to cover harvesting and donating food that might otherwise go to waste. Farmers, growers and food producers receive a 15% tax credit for qualified food donations.
It also extends a separate emergency food tax contribution program that allows Californians to donate part of their tax refund to support food banks. The California Association of Food Banks and Californians Against Waste supported the bill.
“California grows more than enough food to feed its people, yet too much of that food goes to waste while families are continually struggling to put food on the table,” said Nick Lapis, director of advocacy at Californians Against Waste, in a statement.
