The California legislature crosses a key deadline Friday for bills to have a shot at becoming law in the second half of its session, which runs through Aug. 31. Multiple packaging-related bills cracking down on recycled content and compostable labeling advanced.
Recycled content claims
AB 2253 passed 42-19 and was ordered to the Senate. The bill effectively rejects alternative accounting for recycled content claims on packaging like mass balance. It would require written documentation that a recycled content claim on packaging is based on the actual physical recycled content used in production.
California law already requires that manufacturers or suppliers support these types of environmental marketing claims in plastic food containers. The bill would expand this to all products.
“AB 2253 helps ensure honesty and accountability in the marketplace while protecting consumers and supporting real sustainability efforts,” said Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, who sponsored the Protecting Consumers Against Greenwashing Act.
The California Product Stewardship Council, Californians Against Waste and other advocacy groups were among the supporters. “California has a chance to lead again by making recycled-content claims mean what people think they mean,” Nick Lapis, CAW’s director of advocacy, said in a statement.
The bill was also supported by recyclers such as Republic Services, PureCycle and the Ecology Center.
Opposition as of April included Ameripen, the American Beverage Association, American Chemistry Council, Glass Packaging Institute, Plastics Industry Association and others.
Compostables
AB 1812 received nearly unanimous support in the Assembly. The compostable labeling bill passed 64-1 and was ordered to the Senate.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, would prohibit the sale of “compostable” or “home compostable” products that are made entirely or partially of plastic come 2027.
Packaging groups have worried that such a move could limit solutions during a time when California is also trying to implement extended producer responsibility and source reduction law SB 54 and organics separation mandate SB 1383.
“At its core, AB 1812 treats all compostable polymers as inherently problematic rather than distinguishing between applications that create operational challenges and those that directly advance state environmental goals,” CAW previously said, wishing instead for legislation with tailored exemptions, potentially for food scrap bin liners, compostable coatings for paper foodservice ware, coffee pods or produce stickers.
The bill had support from many waste and recycling companies, including WM, Republic Services, Waste Connections, Recology and CR&R, among others. It was also backed by Agromin, the California Compost Coalition and multiple local entities. It was opposed by the Biodegradable Products Institute, Ameripen, ACC and a variety of packaging companies, as of April.
SB 1031 passed 29-9 and was ordered to the Assembly. It seeks to tighten labeling practices for compostables to better distinguish them from noncompostable products. The bill was amended to no longer address labeling for “compostable except in California.”
Sponsored by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, the bill also calls for further study of the potential health impacts of degraded compostable plastics and related chemical additives.
CAW and the California Compost Coalition supported the bill, but otherwise it had more than a dozen listed opponents, including BPI and multiple compostable packaging producers.
