With global production projected to triple in the next 25 years, California is attempting something no state has done before: requiring producers to dramatically reduce plastic packaging and take responsibility for the waste they create.
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.