With pressure mounting to address the state’s recycling crisis, California lawmakers are close to deciding on three far-reaching pieces of plastics legislation, including one that would phase out non-recyclable single-use packaging containers by 2030.
All three bills are potentially close to landing on the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom, but they face varying levels of opposition from plastics makers and consumer goods companies, some of which have mounted 11th-hour campaigns to kill or weaken the proposals.
California has been a trailblazer in banning single-use plastics bags and turning plastic straws into fast-food pariahs, but a sunset for single-use containers would thrust the state into new territory. So would a bill by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), which would require beverage containers to contain no less than 75% recycled plastic content by 2035.
“We’re taking a hard look at ourselves,” said Ting, the author of AB 792. “We have to take more drastic action. We need to not be a disposable society, but a recyclable society.”
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