Senate Bill 54 requires that, by 2032, (1) all packaging in the state be recyclable or compostable, (2) all plastic packaging be cut by 25%, and (3) 65% of all single-use plastic packaging be recycled in the same timeframe. The law will establish a producer responsibility organization, composed of industry representatives, to run a recycling program overseen by the state. The organization will also be responsible for $500 million a year in support for a new plastic pollution mitigation fund to look at the environmental and health impacts of plastics.

The state will also be required to reduce expanded polystyrene (EPS), which is commonly used in foodservice containers — 25% by 2023. The material will be banned entirely if producers are unable to meet the required recycling rates, which grow every few years until the state requires that 65% of any polystyrene (PS) be recycled by 2032.

Given that California has the 4th largest economy in the world, this is not simply a state law. In many cases, it will become a regional law affecting the produce and other business into and out of nearby Washington, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. In other cases, it will have national implications, depending on sales patterns of products imported and exported there. (Think of Proposition 65, with relevant labeling required on all products sold in California, regardless of their origin.)

For more reference, please see my related Plastics Today piece from August 8, 2002, entitled CA SB 54 Plastic Packaging Law: Three Questions Answered and my February 24, 2022, article entitled Most Sustainable Way to Enhance Plastics Recycling.

As of today, the only plastic packaging that can meet these 10-year requirements are PET beverage bottles, as the state’s direct deposit system and current PET bottle recovery rate is about 57% (Source: Eunomia Research & Ball Corp.). At the other end of the spectrum, the virtually complete lack of polystyrene recycling could very well put an end to polystyrene packaging in California within 10 years.

Thus, as currently written, this bill has the potential to eliminate all plastic packaging in California other than PET by 2032.