Pollution Prevention in CA: SB 54

What is SB 54?

Senate Bill 54, or the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, was passed in 2022 by Governor Gavin Newsom. This act, while still in partial development, has the central aim of reducing statewide plastic material by 2032. In short, it moves plastic pollution responsibilities away from consumers and towards producers.

Goals

The law requires producers to ensure the following standards by 2032

• 100% of state-sold plastic food ware and single-use packaging is recyclable or compostable

• Sell 25% less single-use plastic packaging and food ware is sold

• Recycle at least 65% single-use plastic packaging

• Pay $500 million a year (starting 2027) to address plastic pollution consequences and aid environmental justice groups impacted by plastic waste

Significance 

This law is set up to be the largest EPR (extended producer responsibility) program in California history– it will regulate an estimated 13,615 producers. These producers are implicated as brand owners, manufacturers, advertisers, distributors, and sellers of plastic consumer products in the state. However, it is clear that there will be different exemptions, including for small business, medical products, hazardous goods, long-term packaging, and more. According to McDermott Will & Emery, “the responsible producer is a fact-specific inquiry that evaluates the various parties involved in the production and promotion of a relevant product.” In this way, all local producers should be aware of SB 54 in the years to come.

Potential Problems 

Despite the positivity in this step forward in limiting plastic pollution in California, it is still important to acknowledge how the law could be improved. First, the law does not include any attempts to ban polystyrene (styrofoam), even though it cannot be recycled. This has caused a certain amount of community upset, environmentalists calling for the law to be “tougher”. In addition, certain definitions of terms (ex. reusable) have been left unclear up to this point; it is up to CalRecycle (the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery) to determine them. Some activists have worried that these definitions will be too vague, allowing companies to find loopholes to continue regular production. These same activists are encouraging the public to monitor CalRecycle, the entity charged with SB 54 implementation. 

Timeline of Recurring SB 54 Activities

CalRecycle has published the following timeline of recurring activities and SB 54 milestone dates. Look here for more information.

Citations and Additional Info

Just Transition Alliance // CalRecycle // McDermott Will & Emery