California Gov. Gavin Newsom directed his recycling agency on Friday to redo its draft rules requiring producers to cut back on single-use plastic packaging after the industry said they would be too costly.
What happened: CalRecycle was facing a procedural deadline of Friday to submit its rules implementing SB 54 to the Office of Administrative Law or else start over. The 2022 law would overhaul how plastic packaging gets recycled in the state by requiring that thousands of companies reduce single-use plastic packaging and foodware by 25 percent by 2032 and pay for and ensure that 100 percent of their products are recyclable or compostable.
“The Governor is directing CalRecycle to restart these regulations to ensure California’s bold recycling law can achieve its goal of cutting plastic pollution and is implemented fairly — minimizing costs for small businesses and working families as much as possible,” Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor said in an email.
Why this matters: The rules would set up California’s largest-ever program in which producers pay to recycle their products to avoid plastic ending up in landfills.
