California on track to implement nation-leading effort to slash single-use plastic and packaging waste

New draft rules answer Californians’ demand to tackle single-use trash pollution

Office of Public Affairs
For Immediate Release: December 28, 2023
News Release #2023-12
Media Contact: Melanie Turner
916-341-6763 | Melanie.Turner@CalRecycle.ca.gov

SACRAMENTO — CalRecycle today released key building blocks for California’s groundbreaking law to cut single-use plastic and packaging waste. Packaging makes up over 50% of what we throw away by volume and is a major contributor to climate and trash pollution.

Meeting aggressive deadlines in the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (SB 54, Allen, Chapter 75, Statutes of 2022), CalRecycle published:

Draft rules detailing new industry responsibilities to cut waste and increase recycling
Covered Materials Category List of potential materials regulated by SB 54
SB 54 Report to the Legislature on implementation progress

“California is setting clear standards to cut waste and recycle single-use products to lower pollution, while growing innovative companies and new jobs,” CalRecycle Director Rachel Machi Wagoner said. “Building a circular economy that reuses products that are built to last instead of turning raw materials into trash is a roadmap to California’s waste-free future.

SB 54 requires by 2032 that an industry-run Producer Responsibility Organization implement reforms to:

Cut by 25%

Single-use plastic:

Packaging and
Food ware

Recycle 65%

Of single-use plastic:

Packaging and
Food ware

Ensure 100%

Of single-use:

Packaging and
Plastic food ware

Is recyclable or compostable

Other benefits of the law include:

Rewarding waste-free and pollution-free product innovation and reuse options.
Creating a $5 billion fund to address the environmental impacts of plastics.

Join CalRecycle’s SB 54 Listserv for email updates on upcoming workshops and new developments in the implementation process.