On January 1st, the polystyrene package became illegal for sale, distribution or import to California as a result of the Landmark Waste Act, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022 and accused by lawmakers and environmentalists. I did. – Uses plastic and pollution.
However, this particularly harmful plastic polymer has described it as a clear demonstration of the strengths of laws that will abolish the issues when the state waited for this monumental milestone. If so, few would have known that this particularly harmful plastic polymer had been phased out. – Uses plastic that is rarely recycled.
That is because no effective ban statements or acknowledgements have been made available by the governor’s office or Callicon by the agency responsible for overseeing and enforcing the law.
Instead, there has been growing concern among environmental groups and some lawmakers that plastic manufacturers, producers and distributors are fighting behind the scenes to derail the plastics law known as SB 54. . It is due to be completed on March 8th over the past two and a half years by plastics and packaging companies, lawmakers and environmentalists. Otherwise, the stakeholders will need to re-start the entire process.
They are also concerned that the silence emanating from Newsom’s office indicates that the entire transaction may be off course.
“We need to go well together with SB 54,” said Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) who has 13 other members including Sen. Benjamin Allen (D-Santa Monica), the chief architect of the law. He spoke with the lawmakers. – Last week I wrote to the governor, urging him to “meet a timeline established by the law.”
“It’s a system-level change. In an interview, Blakespear said that he was able to make plastic films and plastic waste and microplastics in our environment, our bodies, our environment, our bodies. When talking about reducing the amount, it’s about changing the game. “So what about the fact that regulations can be delayed? I think it’s not acceptable because there is a process and it’s repetitive. , if there is a problem, things can change. But you have to start with something.”
Daniel Villasenor, a spokesman for the governor’s office, said in a statement that he “takes stakeholder input very seriously,” and that “to successfully implement this ambitious programme. “We are considering ways to move forward.” He also said the governor “completes the SB54 goals – we are committed to reducing plastic pollution.”
When the law was signed, Newsom said that California children “deserve a future without plastic waste and all its dangerous effects,” and as a result of the law, he, state legislators and regulators said, ” He said he would hold a “responsible person.” Cut the “plastic sauce”.
Neither the governor’s office nor the calleccikul responded to questions about their silence regarding the ban on polystyrene. Villaseñor will also not expand on the “options” the governor was considering. The SB 54 is designed to start disposable plastics in stages this year. The bill stated that products will be banned if polystyrene producers, sellers or distributors are unable to meet the 25% recycling rate by December 31, 2024. The industry failed to meet that goal, according to data held by CalRecycle.
The law was designed to trigger a series of escalated composting and recycling requirements for consumer product packaging.
By 2032, businesses will need to reduce disposable plastic packaging by 25%. Make sure 65% of that material is recyclable. And 100% of that is recyclable or compostable. SB 54 needs to know how packaging producers will bear the cost of the final life of their products (via recycling, composting, landfills, or exports) and make it happen.
According to an analysis by one state, 2.9 million tons of single-use plastic and 171.4 billion single-use plastic components were sold, for sale, or distributed in California in 2023.
The wider and wider disposal of single-use plastics and plastic waste is considered to be an increase in environmental and health issues. Over the past few decades, plastic waste accumulation has overwhelmed waterways and the oceans, become tired of marine life and threatened human health.
Although SB 54 was signed in 2022, regulations governing law and its practical definitions, such as the meaning of the word “producer” and the date of industry-generated annual reports, have been ruled over time. It will be hindered over time. A group of stakeholders representing plastic manufacturers and producers, packaging companies, environmental groups, and waste transporters.
These regulations are expected to be paid on March 8, 2025. If deadlines are missed, experts say it can not only reverse the implementation of the law, but also derail the whole thing.
“Advocating for delaying the implementation of SB 54 regulations is an effort to stunt California’s momentum for progress,” said Jennifer, adding that there could be a possible ploy to drive delays in the timeline. fears that they are lobbyists of marine conservation and environmental organizations. 2022. She worries that if she misses the deadline, the plastics industry will delay the ambitious targets of the law.
On December 2, 2024, the final draft of the negotiated regulations was posted by CalRecycle. It reviewed 450 letters and 5,000 comments, attended dozens of one-day workshops, met many stakeholders and their lobbyists. And while groups such as the Ocean Conservancy sent letters to Newsom and Callecicle to congratulate Hercules on their accomplishments, industry stakeholders quietly sending out very different messages.
On December 15th, Adam Leger, Vice President of Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships for the California Chamber of Commerce, represents industry trade groups, including the American Council of Chemistry and West Plastic Asson. Flexible packaging assn. – I wrote a letter to Governor Newsom. He urged him to amend the law. He said his members believe it won’t work.
He cited the costs to consumers. Consumers estimated it would be over $300 a year. He confused the regulations and described them as “overly normative.” He then suggested that certain aspects of the law are at odds with federal laws governing food safety. He also wanted regulations that allowed “alternative” recycling methods, such as chemical recycling, saying “existing recycling techniques alone cannot successfully implement this program.”
The original language of the law prohibits recycling in any form, including burning, incineration, or generating most types of energy. Chemical recycling usually involves overheating to convert plastic into fuel to overheat. Some companies, such as Exxonmobil and Eastman Chemical Company, say that these alternatives can be used to create new plastics.
Atty, California. General Rob Bonta argues that the claim is unfounded. However, other influential players at Regele, including Rachel Wagoner, who served as Director of Calrecycle between 2020 and 2024, are on Regele’s side.
Since leaving the state’s waste regulatory agency, Wagoner has worked as a consultant for Eastman, and is now an industry-run organization that SB 54 is required to ensure that members are compliant with the law. He is the executive director of the Action Alliance. The organization was founded by some of the world’s largest producers and distributors of plastic packaging, including Amazon, Coca-Cola, Conagra, Procter & Gamble and Target.
Wagoner told the Times that she met with the governor’s office, and that the plastic product maker and retailer organization “complete regulations, addressing concerns, and enabling SB 54 to be able to do more than We informed officials that we would be happy to have a lot of time. It will be implemented successfully.”
In an email to the Times, an organization’s spokesperson said members were “completely dedicated to building and implementing a strong sales plan for SB 54, but to ensure success there are several ways to ensure that they are successful. We need to address those important issues.”
The demand for backroom transactions and delays was not equipped with environmental groups and lawmakers.
“I think Shizu is now hitting proverb fans. Everyone has a very strong opinion on how it goes, what is reasonable and what isn’t,” he said. said state Sen. Allen, who designed and sponsored the law.
Lawmakers and environmental groups said up until December there was no indication that the industry was having problems breaking regulatory deals. Certainly, no one loved the regulations, but they believed there was a compromise made by parties on all sides, but they were coming together to find a practical agreement.
Anjabrandon, director of Ocean Conservancy’s plastic policy, never saw all the comments submitted to Callex, saying, “From public workshops, local governments, industry, producers (producers) can only be found. Responsible Organization) provided robust feedback throughout the process.
She said her organization has worked closely with the industry throughout the process. “We worked with both of them…and we reached out to them directly, had conversations and tried to coordinate some of the comments as much as possible. So we put these regulations into practice. It’s now my 11th hour to hear them labelled as impossible, and it’s really coming as a disappointment and surprise.”
As examples of late-stage backtracking, Brandon and others pointed to two letters sent to the governor. One is from the Chamber of Commerce on December 14th, and the other is from the Wagoner group. Both highlight industry concerns about the final rules.
She also lobbying spending on the bill, including $177,500 from the Eastman Company, $18,500 from the Circular Action Alliance in the fourth quarter of 2024, and several meetings between representatives and the governor of the industry organization. pointed out a recent increase in the number.
As for the environmental advocacy aspect, these last-minute developments are no surprises.
“SB 54 is a distraction, as I’ve been saying, SB 54 is a distraction,” said Yandell, an Orange County-based Last Beach Cleanup. Since 2022, she has argued that the law is fundamentally flawed and leaves too much power in the plastics industry to oversee.
In 2022, Last Beach Cleanup and many other environmental groups have said that all disposable plastic packaging and food products produced, distributed and sold in California are recyclable, reusable or compostable. supported statewide voting initiatives, among other provisions. By 2030. They would have also banned polystyrene.
The initiative was drawn back by environmental groups and supporters in support of this negotiated law. This is a promised support from the plastics industry and packaging companies.
The future of SB 54 remains uncertain. In the meantime, some polystyrene manufacturers and distributors have already removed plastic in anticipation of the law coming into effect. For example, Sysco spokesman Ramit Plushnick-Masti says the multinational giant has removed polystyrene items from California’s inventory.
Then you can benefit from the SB 54, but you’re stuck waiting for a decision to be made in Sacramento. The World Centre, a compostable, plant-based edible and packaging manufacturer based in Lonat Park in Sonoma County, was anticipating an increase in demand for its products. Erin Levine, resource recovery manager at World Centric, had planned to expand his business and hire more workers, but his desires were made until he became more clear about what comes next in the law. has been postponed.
“It’s just too bad,” she said. The growth of companies like the world-centric is based in California and said that producing materials that can be recycled and/or composted is something that the law has designed to encourage.
“I think we’ll see what happens,” she said.
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