BILL NUMBER: AB 925	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Saldana

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2009

   An act to add Chapter 6.3 (commencing with Section 42380) to Part
3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to recycling.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 925, as introduced, Saldana. Recycling: single-use plastic
beverage container caps.
   The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is
administered by the California Integrated Waste Management Board,
requires every rigid plastic packaging container, as defined, sold or
offered for sale in this state, to generally meet one of specified
criteria.
   This bill would define terms and would prohibit a retailer, on and
after January 1, 2012, from selling or offering for sale a
single-use plastic beverage container with a cap that is not affixed
to, or part of, the beverage container. The bill would also prohibit
a retailer, on and after that date, from selling or offering for sale
a single-use beverage container with a cap, unless the cap is made
of a recyclable material, as defined.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Chapter 6.3 (commencing with Section 42380) is added to
Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 6.3.  PLASTIC BEVERAGE CONTAINER CAPS


   42380.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) The problem of plastic marine debris is increasing in
California and in the North Pacific Gyre, which is a swirling vortex
of ocean currents comprising most of the northern Pacific Ocean, and
where densities of microplastics have tripled during the last decade.

   (b) Plastic is the most common type of marine debris, comprising
up to 90 percent of floating marine debris.
   (c) Plastics are especially harmful to the marine environment due
to their nondegradable qualities.
   (d) Plastic and plastic packaging waste represent a significant
and fast growing component of the state's waste stream and marine
debris.
   (e) Over 60,000 bottle caps were collected on California beaches
during Coastal Cleanup Day in 2005.
   (f) An Orange County study estimated that over 88,000 plastic caps
and lids litter Orange County beaches.
   (g) The increasing problem of marine debris is harmful to marine
resources. Marine mammals and seabirds often mistake marine debris
such as bottle caps for food. Ingestion of the plastic debris can
ultimately lead to malnutrition and starvation.
   (h) Plastic and other debris litter our beaches, and represent a
threat to California's forty-six billion dollar ($46,000,000,000)
ocean-dependent, tourism-oriented economy and in certain
circumstances may pose a public health threat.
   (i) California state and local agencies spend millions of dollars
per year in litter collection.
   (j) The California Coastal Commission's plan of action from the
Plastic Debris River to Sea Project recommends that plastic beverage
containers be redesigned to eliminate pieces that can become
segregated from the beverage container, including lids and caps.
   (k) Aluminum can pull tabs, a common form of litter in the 1960s
and 1970s, were redesigned to remain connected to the body of the
can. As a result, the pull tab litter problem was eliminated.
   (l) The Ocean Protection Council passed a resolution on marine
debris on February 8, 2007. The resolution calls for an investigation
of innovative methods to reduce plastic waste commonly found in the
marine environment.
   42381.  For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
   (a) "Beverage" means a liquid, in a ready-to-drink form, that is
intended for human consumption.
   (b) "Beverage container" means an individual, separate bottle,
can, jar, carton, or other receptacle, however denominated, in which
a beverage is sold, and that is constructed of plastic. "Beverage
container" does not include a cup or other similar open or loosely
sealed receptacle.
   (c) "Recyclable" means a material that still has useful physical
or chemical properties after serving its original purpose and can,
therefore, be reused or remanufactured into additional products.
   (d) "Retailer" means a person who sells a beverage in a beverage
container to a consumer.
   (e) "Single use" means a single-use disposable product used for
serving or transporting a prepared, ready-to-consume beverage.
   42382.  On and after January 1, 2012, a retailer shall not sell or
offer for sale either of the following:
   (a) A single-use beverage container with a cap that is not affixed
to, or part of, the beverage container.
   (b) A single-use beverage container with a cap, unless the cap is
made of a recyclable material.