BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1329
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1329
AUTHOR: Brownley
AMENDED: July 1, 2009
FISCAL: No HEARING DATE: July 6, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Caroll
Mortensen
SUBJECT : PLASTICS RECYCLING
SUMMARY :
Existing law , pursuant to the Integrated Waste Management Act
of 1989, requires every rigid plastic packaging container to
be made from 25% recycled content or have a recycling rate of
at least 45%. (Public Resources Code 42300).
This bill :
1)Makes finding regarding polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and
recycling.
2)Defines "Single-use recyclable packaging container" is a
container that meets all of the following conditions:
a) It is a container used to contain, protect or hold a
consumer good, food or beverage, until that item is to be
opened or consumed, after which point the container
serves no other function and is intended to be discarded.
b) It is a container that has the shape of a bottle, a
clamshell, a sack, a cup, a bowl, a shrink or stretch
wrap or other packaging shape.
3)Excludes from the definition of "Single-use recyclable
packaging container":
a) A container used solely in transportation and not made
available to consumers.
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b) A container that is used solely for the transportation
and protection of a building material, including, but not
limited to, windows and related products used in
residential construction.
c) A container that encloses a dangerous drug, as defined
in Section 4022 of the Business and Professions Code, or
a container that encloses an over-the-counter human or
veterinary drug, including, but not limited to, a drug as
defined in Section 109925 of the Health and Safety Code
or as defined in Section 321 of Title 21 of the federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
d) A container in which a medical device, as defined in
Section 109920 of the Health and Safety Code, is
enclosed.
e) A container that is used to contain a petroleum-based
product, including a fuel, lubricant, fuel additive, or
other petroleum-based product used on or in motor
vehicles.
4)Defines "Retail establishment" or "retailer" as an
individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other
legal relationship that engages in the business of selling
goods to retail buyers.
5)Prohibits, on and after July 1, 2014, a retail establishment
or retailer from selling, distributing, or importing in
commerce a single-use recyclable packaging container that is
comprised predominantly of polyvinyl chloride plastic resin.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of Bill . According to the author, PVC packaging is
a powerful contaminant to plastics recycling because it is
virtually indistinguishable from recyclable plastic, like
PET, but it ruins these plastics if inadvertently included
in recycling. Almost no PVC itself is recycled due to
toxicity issues, prohibitively high costs and lack of
infrastructure and markets. The presence of PVC packaging
costs recyclers thousands and depresses recycling rates.
Recently, several high-profile corporations, including
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Sears, Target and Wal-Mart, announced they were ending or
phasing out the use of PVC packaging. Safe, cost-effective,
recyclable alternatives to PVC are readily available for
every use.
2)What is PVC? Most vinyl chloride is used to make polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) plastic and vinyl products. Exposure to
vinyl chloride emissions has been linked to adverse human
health effects, including liver cancer, other liver
diseases, and neurological disorders. EPA has classified
vinyl chloride as a Group A human carcinogen. The
production of PVC is attributed to a host of public health
and environmental issues including the release of dioxin,
one of the most potent human carcinogens.
Even with the issues surrounding PVC, it is ubiquitous and is
used in thousands of applications including building
materials such as cables, window frames, doors, walls,
paneling, water and wastewater pipes and in home products
such as vinyl flooring, vinyl wallpaper, window blinds and
shower curtains.
3)Recycling Stream Issues . According to the author, PVC
packaging is virtually non-recycled in California.
Collection, cost and toxicity concerns prevent any
large-scale recycling of PVC resin. PVC is a declared and
potent contaminant of the PET recycling stream, the
nontoxic, dominant resin used for consumer plastic
packaging. The presence of PVC packaging in the waste
stream prevents some municipalities from accepting certain
types of plastic packaging for fear of PVC contamination.
Phasing out the sale of PVC packaging would result in the
use of packaging that can be made from recycled material and
that can be recycled, increasing California's landfill
diversion rate.
PVC packaging (labeled with the #3 symbol) is often confused
by consumers as polyethylene terephthalate, or PETE (the
plastic labeled with the #1 symbol and commonly used for
clear plastic applications), because of the visual
similarity of the two materials. Even highly sensitive
mechanical sorting equipment used by recycling companies has
difficulty distinguishing the two types of plastics. This
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confusion results in the contamination of PETE during the
recycling process. This is of note in that many of the PVC
packaging containers addressed in this bill do not carry a
recycling symbol and/or the public is not accustomed to
looking for one because they do not fit the description of a
'typical' recyclable container. However, as local
governments expand their recycling programs to include a
wider array of plastics, this issue can only become more
problematic. As an example, as a result of an increase in
the awareness of recycling plastic grocery bags and other
film plastics, it is not unlikely that other types of
flexible, 'filmy' type plastics, many likely made from PVC,
could find their way to the recycling stream.
PVC creates significant technological problems for PET bottle
recycling. Because both PET and PVC sink in water, they
cannot be separated in traditional plastic recycling wash
systems without expensive detection equipment. There is no
equipment available that will remove 100% of PVC from PET
plastic. PVC has a much lower melt temperature than PETE.
At PETE's melt temperature, PVC burns destroying the
surrounding PET and harming the processing equipment. Even
very small amounts (100 parts per million) of PVC in PET
will reduce its value or make it unusable. PVC plastic
threatens the well-developed PET recycling infrastructure.
SOURCE : Californians Against Waste
SUPPORT : Breast Cancer Action
Breast Cancer Fund
California Resource Recovery Association
Center for Environmental Health
Clean Water Action
Dogwood Alliance
Environment California
Environmental Health Fund
Friends of the Earth
GrassRoots Recycling Network
Greenpeace
Heal the Bay
Natural Resources Defense Council
Northern California Recycling Association
Ocean Health Institute
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OceanRevolution.org
Oregon Center for Environmental Health
Planning and Conservation League
Protect All Children's Environment
Puerto Rico College of Physicians and Surgeons
City and County of San Francisco
Save the American River Association
Seventh Generation Advisors
US International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
OPPOSITION: American Chemistry Council
California Chamber of Commerce
California Film Extruders & Converters
Association
California Manufacturers and Technology
Association
California Restaurant Association
Chemical Industry Council of California
Consumer Specialty Products Association
Grocery Manufacturers Association
Industrial Environmental Association
Information Technology Industry Council
Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc.
Toy Industry Association
Vinyl Institute
Western Growers Association
Western States Petroleum Association