Amended in Senate June 15, 2016

Amended in Assembly June 1, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 18, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2530

Introduced by Assembly Member Gordon

February 19, 2016

An act to add begin delete Sections end delete begin insert Section end insert 14549.3 begin delete and 14575.2 end delete to the Public Resources Code, relating to recycling.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2530, as amended, Gordon. Recycling: beverage containers.

Existing law, the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, requires that every beverage container sold or offered for sale in this state have a minimum refund begin delete value. end delete begin insert value, and requires a beverage manufacturer to indicate on all beverage containers sold or offered for sale in the state the message “California Redemption Value” or one of similar alternative messages, as specified. end insert A beverage distributor is required to pay a redemption payment to the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for every beverage container sold or offered for sale in the state to a dealer, and the department is required to deposit those amounts in the California Beverage Container Recycling Fund. begin delete The act defines the term “beverage” for these purposes to include certain types of products in liquid, ready-to-drink form, and also excludes specified products from the definition of “beverage.” end delete

This bill, beginning March 1, 2018, would require a manufacturer of a beverage sold in a plastic beverage container begin insert subject to the California Redemption Value end insert to begin insert annually end insert report to the department begin insert , under penalty of perjury, end insert the begin delete average percentage of postconsumer recycled content in beverage containers sold in the state by the manufacturer in the previous year and would require a manufacturer to use one or more of several specified methods of determining the average percentage of postconsumer recycled content for making a claim about the postconsumer recycled content.The bill would require a beverage manufacturer to demonstrate compliance with those provisions annually to the department. end delete begin insert amount of virgin plastic and postconsumer recycled plastic used by the manufacturer for plastic beverage containers subject to the California Redemption Value for sale in the state in the previous calendar year. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to post the information reported on the department’s Internet Web site. end insert

begin insert

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

end insert begin insert

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert .

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 14549.3 is added to the Public Resources
Code, to read:

14549.3.  

(a) On or before March 1, 2018, and annually
thereafter, a manufacturer of a beverage sold in a plastic beverage
container begin insert subject to the California Redemption Value end insert shall report
to the department the begin delete average percentage end delete begin insert amount end insert of begin insert virgin plastic
and end insert postconsumer recycled begin delete content in end delete plastic begin delete beverage containers
sold end delete begin insert used end insert by the manufacturer begin insert for plastic beverage containers
subject to the California Redemption Value for sale end insert in the state in
the previous calendar year. begin insert The manufacturer shall submit this
information to the department under penalty of perjury. end insert

(b) The department shall post the information reported pursuant
to subdivision (a) on the department’s Internet Web site.

begin delete

(c) For purposes of making a claim of postconsumer recycled
content pursuant to subdivision (a), a manufacturer of a beverage
shall utilize one or more of the following:

(1) The average percentage of postconsumer recycled content
in all plastic beverage containers sold by the manufacturer in the
state during the previous year.

(2) The average percentage of postconsumer recycled content
in the plastic beverage containers sold by the manufacturer in the
state from the product line that carries the claim.

(3) Any other reasonable methodology for determining minimum
postconsumer recycled content for a claim that is consistent with
the Federal Trade Commission’s Guides for the Use of
Environmental Marketing Claims (16 C.F.R. Part 260).

(d) Any claim of recycled content made pursuant to this section
shall be accurate and consistent with the Federal Trade
Commission’s Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing
Claims (16 C.F.R. Part 260).

(e) A manufacturer may use an independent third-party
certification entity to certify that the manufacturer’s plastic
beverage container postconsumer recycled content report pursuant
to subdivision (a) meets the requirements of this section.

end delete begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  This section does not apply to a refillable plastic beverage
container.

begin delete

SEC. 2.  

Section 14575.2 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:

14575.2.  

A manufacturer of a beverage sold in a plastic
beverage container shall demonstrate compliance with Section
14549.3 to the department on an annual basis.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert begin insert

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.

end insert