BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2530
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 2530
(Gordon) - As Introduced February 19, 2016
SUBJECT: Recycling: beverage containers
SUMMARY: Requires that manufacturers of plastic beverage
containers sold in the state label the containers with the
percentage of postconsumer recycled content.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Pursuant to the California Beverage Container Recycling and
Litter Reduction Act (Bottle Bill):
a) Requires beverage containers sold in this state to have
a California refund value (CRV) of 5 cents for containers
that hold fewer than 24 ounces and 10 cents for containers
that hold 24 ounces or more and requires a distributor to
pay a redemption payment to the Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). Continuously
appropriates these funds to CalRecycle for the payment of
refund values and processing fees.
b) Requires that each new glass container manufactured in
the state contain a minimum of 35% postfilled (recycled
food container cullet) glass. Requires every glass food,
drink, or beverage container manufacturer in the state to
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report the amount of tons of new glass and the tons of
postfilled glass used in the manufacturing of those
containers to CalRecycle every month.
c) Authorizes CalRecycle to conduct audits or
investigations to determine compliance with the Bottle Bill
and related regulations.
2)Pursuant to the Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA):
a) Requires that local governments divert at least 50% of
solid waste from landfill disposal and establishes a
statewide goal that 75% of solid waste be diverted from
landfill disposal by 2020.
b) Requires that 50% of newsprint paper sold in the state
contain a minimum of 40% postconsumer recycled content.
c) Requires that rigid plastic packaging containers sold in
the state contain a minimum of 25% postconsumer recycled
material and have a recycling rate of at least 45%.
d) Requires that manufacturers of plastic trash bags that
are at or above 0.70 mils thick to annually certify that
they comply with one of the following:
i) That the bags sold in California contain a minimum
of 10% recycled content; or,
ii) That all plastic products sold by the manufacturer
in California contain a minimum of 30% recycled content.
e) Requires that fiberglass sold in the state contain a
minimum of 30% postconsumer recycled content.
f) Requires that expanded polystyrene loosefill packaging
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(i.e., packing peanuts) sold in the state contain a minimum
of 60% recycled content.
g) Prohibits a manufacturer or supplier from selling a
plastic food or beverage container that is advertised with
a specific recycling content amount unless the manufacturer
or supplier is able to provide certification of that claim
in a format that is easy to understand and scientifically
accurate. Requires a manufacturer or supplier to provide
information and documentation verifying the recycling
content of a plastic food or beverage container within 90
days of a request for such information made by a member of
the public or a state agency.
THIS BILL:
1)Beginning January 1, 2018, requires a manufacturer of a
plastic beverage container sold in the state to clearly
indicate the average percentage of postconsumer recycled
content in the beverage container, as specified.
2)For purposes of determining and labeling the amount of
postconsumer recycled content, requires the manufacturer to
utilize one or both of the following approaches:
a) The average amount of postconsumer recycled content in
all beverage containers sold by the manufacturer in the
state during the previous year; or,
b) The average amount of postconsumer recycled content in a
specified type of beverage container.
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3)Requires a manufacturer to demonstrate compliance with the
bill's requirements to CalRecycle on an annual basis.
4)Prohibits CalRecycle from reducing the processing fee
requirements for a manufacturer of a plastic beverage
container unless the manufacturer complies with the
requirements of the bill.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Food and beverage packaging. Historically, glass, steel,
aluminum, and paper have been recycled for use in food
packaging. The risk of postconsumer contamination has not
been a major concern with glass and metals, because they are
generally impervious to contaminants and are adequately
cleaned at the temperatures used in their recycling. In
addition, pulp from reclaimed fiber in paper and paperboard
may be used for food-contact articles provided it meets
federal standards (Title 21 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, Section 176.260).
Manufacturers of plastic food packaging that contains recycled
plastic are responsible for ensuring that the recycled
material is of suitable purity for its intended use and will
meet all existing specifications for the virgin material. The
federal Food and Drug Association (FDA) states that safety
concerns with the use of recycled plastic materials in food
packaging include: 1) that contaminants from the postconsumer
material may appear in the final food-contact product made
from the recycled material; 2) that recycled postconsumer
material not regulated for food-contact use may be
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incorporated into food-contact packaging; and, 3) that
components in the recycled plastic may not comply with the
regulations for food-contact use. To address these concerns,
FDA considers each proposed use of recycled plastic on a
case-by-case basis and issues informal advice as to whether
the recycling process is expected to produce plastic suitable
for food packaging. FDA then issues a "non-objection" letter
to the manufacturer for the packaging. Generally,
manufacturers use postfilled plastic, which refers to recycled
materials that contained food or beverages prior to recycling,
to meet FDA standards.
2)Polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PET is the most common
plastic used in food and beverage packaging, including bottled
water and soda. According to CalRecycle data, 43% of Bottle
Bill containers are PET, making it the most common beverage
container packaging material in California.
Several plastic food and drink manufacturers located in
California have received non-objection letters from the FDA
and comply with the state's existing recycled content
requirements for rigid plastic packaging containers. Several
beverage manufacturers also include postfilled content in
their packaging. For example, Arrowhead and Nestle bottled
water both report a 50% recycled content rate; Pepsi reports
10% recycled content; and, Naked Juice reports that their
bottles are made from 100% recycled content.
3)Plastic recycling in California. California has around 10
reclaimers accepting plastic for washing and producing
recycled flake or pellets and 30 manufacturers that use
recycled plastic to manufacture new products. While there has
been significant growth in the use of recycled plastic in
California, the vast majority of recycled plastic is sent
overseas.
In 2014, Californians returned approximately 17.7 billion (one
million tons) beverage containers covered by the Bottle Bill.
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Plastic containers accounted for 220,000 tons. Approximately
half of these were processed and recycled in California.
4)Author's statement:
In the decades since the Bottle Bill was enacted,
Californians have embraced recycling beverage containers
and roughly 82% are returned for recycling. Given the
public's embrace of beverage container recycling, consumers
should be able to easily determine whether the beverages
they purchase are made out of recycled plastic - to know
whether the beverage container material they have recycled
is going back into new beverage containers.
5)Suggested amendments:
a) The requirements for determining postconsumer recycled
content are unclear and not consistent. The committee may
wish to amend the bill to clarify these provisions and
specify that the recycling content claims comply with the
Federal Trade Commission Guides for the Use of
Environmental Marketing Claims.
b) This bill requires that independent, accredited
laboratories certify a manufacturer's beverage containers
comply with the requirements of this bill; however, the
bill requires labeling based on the average content, not by
each container. The committee may wish amend the bill to
allow manufacturers to acquire an independent, third-party
certification for the average percentage of postconsumer
recycled content and strike out the reference to
laboratories.
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6)Previous legislation:
AB 1447 (Alejo) would have established minimum recycled
content standards for PET food and beverage packing and
expanded the recycled content requirement for glass food and
beverage containers to containers manufactured out of state.
This bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 732 (Pan) would have required every manufacturer of a
beverage sold in any plastic container to demonstrate to
CalRecycle that each type of a plastic beverage container sold
in this state contains, on average, not less than 10%
postfilled material on and after January 1, 2017. This bill
would have also prohibited CalRecycle from reducing the
processing fee requirements for any beverage manufacturer for
any beverage sold in the state unless the manufacturer
demonstrates to CalRecycle that the container is manufactured
at a facility that meets or exceeds a specified percentage of
recycled content, regardless of whether the container is
manufactured in this state. This bill was held in Senate
Environmental Quality Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
As You Sow
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Californians Against Waste
CarbonLITE Industries
Clean Water Action/Clean Water Fund
Marin Sanitary Service
Napa Recycling & Waste Services
RePET, Inc.
Sierra Club California
Sonoma County Waste Management Authority
StopWaste
UPSTREAM
Verdeco Recycling, Inc.
West Coast Chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling
Industries
Zanker Recycling
AB 2530
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092