BILL ANALYSIS
SB 228
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 28, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
SB 228 (DeSaulnier) - As Amended: June 21, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 24-10
SUBJECT : Plastic bags: compostable plastic bags
SUMMARY : Establishes labeling requirements for compostable
plastic bags.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
"Standards for Compostable Plastics" and "Standard
Specification for Non-Floating Biodegradable Plastics in the
Marine Environment."
2)Prohibits a person from selling a plastic bag in this state
with the term "compostable" or "marine biodegradable" unless
the bag meets the applicable ASTM standard specification.
3)Sets procedures for the Department of Resources Recovery and
Recycling (DRRR) to review a new ASTM standard specification
or other standard developed by another entity.
THIS BILL :
1)Beginning July 1, 2011, requires a manufacturer of a
compostable plastic bag meeting one of the above ASTM
standards to ensure that the bag is readily and easily
identifiable from other plastic bags.
2)Defines "readily and easily identifiable" as:
a) Labeled with a certification logo indicating that the
bag meets the ASTM D6400 standard specification if the bag
has been certified as meeting the standard by a recognized
third-party independent verification; and,
b) A bag that is a uniform green color and labeled with the
word "compostable" on one side of the bag (at least one
inch in height); or, a bag that is labeled with the word
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"compostable" on both sides of the bag in green, as
specified.
c) Specifies that a bag smaller than 14 inches by 14
inches, the lettering shall be in proportion to the size of
the bag.
3)Prohibits a compostable bag sold or distributed in the state
from displaying the chasing arrow resin identification code or
any other recycling symbol.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of bill . According to the author, "The use of
compostable bags is increasing, leading local governments to
establish organics separation and composting. Currently,
there is no way to visibly tell the difference between
compostable, marine degradable, and [conventional] plastic
bags." The author notes that conventional bags get into the
compost stream and contaminate the compost leading to higher
processing costs. "This bill seeks to remedy this by requiring
bags that meet the compostable and marine degradable standards
as set in current law . . . to be readily and easily
identifiable for the purposes of separating these bags from
[conventional] plastic bags in the recycling and composting
streams."
2)Comments . According to the author, "The use of compostable
bags is increasing, leading local governments to establish
organics separation and composting. Currently, there is no
way to visibly tell the difference between compostable, marine
degradable, and [conventional] plastic bags? As a result,
[conventional] bags are getting into the compost stream and
contaminating the compost and leading to higher processing
costs. Likewise, can be contaminated if compostable bags are
included in the [conventional] plastic recycling streams."
This bill is intended to alleviate contamination concerns by
making compostable bags easily identifiable for sorting.
According to DRRR, "many existing composting operations reject
compostable plastics because they have found that most of
them, even those certified by the Biodegradable Products
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Institute [as meeting the ASTM D6400 standard], do not undergo
degradation at a rate consistent with other compostable
materials."
Federal standards for organics require that compost not contain
plastic of any kind. Including compostable plastics as
feedstock would make the finished compost ineligible for use
in organic farms.
This bill applies only to compostable plastic bags and does not
include biodegradable or marine degradable bags. While this
may be helpful to ensure that only compostable bags are
processed in composting operations, it does not address
contamination of the recycling stream by biodegradable or
marine degradable bags.
3)History and related legislation . SB 1749 (Karnette) Chapter
619, Statutes of 2004, prohibits persons from selling a
plastic bag labeled as "compostable," "biodegradable,"
"degradable," or any form of those terms, unless the plastic
bag meets certain requirements. AB 1023 (DeSaulnier) Chapter
143, Statutes of 2007, exempts these bags from recycled
content requirements.
AB 2147 (Harman) Chapter 349, Statutes of 2006, prohibited
persons from selling plastic food and beverage containers
labeled as "compostable," "biodegradable," "degradable," or
any form of those terms, unless the containers meet certain
requirements.
AB 2071 (Karnette) Chapter 570, Statutes of 2008, established
penalties for violations of the plastic bag and food container
requirements.
AB 1972 (DeSaulnier) Chapter 436, Statutes of 2008, specifically
defined the ASTM standard for biodegradable and compostable
bags, and plastic food and beverage containers; revised the
prohibited terms; and set procedures for reviewing new
standards.
AB 1454 (DeSaulnier), introduced in the current session, repeals
the existing requirements for compostable and degradable bags
and food packaging and instead prohibits any plastic product
from being sold that is labeled "compostable" or "marine
biodegradable" unless the plastic bag meets certain ASTM
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standards, and prohibits a plastic product from being sold
that is labeled with the term "biodegradable," "degradable,"
"decomposable," or any form of those terms. This bill passed
out of this committee on June 21, 2010 and has been referred
to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Biodegradable Products Institute
California Film Extruders and Converters Association
Californians Against Waste
City and County of San Francisco
Heritage Bag Company
Metabolix
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092