Dear Friend,

Californians Against Waste is thrilled to announce that Governor Newsom has signed a landmark package of bills to create a Circular Economy in California, eliminate greenwashing, and break free from disposable plastics!

“California’s hallmark is solving problems through innovation, and we’re harnessing that spirit to reduce the waste filling our landfills and generating harmful pollutants driving the climate crisis,” said Governor Newsom. “With today’s action and bold investments to transform our recycling systems, the state continues to lead the way to a more sustainable and resilient future for the planet and all our communities.”

California continues to lead the country by tackling the multiple facets of the plastic and packaging pollution problem by approving the following new laws, which begin to take effect on January 1, 2022:

• SB 343 (Allen) brings “truth in labeling” to many plastic and packaging products. After a phase-in period, manufacturers will no longer be allowed to put the “chasing arrows”, or recycling symbol, on items that aren’t actually recyclable in the real world.
• AB 881 (Gonzalez) helps the state accurately measure how much plastic actually gets recycled.  Often, unused exported plastic waste is illegally dumped, landfilled or incinerated in vulnerable, impoverished countries. This bill prohibits plastic waste exports to other countries being counted as being “recycled.” 
• AB 962 (Kamlager) allows the easier reuse of glass bottles by brewers, which responds to business and consumer preferences by reducing the need for single-use beverage containers.
• AB 1201 (Ting) updates labeling for compostable products. Among other requirements, AB 1201 requires compostable products to break down in real life composting conditions, bans toxic PFAS “forever chemicals,” and puts the onus on manufacturers to ensure that their products don’t contaminate organic agriculture.
• AB 1276 (Carrillo) reduces plastic foodware waste by giving takeout customers only what they want: single-use foodware may only be provided upon request.

Right now, all levels of California governments -- and therefore ratepayers -- pay the price for allowing manufacturers to mislead consumers about what is recyclable or compostable.  Once enacted, these measures will lead manufacturers to make more sustainable packaging decisions, reduce greenwashing, build strong recycling markets, and restore the public faith in the recycling system.  Companies will no longer be able to market items deceptively because of the technicality that most things are theoretically recyclable or compostable, or might be recycled in another country.

With these new laws, California will require companies to be honest about their products so that consumers know what they’re purchasing.  It shouldn’t be a difficult concept: if it says “recyclable,” that means we should be able to put it in the recycling bin; if it says “compostable,” we should be able to put it in the composting bin; if it’s going to be exported to a country where its fate is unknown, we shouldn’t count it as “recycled” for state reports; if we want to have an option to turn down non-recyclable products, we should be able to do so.  The Circular Economy package rewards companies that have invested in actually making their products recyclable, and it helps consumers understand what purchasing choices they can make to protect the environment.

The Circular Economy package bills that passed represent a bipartisan success: each ultimately earned votes from legislative Republicans and Democrats, despite strong opposition from plastic, battery, and other product manufacturers.  The bipartisan passage of these six bills marks a turning point in the debate regarding the state government’s role in reducing and truthfully categorizing unrecyclable, single-use items. 

We encourage you to share your support for these bills with CAW and the Governor on social media with the hashtag #CircularEconomy and tagging Governor Newsom and CAW on social media (twitter: @GavinNewsom @cawrecycles @CAGovernor || facebook: @cawrecycles & @GavinNewsom || instagram: @californiansagainstwaste & @GavinNewsom)

Thank you for your tireless efforts to help these bills become law. It would not have been possible without the thousands of public calls, emails, and letters that you submitted.