California’s Single-Use Plastics Ban

In June 2022, California adopted a law requiring all plastic packaging to be recyclable or compostable by 2032. Among its other tenets, the law requires by 2032 plastic producers must reduce the amount of plastic in packaging by 25 percent (by, eg., reducing package sizing, switching to a different material or making the products reusable); and that California raise its recycling rate for all plastic products to 65 percent. The law shifts the costs of recycling infrastructure, recycling plants, and collection and sorting facilities to packaging manufacturers.

Plastics manufacturers must pay $5 billion into a fund over the next 10 years that would mitigate the effects of plastic pollution on the environment and human health, primarily in low-income communities.

Any entity that fails to comply with the new law could face fines of up to $50,000 a day.