First-person perspective: Key developments in California’s plastic laws
May 15, 2025 – ArticleEnvironmental attorneys Sedina Banks, Sherry Jackman, and Bryce Lourié authored an article in Resource Recycling titled "First-person perspective: Key developments in California's plastic laws." They discuss how California is leading sustainability efforts with new laws that hold producers responsible for reducing packaging waste and improving recycling standards.
Excerpts
California continues to be a leader in sustainability with the passage of a series of laws aimed at increasing diversion, waste reduction and consumer knowledge.
In 2022, California enacted Senate Bill 54, or the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. SB 54 is an extended producer responsibility law aimed at reducing plastic and packaging waste and shifting the cost of recycling this material from the consumer back to the producer. This is done primarily by establishing a framework for development of a producer responsibility organization, an entity which producers join and pay fees to. The PRO then implements and funds waste management, recycling and reduction practices. Circular Action Alliance was selected as the PRO for California and other states.
In 2021, the year before SB 54 was enacted, California adopted SB 343, or the “Truth in Recycling” law. This law seeks to give consumers “accurate and useful information related to how to properly handle the end of life of a product or packaging,” primarily through creating stricter requirements for when companies can use the familiar “chasing arrows” symbol or any other indicator of recyclability on products and packaging.
