California Lawmakers Fail to Pass Comprehensive Single-use Plastic Reform

The law would have required manufacturers to design their products to reduce unnecessary packaging waste.

California’s legislature ended its session in the early hours of September 14 without passing the California Circular Economy and Pollution Reduction Act (bills AB 1080 and SB 54), which would have been the first measures to phase out all single-use packaging and foodware that can't be recycled or composted statewide by 2030.

While several states have enacted bans on solitary plastic items like straws and bags, AB 1080 and SB 54 would have been the first to mandate source reduction of single-use packaging and disposable foodware, including plates, bowls, cups, stirrers and straws. The bill, which faced opposition from plastics makers and consumer goods companies seeking to eliminate or weaken the proposals, would have required producers to reduce waste from single-use packaging and foodware, including that made from plastic, by 75 percent by 2030 through source reduction, recycling and composting.

The law would have required manufacturers to design their products to reduce unnecessary packaging waste. By 2030, all packaging and single-use foodware would have needed to be recyclable or compostable, and producers would have been required to ensure that their products were recycled at a 75 percent rate over that same time period.