Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) Statement on California’s Senate Bill 54 Announcement

APR is disappointed in  Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to restart the rulemaking process for California’s Senate Bill 54 (SB 54), but underscores that this decision does not negate the importance of improving plastics recycling to support the CA economy and to protect the environment. SB 54 remains an important law to design packaging to be more recyclable and to improve the recycling rate of plastic packaging so recycled content becomes the norm to replace products made from new fossil fuel plastic. APR remains committed to working with CalRecycle and other interested stakeholders on a new round of input and supports the APR member company that currently sits on the SB 54 Advisory Council.

It is also our position that this announcement does not have direct bearing upon and is not a setback for other states moving forward with EPR implementation or considering new laws. EPR for packaging laws continue to be an important paradigm shift in how recycling is managed across the US and remain on track in Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, and Oregon. California’s SB 54 has several fundamental differences with the other four US EPR for packaging laws, including the 25% source reduction requirement, the $5 billion cleanup fund, and 65% plastics recycling target. These three fundamental components negate any useful comparisons to EPR laws or proposals in other states. This news should only be considered reflective of the regulatory and stakeholder process in California particular to SB 54 itself.