{"id":512349,"date":"2026-06-26T16:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T16:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/512349\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T16:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T16:09:09","slug":"californias-landmark-anti-plastics-law-sparks-anger-as-17-states-move-to-sue-plastics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/512349\/","title":{"rendered":"California\u2019s landmark anti-plastics law sparks anger as 17 states move to sue | Plastics"},"content":{"rendered":"

A groundbreaking California<\/a> law that compels packaging producers to phase out single-use plastics is already sparking anger from the chemicals industry and environmental groups just weeks after going into effect.<\/p>\n

The law, which was signed<\/a> by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022 but only took effect in May, requires plastic and packaging companies to use less single-use plastic, and ensure by 2032 that all packaging is either recyclable or compostable. The big idea is to incentivize producers of plastics to consider the end of their products\u2019 life in order to create better, more sustainable bottles, containers and wrappings.<\/p>\n

Under the new rules, plastic producers have to cut single-use plastic, increase recycling rates, and pay $5bn to remedy harms from plastic pollution.<\/p>\n

The science of plastic recycling is not encouraging: only 5-6% of plastic is ever recycled<\/a>. And despite progress in recent years with local bans on plastic bags and packaging, and producers touting new technologies, experts say that rate is unlikely to change because the low cost of creating new plastic \u2013 and the markets for selling recycled plastic have dropped when China and other countries drastically reduced the amount of plastic they would purchase from the US.<\/p>\n

But industry groups say the law puts an undue burden and financial cost on manufacturers in other states who will still have to comply in order to do business in California. And on Monday, a coalition of 17 states sued in an effort to block the law.<\/p>\n

One issue, they say, is that California\u2019s law requires businesses to register and pay fees to a private state-appointed entity called Circular Action Alliance. \u201cNo state should limit interstate commerce, let alone delegate the power to set and collect taxes to a third party outside of the scope of public scrutiny,\u201d said Eric Hoplin, president and CEO of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, which joined the lawsuit, said in a statement<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n

Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the National Stewardship Action Council, who negotiated part of the bill, says the question is not whether there is a cost in dealing with plastics at the end of their lifespan. \u201cThe question is who pays for it and whether the system is designed to deliver the greatest environmental benefit in the most cost-effective way possible,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

She says that currently the cost of managing packaging waste falls largely on local governments, taxpayers, ratepayers and small businesses, while the new law shares that responsibility with the companies that design, market and profit from packaging.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen done correctly, this creates incentives for smarter packaging design, reduces waste management costs borne by communities, and supports investment in responsible end markets that keep valuable materials in circulation and out of the environment,\u201d Sanborn says. \u201cThe real discussion should be how to implement the law efficiently and fairly so it delivers environmental benefits while minimizing costs for California families and businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally there was a push to put an initiative on the ballot in California to ban polystyrene, also known as styrofoam. But at the last minute, the American Chemistry Council (trade group for fossil fuel and chemical companies) intervened, and negotiated with state senator Ben Allen, alongside both companies and environmental groups, for a compromise bill. Since industry groups were part of the law\u2019s creation, it\u2019s ironic that they are now suing, says Judith Enck, a former EPA administrator who leads Beyond Plastics<\/a>, an environmental advocacy group. \u201cThe industry negotiated this bill, and yet they\u2019re trying to undercut it with this lawsuit,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s a big difference between filing a lawsuit and winning a lawsuit, and I would be surprised if they prevailed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avinash Kar, senior director, toxics, environmental health with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), agrees that the likelihood of the lawsuit prevailing is low. The argument that the law puts an undue burden and financial cost on manufacturers in other states who will still have to comply in order to do business in California hasn\u2019t held up in other contexts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is part of the industry\u2019s sort of pattern of delay, delay, delay,\u201d says Kar. He adds that the chemical industry has challenged restrictions on other products, including Pfas in products in Minnesota on commerce clause grounds, and those efforts were rejected. \u201cI\u2019m not sure why this would be different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a coalition of environmental groups, including the NRDC, is also challenging the law \u2013 but for different reasons. They say the state\u2019s rules break the law by allowing recycling methods that create toxic waste, and by letting some plastics slip through the rules entirely by changing the definition of recycling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make sure the recycling that happens under it is real and not imaginary and not greenwashing, and we need to make sure that all plastic products that were intended to be covered by the law are covered \u2013 and those are the loopholes that were created by the regulations that were finalized, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re suing now,\u201d says Kar.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia law has got real targets, can make real improvements, and has real potential. And that is being undermined by the way CalRecycle finalized its regulations, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re going to court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laws that create extended producer responsibility are working in Europe, Canada, Asia, South America, Africa and around the world, says Scott Cassel, founder of the Product Stewardship Institute, a non-profit based in Boston that powers the circular economy. \u201cThese laws provide a network of accountability that shares responsibility among governments, producers, others in the supply chain, and recyclers,\u201d he says. \u201cFiling lawsuits is not the answer. It is a waste of everyone\u2019s time and money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kar says that the response to the law shows one thing clearly: people are energized about plastics. \u201cPeople are concerned about microplastics \u2013 it\u2019s been found in all of us and is being associated with health impacts,\u201d he says. \u201cPlastics are clogging their environment, and they don\u2019t go away.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A groundbreaking California law that compels packaging producers to phase out single-use plastics is already sparking anger from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-512349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}