The Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (SB 54) is a packaging extended producer (EPR) law that was signed into law in California in 2022. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach that holds producers responsible for the entire lifecycle of their products, including post-consumer waste management. It shifts the burden of managing and financing the collection, recycling, and safe disposal of products onto the producers, rather than solely relying on government or taxpayers.
Under an EPR framework, producers are encouraged or mandated to take responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products, from design to end-of-life management. This includes minimizing the use of hazardous substances, designing products for recyclability, and establishing systems for the collection, recycling, and proper disposal of products once they are no longer in use.
California’s SB 54
According to our friends at Atlantic Packaging and a New Earth Project, “single-use packaging carries a large environmental and financial cost, and consumers currently pay for the landfilling and pollution clean-up. SB 54 shifts that burden from citizens to the companies that use packaging for their products.
The law requires producers to join a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) by January 1, 2024. Any company that sells packaged goods into the state of California must join the PRO and pays fees that cover the cost of the packaging’s disposal. The fees are designed to incentivize the use of more sustainable packaging.
The PRO will also raise $5 billion for its members over 10 years that will be used to mitigate the environmental harms from packaging sold into the state already, with particular focus on environmental justice communities. SB 54 requires that by 2032:
- Producers cut single-use plastic by 25% in packaging and disposable food serviceware
- California recycles 65% of all single-use packaging
- 100% of packaging is recyclable or compostable”
If your company needs help making its packaging sustainable, we can help ensure that you are staying in line with changes in regulations, and that you credibly communicating your efforts to your customers, so CONTACT US today with any sustainable packaging questions you might have!