The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste, including, among other solid waste, plastic packaging containers.
This bill would require an e-commerce shipper, as defined, that ships purchased products in or into the state to reduce from its 2023 calendar year levels the total weight and number of units of single-use plastic shipping envelopes, cushioning, and void fill, and expanded and extruded polystyrene, it uses to ship or transport the products, by no less than unspecified percentages on or before January 1, 2030. The bill would establish exemptions from these prohibitions.
The bill would make a violation of the foregoing requirements subject to civil penalties and would require penalties collected by the Attorney General to be deposited into the Plastic Packaging Reduction Penalty Account, which the bill would create, for expenditure by the Attorney General, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enforce those requirements.