California Passes Law To Ensure Single-Use Plastics Won’t Be The Norm

A new law has been passed in California that is deemed to be the most stringent yet in the war against plastic. Signed by the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, it aims to completely eliminate single-use plastic over the next decade.  

Only 10% of plastic gets recycled, leaving the rest to end up in landfills and oceans, proving that recycling is not an efficient method of clearing away plastic. The new law sets to change this as it forces companies to make an effort to turn the tides on climate change.  

The legislation requires single-use packaging and cutlery to be compostable or recyclable by 2032, as well as enforces a 25% reduction in plastic packaging sales. This would encourage manufacturers to reduce packaging size or make products reusable. In addition, 65% of all single-use packaging, including paper and metal, should also be recyclable.

To keep companies on track, a task force of industry leaders will be created. 

Currently, taxpayers are paying for the operation of recycling firms. With the concerningly low amounts of actually recycled products, it would seem unfair for citizens to continue forking out money. The state understands this and has now shifted the cost of recycling onto the manufacturers. These producer-responsibility laws were first passed in Maine and Oregon, where manufacturers were placed in charge of sorting and recycling their own waste.  

The feud on plastic is our war on climate change, and reducing plastic production and use will have dramatic effects on the environment. The new law was drafted with the help of a nonprofit group, the Ocean Conservatory, which has estimated that the rules could potentially eliminate 23 million tons of waste by the time we hit 2032.  

[via CNN and The New York Times, Photo 124930990 © Maryna Konoplytska | Dreamstime.com]