The ban in California could have impacts on the sector in other states, because any company importing goods to California would have to comply with its plastic standards. Much like California’s emissions standards tend to cause changes in the automotive industry nationally, such a bill has the potential to shift the plastic landscape more broadly.

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Senate Bill 54 and Assembly Bill 1080, collectively called the California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act, are identical companion bills that aim to reduce single-use packaging and product waste in California by 75% by 2030. The two bills were proposed by Sen. Ben Allen, who represents parts of southern and western Los Angeles county, and Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who represents southern San Diego.

The National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) sent a letter to Udall and Lowenthal in response to the legislation by the Aug. 21 deadline. According to NWRA, the association believes the proposals outlined by Udall and Lowenthal will lead to more contamination and that Congress should focus on policy initiatives that would expand the domestic recycling market.

“There are better ways to address the issue of reducing plastic waste pollution than by product stewardship or extended producer responsibility financing schemes,” says Darrell Smith, president and CEO of NWRA.

Poland Spring, a subsidiary of Stamford, Connecticut-based Nestlé Waters North America, partnered with The Recycling Partnership, Falls Church, Virginia, to address consumer confusion around plastic recycling. The two companies are launching an Instagram recycling hotline to help answer the question, “Can I recycle this?”

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Historically, companies have used post-consumer resin (PCR) because it was a lower cost feedstock than virgin. In recent years, however, pricing for virgin plastic (mostly “wide spec” resin) has fallen below that of PCR (mostly high quality PCR that is suitable for food contact).

When more than a thousand cars showed up for the last plastic round up, the Waste Management Division was concerned about the carbon emissions created by the cars. In response, waste management specialist Sarah Grimm says they created a community collector program to encourage a few people to collect plastic for their entire neighborhood.

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As technology advances, global brands increase their demand for recycled material and consumers’ awareness of the issues created by ocean plastic heightens, the market for recycled PP continues to grow and evolve. Reprocessors predict the market potential for recycled PP is “huge.”

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The latest figures indicate that the plastics recycling disruption is ongoing, and there are many indications the export situation will only experience more uncertainty. For instance, this decrease comes before the impact of the Basel Convention changes in scrap plastic shipping rules. And additional countries are publicly denouncing scrap plastic imports and calling for regulatory reform.

This post is provided by the City of Portland, Bureau of Planning & Sustainability, a Sustainable Oregon 2019 Gold Sponsor

A costly habit

This summary is provided by Laura Gumpert, 2019 AOR Conference Scholarship Recipient