Environmental Groups File Suit Against CA’s Weakened Plastic Pollution Regulations

SAN FRANCISCO – Environmental groups challenged in court CalRecycle’s recently finalized regulations for the state’s landmark plastic packaging law, which were weakened and create giant loopholes that undermine the law’s recycling and plastic reduction goals.

NRDC, Californians Against Waste Foundation, and Oceana filed a petition and complaint in San Francisco Superior Court that the department, charged with protecting public health and the environment by reducing plastic pollution and increasing recycling, fails to meet the requirements of SB 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act.

SB 54 is designed to shift the burden of managing packaging waste from the public to the producers who create and sell packaged products. Importantly, it sets targets for reducing plastic packaging overall while increasing recycling of plastic packaging.

“CalRecycle’s regulations fall short of the letter and intent of SB 54 and fail to adequately protect communities and the environment,” said Avi Kar, Senior Director of Toxics at NRDC. “That’s why we are going to court. We face a growing avalanche of plastic waste and microplastics and rampant industry greenwashing that dresses up dirty practices with feel-good claims. We need strong rules that are true to SB 54, reduce plastic waste, and prevent greenwashing.”

SB 54 excludes certain polluting technologies from counting as recycling—for example, when a technology generates significant quantities of hazardous waste during the recycling process. The revised regulations disregard that limit and allow these polluting technologies to count as recycling as long as they have a permit, no matter how much hazardous waste they produce.

"Nobody wanted this to end up in court, but Californians deserve implementation of the law that was passed, not a version weakened by years of industry lobbying,” said Nick Lapis, Director of Advocacy for Californians Against Waste. “The status quo doesn’t work for people or the planet. Disposable plastics are consuming precious natural resources, creating pollution, and exposing communities to unnecessary risks, while the companies that make them are leaving the public to foot the bill.”

SB 54, which was signed into law in 2022, established California as the first state in the country to mandate comprehensive Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging. It also applies to virtually all plastic packaging in California unless federal law overrides California law. The revised regulations do an end run around SB 54 and allow covered products to escape regulation, increasing plastic pollution in the environment.

The next step is for CalRecycle to respond to the petition and complaint within the time prescribed by law.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).

The mission of Californians Against Waste is to protect communities by eliminating the pollution inherent in the extraction and disposal of natural resources. CAW believes in preventing waste at its source and holding producers responsible throughout a product's lifecycle to transition California to a thriving circular economy.