California State Assembly Bill 842 (2021) - (Amended)

Packaging is defined as any plastic material, partial or whole, that is used to contain, protect, deliver, or present goods. This includes primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging.

This bill does not cover beverage containers subject to existing deposit legislation, and glass or rigid metal packaging, including aluminium and steel. Medical products and devices, animal medicine, infant formula, medical food, oral supplements for specific conditions, and packaging for toxic or hazardous products are also excluded.

This legislation applies to producers, retailers, and wholesalers of single-use packaging, but it does not define producers further. Retailers or wholesalers are defined in this legislation. A retailer or wholesaler is a person who sells or offers to consumers single-use packaging, a product that uses single-use packaging, or a single-use product through stores, outlets, e-commerce, telephone, or mail.

Exemption criteria for small producers, small retailers, and small wholesalers will be developed. It will include, but not be limited to, size, revenue, number of retail locations, and market share. Producers with less than 1 million dollars in revenue will be exempt.

Producer exceptions include online markets that connect buyers and sellers, persons who do not own inventory, do not control the distribution of the single-use product, or does not determine the price of a product from an online market.

Producers are required to either individually or collectively form or join a stewardship organization.

Producers are required to either individually or collectively form or join a stewardship organization.

A stewardship organization formed shall be an organization that is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code.

The producers or PRO are responsible for all financial costs of the program. The PRO is responsible for expanding and improving infrastructure and collection programs. The bill does not specify responsibility over existing collection programs.

The stewardship organization must pay for the source reduction, collection, and recycling of the single-use packaging and single-use products that the producers covered under the stewardship plan sell, offer for sale, distribute, or import in or into the state.

The stewardship organization plan must include funding to support education and outreach.

The bill requires a stewardship organization to pay to the department an administrative fee to cover the department’s full costs of administering and enforcing the act, not to exceed the department’s actual and reasonable regulatory costs.

The stewardship organization plan must include funding for litter prevention and cleanup measures.

The stewardship organization plan must include market development mechanisms for recyclable and compostable materials, including those materials likely to contaminate plastics.

The bill requires achieving a 75% recycling rate of single-use packaging and single-use products by 2032 and annually thereafter.

The bill would, beginning January 1, 2035, require all single-use packaging and single-use products sold, offered for sale, distributed, or imported in or into the state to include 75% post-consumer recycled content.

The bill would, beginning January 1, 2023, require all single-use packaging and single-use products sold, offered for sale, distributed, or imported in or into the state to be easily recyclable or easily compostable in the state.

A stewardship plan and budget shall prioritize the use and expansion of remanufacturing and collection infrastructure in the state.

The stewardship plan must include improvements or expansion of recycling and composting infrastructure.

Producers must form or join a stewardship organization within the first 6 months of the adoption of this regulation.

A stewardship organization must develop and submit to the state a plan and budget within the first 6 months of the adoption of this regulation.

A stewardship organization must review and potentially amend its plan at least once every five years. The amendments must be approved by the state. The state may conduct an audit of a stewardship organization if necessary.

Stewardship organizations are required to submit an annual report to the state. Additionally, a stewardship organization is required to register all producers to California's Recycling and Disposal reporting system. The producers must disclose their 2019 baseline units sold, distributed, or imported.

Producers will be fined per unit sold if not in compliance. Penalties are $0.01 for hard to recycle or hard to compost single-use packaging and single-use products, $0.02 for non-recyclable or non-compostable single-use packaging and single-use products, and, additionally, beginning in 2035, of $0.01 for single-use packaging and single-use products that do not include 75% post-consumer postconsumer recycled content.

If a producer is not in compliance the civil penalties will not exceed $50,000 per day, per violation.

A stewardship plan and budget shall include measures for education and outreach for waste reduction, post-consumer recycling material, recycling, and composting.

A stewardship plan and budget shall include measures for litter prevention and cleanup measures.

Single-use packaging means the packaging of a product made partially or entirely of plastic and that meets both of the following:

1. The packaging is routinely recycled, disposed of, or discarded after its contents have been used or unpackaged.
2. The packaging is typically not refilled by the producer.

Single-use packaging does not include reusable packaging. Single-use product means single-use food service ware, including plates, bowls, cups, utensils, stirrers, and straws made partially or entirely of plastic.

By July 1, 2022 the department will determine what single-use packaging and products are easily recyclable and easily compostable. The determination will include if single-use packaging and single-use products are easily recyclable or easily compostable, hard to recycle or hard to compost, or non-recyclable or non-compostable.