Sen. Jeff Merkley is working on a draft bill that would set federal parameters around recycling labels on consumer packaging, called the Truth in Labeling Act of 2024. | 9dream Studio/Shutterstock
Due to its size and tendency to be on the leading edge of environmental law, California has long been seen as the bellwether, setting policy that other states will later follow – or that producers and manufacturers take as de facto law nationwide when it comes to standards. Continue Reading
The report from the Center for International Environmental Law details effects of plastic pollution and provides tools for local governments to pursue compensation. | Poring Studio/Shutterstock
The Center for International Environmental Law has released a report detailing how local governments can pursue compensation for the effects of plastic pollution, mostly via legal action against plastic producers and brand owners. Continue Reading
Panelists said the playbook that increased renewable energy usage in the U.S. could be used to improve recycling, too. | PhilipR/Shutterstock
At a meeting of Oregon materials recovery stakeholders last week, two plastics recycling experts had a blunt message for attendees: Plastics recycling is in trouble. Continue Reading
PepsiCo now is involved in two lawsuits surrounding plastic waste. | PJiiiJane/Shutterstock
The City of Baltimore, Maryland, has filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and other major companies to recoup costs associated with cleaning up plastic pollution. Continue Reading
S 2830 seeks to regulate many single-use plastic products, improve recycling access and commission studies on extended producer responsibility, organics and PS. | Natalia Bratslavsky/Shutterstock
A bill that combines a half-dozen environmental actions, touching on extended producer responsibility for several materials, plastic bans and access to both bulky plastic and organics recycling, has passed the Massachusetts Senate and gone onto the House for consideration. Continue Reading
The “Plastic Free Packaging Design Guide” focuses on how Google has moved toward fiber-based packaging and away from plastics in its consumer electronics products. | Tada Images/Shutterstock
Google this month published a comprehensive look at how the company has approached designing its packaging for minimal plastic use. In publicly detailing its methodology, the major corporation laid out a philosophy that “sustainability should be a collaborative endeavor, not a competitive one.” Continue Reading
Of 147 companies ranked with stated recyclability goals, only 22 are on track to meet them. | Valeriya Bogdanova/Shutterstock
Most companies are likely to miss their recyclability goals and are using more plastic than before despite reduction goals, but there has been a shift to supporting extended producer responsibility policies, according to a recently released report card from the environmental activist group As You Sow. Continue Reading
The June 14 webinar “EPR in British Columbia: A Timeline of Success and Challenge Past, Present, Future” brought together nine speakers with long experience in extended producer responsibility in the province. | Vipada Kanajod/Shutterstock
How did a law intended to stop can-tabs litter in British Columbia lead to today’s expansive extended producer responsibility laws? Those involved in its evolution traced the path in a webinar hosted by the Coast Waste Management Association. Continue Reading
The U.S. Plastics Pact reported that by the end of 2022, pact signatories had increased PCR use from 7% to 9.4%. | XXL Photo/Shutterstock
The U.S. Plastics Pact this week unveiled the goals its signatories will strive for during the next five years. Most of the goals build on the efforts over the past five years, and the group’s target date to hit 30% average recycled content has been extended from 2025 to 2030. Continue Reading
Panelists discuss how collaboration can benefit all parties during the session “The New Era of Collaboration” at the 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference in Grapevine, Texas. | Big Wave Productions/Resource Recycling
Collaboration between all parts of the plastic value chain is necessary to advance sustainability goals, and four companies at the 2024 Plastics Recycling Conference showed how they’re embodying that idea. Continue Reading