As part of its effort to harmonize legislation and industry practices, APR has urged the Federal Trade Commission to update its so-called “Green Guides.” | DCStockPhotography/Shutterstock
A federal bottle bill, more extended producer responsibility bills and pressure on single-use plastics are all in the future of plastics legislation, industry policy experts predicted.
The founder of the Product Stewardship Institute recently advised the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on plastic pollution reduction policies. | 360b/Shutterstock
The study demonstrated 99% accuracy for the detection and sortation of films and flexibles. | Courtesy of Digimarc
A Canadian group’s study of Digimarc Recycle’s digital watermark showed that it does in fact improve accuracy for sorting flexible plastic packaging.
California’s carpet recycling rate in 2021 was 27.9%, up from 20.9% in 2020. | Colleen Michaels/Shutterstock
California’s extended producer responsibility program for carpet achieved a sharp increase in the recycling rate last year, jumping 7 percentage points from the prior year.
The president and CEO of the Flexible Packaging Association says an extended producer responsibility program for flexible packaging is the way to reduce food waste, shipping emissions and plastic in landfills. | elpashtetto/Shutterstock
Legislators recently spoke about their challenges and successes with EPR legislation. | Banlai/Shutterstock
Four state-level elected officials who have worked on extended producer responsibility bills for packaging recently discussed how they became champions of recycling policy and offered tips to help advance legislation.
For the second year in a row, Recycle BC observed “significant growth” in collected metrics tons, with a 17% increase over the past two years. | Stephen Griffith/Shutterstock
British Columbia’s paper and plastic packaging collection rates rebounded in 2021 after pandemic-related challenges, reaching a record-high recovery rate of just over 94%.
A policy expert offers best practices for designing EPR for packaging. | Marina Onokhina/Shutterstock
New legislation evokes varied reactions among industry and activists. | Michael Warwick/Shutterstock
Industry leaders mostly expressed support for California’s recently signed extended producer responsibility bill, though some said they still had concerns about its far reach. Continue Reading
Legislators have approved EPR for printed paper and packaging in California. | Kit Leong/Shutterstock
This story has been updated.
California’s printed paper and packaging extended producer responsibility bill passed the state Senate unanimously June 30 and was signed into law, just before the deadline to pull a plastic-tax measure from November’s state ballot.