In the days before the next round of U.N. negotiations, the resin sector is calling for plastics’ importance to be recognized while environmental groups are pushing for bans and more. | Bumble Dee/Shutterstock
Ahead of the second session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution in Paris, organizations are laying out their wish lists and forming partnerships. Continue Reading
Remarks from industry groups focused on such topics as uniformity of standards, using data to back policy and recognition of the ever-changing recycling landscape. | G0d4ather/Shutterstock
The Federal Trade Commission requested comments on its revisions to the Green Guides and got 850 responses, with many calling for a crackdown on deceptive claims and better definitions of key terms. Continue Reading
The U.S. EPA is seeking comments on its recently published “National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution.” | SerPhoto/Shutterstock
Although it doesn’t use the word “ban,” the U.S. EPA released a plastics pollution strategy that supports steps to reduce production of single-use and difficult-to-recycle plastics. Continue Reading
Most beverage brands failed to meet CalRecycle’s requirements for PCR use or didn’t report to the regulator at all. | Noom CPK/Shutterstock
This story has been updated.
Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo and other big beverage brands achieved California’s mandate to use 15% PCR in their bottles last year, but the list of smaller brands that failed to hit the target – or even report data to the state – stretches over 500 companies long. Continue Reading
Fourteen companies got the go-ahead to use post-consumer resins in various food-contact applications. | Ladnongkhun/Shutterstock
Merlin Plastics, Natura PCR, Circulus, Far Eastern New Century and other prominent plastics reclaimers have received FDA letters allowing them to recycle post-consumer plastics into food and drink packaging.
SB 353 aims to protect recycling companies from severe market fluctuations, which have been a factor in many closures. | Susanne Pommer/Shutterstock
A newly introduced bill in the California Senate would adjust how state regulators calculate the amount of money paid to bottle and can recycling businesses, helping those companies avoid steep financial losses when scrap values plummet.
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The commission voted 4-0 to publish a notice in the Federal Register to begin a 60-day public comment period. That notice is expected to be published in mid-January of 2023. | DCStockPhotography/Shutterstock
Companies making deceptive sustainability claims distort the market for environmentally friendly products and “hurt honest companies who are bearing the costs of green business practices,” the chair of the FTC said this week.
More than 130 California cities now have PS bans, including San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland. | Justinboat.29/Shutterstock
Los Angeles banned expanded polystyrene after a unanimous Dec. 6 vote by the 12 city council members present, following the lead of other California cities.
The meeting was the first to work on drafting the text of the Global Plastics Treaty, which is intended to be a legally binding document addressing plastic pollution across the value chain. | Courtesy of UNEP
Mixed reactions followed the first meeting on a Global Plastics Treaty, with some complaints about “industry interference.”
The new act is built on the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which was introduced in the last two Congressional sessions but failed to move forward. | Rob Crandall/Shutterstock
A newly introduced bill in Congress is reviving parts of the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, with a focus on environmental justice.