When it comes to plastic bag legislation, 2017 may be the storm after the storm. After the high-profile battle over California’s statewide plastic bag ban, legislators in at least 16 states have introduced bills related to bags this year.
Maryland will regulate compostability claims on plastic products and study ways to boost composting throughout the state.
The Califo
rnia legislature passed a bill requiring beverage companies to publicly report the amount of post-consumer PET they use. And a separate piece of legislation sent to the governor extends a plastics-recycling subsidy programs for one year.
A pair of bills in Massachusetts could have some impact on recovery. One mandates reductions in statewide per-capita waste generation and another requires state government offices to divert a host of materials.
Federal authorities slap a Georgia plastics recycling company with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, and officials in New Mexico get their hands dirty in a waste composition study.
California legislators are expected to take up recycling-related legislation again in 2020. | michael warwick/Shutterstock
The RECYCLE Act is the second federal recycling grants bill to be introduced in the last week. | nate samui/Shutterstock
Lawmakers in Washington, D.C. have introduced another bill that creates a federal recycling grants program.
Packaging EPR is already in place in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec. | One Photo / Shutterstock
New Brunswick will require that manufacturers pay for the end-of-life collection and processing of the packaging materials they produce.
The recently introduced RECOVER Act provides funds to support recycling infrastructure, programs and education. | Yi Chen Chiang/Shutterstock
Legislation before Congress provides up to $500 million in matching grants to state and local governments to support recycling.
Recology CEO Michael Sangiacomo told an audience at the 2019 Resource Recycling Conference and Trade Show his company would help bankroll a California initiative taking aim at plastic waste. | Brian Adams Photography
The CEO of West Coast hauler Recology recently teamed up with environmentalists to submit an initiative that would put single-use plastics management in front of voters in the state. Continue Reading