TO: Napa County Climate Action Committee
FROM: Brian D. Bordona, Director, Napa County Planning, Building & Environmental Services
REPORT BY: Ryan Melendez, Planner II, Sustainability
SUBJECT: Presentation: National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC) - SB 54 Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act
RECOMMENDATION
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PRESENTATION: NATIONAL STEWARDSHIP ACTION COUNCIL (NSAC) - SB 54 PLASTIC POLLUTION PREVENTION AND PACKAGING PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY ACT
STAFF REQUEST: Receive a presentation from Heidi Sanborn, Executive Director of the National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC), on California Senate Bill 54 and its implications for reducing plastic packaging waste.
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California
Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
1SB 54, known as the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, sets new goals to reduce plastic packaging and requires that all forms of single-use packaging be recyclable or compostable by 2032. The law is the nation’s most comprehensive legislation to date to cut dependence on single-use packaging, while shifting plastic pollution responsibilities to producers and manufacturers.
The new law will:
- Reduce the volume of plastic and other packaging
- Require all single-use packaging and foodware to be recyclable or compostable by 2032
- Transfer the cost of collecting, processing, and recycling single-use packaging from local governments to producers
- Stimulate investment in reuse and refill systems
Specifically, the legislation requires producers to reduce single-use plastic packaging and foodservice packaging by at least 25 percent by 2032, either from direct elimination of plastic packaging or shifting to reuse or refill systems. In addition to requiring that all single-use packaging be recyclable or compostable, the bill also requires that all plastic single-use packaging items reach a recycling rate of at least 65% by 2032.
CalRecycle has formed an advisory board to guide the development of SB 54 regulations, including representatives of local government, environmental and environmental justice organizations, manufacturers, recycling and solid waste enterprises, and retail and grocery associations. StopWaste and partners are actively involved in the rulemaking process and working to engage local governments across the State. They will continue to update resources and key dates on StopWaste’s website as they emerge. You can also visit ’CalRecycles website <https://calrecycle.ca.gov/packaging/packaging-epr/> for updates.
Heidi Sanborn is the Founding Executive Director of the National Stewardship Action Council, Stewardship Action Foundation, and the California Product Stewardship Council. Heidi possesses over 34 years of experience as a leader within the solid waste industry, focused on policymaking. She worked as a consultant, contracting with the City of Napa, a regulator, and an advocate for the last 18 years. She is the nation's foremost expert on passing producer responsibility legislation and implementing it by bringing a variety of stakeholders together to support, pass, and implement difficult policies such as Extended producer responsibility (EPR) for mercury thermostats, medications, sharps, and packaging. In 2022, she was a key negotiator in passing SB 54 EPR for packaging which included hard reuse/refill and source reduction targets and provided CA with $5 Billion for remediation of packaging making it the first in the world truly Circular Economy bill. She looks forward to sharing the lessons learned and her vision for the future with you.
References:
1StopWaste: https://www.stopwaste.org/sb-54-state-law-to-cut-single-use-packaging-pollution-in-california