CalRecycle releases initial findings for recyclability labeling, EPR law implementation

• CalRecycle on Thursday shared multiple updates toward implementing its 2022 extended producer responsibility for packaging law. The agency published draft rules as well as a covered materials category list of potential categories regulated by SB 54. It also shared a report to the legislature.
• CalRecycle found that about 38% (37 out of 98) of covered material categories are recyclable in the state, including most types of glass, aluminum, cardboard, and paper, as well as plastics 1, 2 and 5. “These CMCs generally consist of materials that have established and robust recyclable material markets, meaning that processors have a buyer for the recycled-content feedstock they produce,” the agency stated.
• The same day, CalRecycle released the SB 343 preliminary findings report for the 2021 labeling law’s required characterization study of material types and forms that routinely become feedstock for new products and packaging. That law aims to crack down on recyclability claims and use of the chasing arrows symbol, setting into motion a detailed state-led approval process.

Multiple states are progressing on EPR implementation in 2024, with California being the largest. California’s laws on EPR and labeling, with major implications for packaging and recycling, are linked.

Under SB 54, which mainly covers plastic, CalRecycle must use criteria established by SB 343, which applies to materials broadly, to evaluate the recyclability of the covered material categories. CalRecycle’s SB 54 report to the legislature makes clear, however, that the information on covered material recyclability does not determine recycling labeling eligibility pursuant to SB 343.

In addition to the SB 343 criteria, recyclability is determined by whether a certain material is accepted by jurisdiction recycling programs servicing at least 60% of Californians, and is recovered and sorted by large volume transfer processors servicing at least 60% of statewide recycling programs.

CalRecycle collected information from local recycling programs and LVTPs to inform the recyclability status of covered material categories. It found about 49% (48 of 98) are accepted for collection by jurisdiction recycling programs that service at least 60% of Californians. On the processing side, 43% (42 of 98) are recovered by LVTPs that service at least 60% of recycling programs in the state, while 59% (58 of 98) are processed by LVTPs serving at least 60% of Californians.

“This information is interesting because it highlights the potential difference between recycling programs served and population served, in that often more populous regions are serviced by LVTPs that recover a wider range of materials than lower population areas,” CalRecycle wrote. “As a result, for some material types, the number of counties that have LVTPs available to them may not meet the 60% threshold, while the percent of the population with an LVTP serving them does meet the 60% threshold.”

Examples of covered materials with no evidence of sorting include molded fiber food service ware with plastic components, waxed cardboard with plastic components, plastic mailers, polycoated food service ware, and more.

Ultimately, SB 54 calls for all packaging to be recyclable or compostable, 65% of plastic packaging recycled and 25% less plastic packaging sold by 2032. Regulations are to be completed next year and recycling rates are to be published by Jan. 1, 2026.

As for the SB 343 materials characterization study, Steptoe Attorney Joseph Dages wrote in a Tuesday memo that “the results of the MCS, once finalized, will be very impactful, given that the data and rates at which materials are collected, sorted, and reclaimed, as discussed in the MCS, will heavily influence when a company can make a recyclable claim in the state for a package or product.”

CalRecycle will hold a public workshop on the SB 343 preliminary findings report on Feb. 13. and will accept public comment through Feb. 29. Final material characterization study findings are intended to be published in March/April. The regulation takes effect 18 months later, or fall of 2025. Second material characterization study findings are to be published in 2027, and additional findings published every five years thereafter.