Advancing historic reforms to cut plastic and packaging waste, California is seeking an organization to help overhaul the state’s recycling system for single-use packaging and plastic food ware. CalRecycle is accepting applications until Jan. 1, 2024. 

Under the state’s Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility law (SB 54, Allen, Chapter 75, Statutes of 2022), by 2032 a producer responsibility organization (PRO) must implement industry reforms to:

• Cut single-use plastic (packaging and food ware) by 25%
• Recycle 65% of single-use plastic (packaging and food ware)
• Make 100% of all packaging and single-use plastic food ware recyclable or compostable.

The law shifts the responsibility of plastic pollution onto producers, reducing plastic waste at the source. Producers of certain single-use packaging and plastic single-use food service ware must form and join a PRO that will create a program to meet the law’s requirements. CalRecycle will oversee the program. Producers must either join and pay into the PRO by Jan. 1, 2027, or comply with the law’s requirements on their own, paying their share of costs directly to the state.

Under SB 54, producers are required to pay $5 billion over 10 years to help cut the impacts of plastic pollution on California’s environment, prioritizing low-income, disadvantaged and rural areas.

Here is the link to the application for entities seeking to serve as the PRO to implement the industry reforms spelled out in SB 54.

CalRecycle will hold an informational session Thursday on how to apply to serve as the PRO. The session will run from 10 a.m. to noon Pacific time.

Those wishing to Zoom into the session with the ability to make verbal comments can go here. Those wishing to observe the session without commenting can join the live webcast here.