May 4 - Here They Go Again: Senate Republicans Demand Gutting California’s Global Warming Law (CA Progress Report)

On Monday, the Senate Environmental Quality Committee advanced CAW sponsored legislation to expand California's Container Recycling Law.

Senate Bill 1625 (Corbett), will help reduce plastic litter, waste and marine debris by expanding California's successful Container Recycling Law to include all plastic bottles. When implemented, this measure will result in the recycling of more than 3 billion additional plastic bottles, reducing littered and landfilled plastic waste by 130,000 tons annually.

Managing plastic waste poses a growing cost burden on local governments. The collection and disposal of plastic bottles costs local governments and ratepayers in excess of $32 million annually. The increase in recycling as a result of SB 1625 will—at minimum--cut this disposal cost in half. What little plastic bottle recycling is occurring now is primarily being subsidized by local governments and ratepayers, at the rate of more than $16 million annually. SB 1625 will eliminate these existing costs to curbside recycling programs and instead provide curbside programs with more than $67 million in new recycling program revenue. SB 1625 and the resulting growth in recycling represents a net revenue benefit to local governments and curbside recycling programs of roughly $100 million annually.

CAW-sponsored AB 2058 (Levine) passed out of Assembly Natural Resources committee yesterday. The bill will require that retailers meet a tough plastic bag diversion mandate--as high as 70%--if they wish to continue freely distributing plastic bags. If the benchmark is not met, retailers will only be able to hand out bags if they charge a fee. A similar approach has reduced plastic bag consumption in Ireland by over 90%.

Watch an Interview with Assembly Member Levine>>

Read a Press Release>>

CAW and Plastic Bags:

• Learn More about Plastic Bags
• AB 2058

Several important marine debris bills are headed to their first policy committees in the California Legislature, and they need your support! They include:

AB 2505 (Brownley) - PVC Phase-out: Phases out the use of toxic, non-recycled PVC consumer packaging. Asm ESTM 4/1. Letters needed: Now! [Sample Letter]

AB 2058 (Levine) - Plastic Bag Litter Reduction: Requires retailers to drastically reduce and recycle plastic bags or they will be required to charge a significant per bag fee. Asm NR 4/7. Letters needed: 3/31. [Sample Letter]

SB 1625 (Corbett) - Bottle Bill Update: Updates California's successful Bottle and Can Recycling Law by, among other expected fixes, clarifying the way recycling rates are calculated. Sen EQ 4/1. Letters needed: 3/31. [Sample Letter]