California Moves to Protect Consumers from Deceptive Recycled Content Claims
February 19, 2026
Contact:
Christian Filbrun, Office of Assemblymember Boerner 916-319-2077
Kayla Robinson, Californians Against Waste 530-574-4701
SACRAMENTO, CA – Assemblymember Tasha Boerner (D-Encinitas) introduced new legislation to protect consumers from deceptive recycled content claims. AB 2253, sponsored by Californians Against Waste, would prohibit plastic and consumer product companies from using misleading recycled content “credit” schemes and other accounting gimmicks that allow them to advertise recycled content even when none is physically present in the product, undermining consumers’ efforts to make environmentally responsible choices.
“This bill is very simple: if a product claims to contain recycled content, that claim must reflect the product’s actual, physical recycled material,” said Assemblymember Tasha Boerner. “Californians care deeply about sustainability and deserve honest information. I look forward to working with Californians Against Waste to ensure companies cannot use accounting tricks to mislead consumers.”
For decades, California has relied on recycled content as a cornerstone of its recycling and waste-reduction strategy. Incorporating recycled materials into products such as plastic bottles, packaging, paper, and glass creates stable demand for materials collected through recycling programs. That demand helps keep materials out of landfills, reduces the need for virgin resource extraction, and supports recycling infrastructure and jobs.
In recent years, however, some plastics and consumer product companies have increasingly turned to recycled content “credit” schemes or accounting gimmicks rather than using actual recycled material in their products. Under these systems (often referred to as mass balance, free allocation, or book-and-claim accounting) companies can purchase credits associated with debatably recycled material from elsewhere in the global supply chain or use convoluted accounting methods that generate credits untethered from recycled material. As a result, companies can claim high levels of recycled content even when none is physically present in the product itself.
“Consumers should be able to trust the labels they see on store shelves,” said Kayla Robinson, Legislative Director for Californians Against Waste. “Credit-based accounting schemes allow companies to inflate recycled content claims without actually increasing the use of recycled materials in products. This legislation restores integrity to the marketplace and ensures that recycled content claims mean what consumers think they mean.”
"This bill will protect consumers against deception on the products they buy,” said Renee Sharp, Director of Plastics and Petrochemical Advocacy at NRDC. “When it comes to recycled content, consumers want and deserve accurate information – not misleading accounting and marketing schemes."
Existing law requires companies that make recycled-content claims about plastic food containers to maintain documentation showing that the recycled material was diverted from the waste stream and that the claim complies with Federal Trade Commission standards. If passed, AB 2253 would extend similar requirements to all products and clarify that recycled content claims must be based on the actual recycled material in a product, ensuring accountability and truthful marketing across product categories.
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Assemblymember Tasha Boerner represents the 77th District, which encompasses Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Coronado and the coastal communities of La Jolla south to Downtown San Diego. You can learn more about Assemblymember Boerner at a77.asmdc.org, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter/X.
Californians Against Waste is a non-profit environmental research and advocacy organization that identifies, develops, promotes and monitors policy solutions to pollution and conservation problems posing a threat to public health and the environment.