California Governor Vetoes Bill on Plastic Bottle Recycling Regs

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on October 12 vetoed AB 792, a measure that would have required beverage companies to use 50 percent recycled content in bottles by 2030.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the governor cited “late amendments to the bill establishing criteria to grant waivers to manufacturers that would result in a burdensome process that undermines the worthy intent of the legislation.”

Last month, California’s legislature ended up passing AB 792, which originally required that plastic bottles be made of 100 percent recycled materials by 2035. The bill, however, was amended to implement phased-in minimums, starting with a 10 percent requirement in 2021 and capping at 50 percent by 2030. The bill would have given the state's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) the authority to adjust minimum requirements if market conditions prevented companies from reaching them.

The governor did, however, sign AB54 to provide financial and regulatory relief to California’s struggling recycling program.

San Francisco Chronicle has more:

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Saturday to give California one of the toughest recycling mandates for plastic bottles in the nation.

AB792 by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would have required beverage companies to use 50% recycled content in bottles by 2030. CalRecycle, the state’s recycling agency, would have audited companies and fined those that didn’t comply.

Read the full article here.