2021-2022 CALIFORNIA WASTE & RECYCLING LEGISLATION

BILLS SPONSORED BY
CALIFORNIANS AGAINST WASTE

AB 802 (Bloom) Microfiber Pollution
Status: Dead. Not heard by Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.
Helps address microplastic pollution in California drinking water and watersheds that comes from our clothing.

AB 881 (L. Gonzalez) Plastic Waste Exports
Status: Signed by the Governor
Closes an existing loophole in California law that allows mixed plastic exports to be counted as recycling regardless of their ultimate destination, which is often overseas landfills, incinerators or waterways.

AB 962 (Kamlager) Refillable Glass Beverage Containers Status: Signed by the Governor
Allows returnable glass (“refillable”) bottles to flow through the state’s Beverage Container Recycling Program.

AB 1454 (Bloom) Bottle Bill Modernization
Status: Dead. Not heard by Senate Environmental Quality Committee.
Helps keep recycling centers open and provides much-needed support for new centers to open in areas where there are not enough centers to serve consumers, including rural areas.

AB 1857 (C. Garcia) Waste Incineration Reform
Status: Signed by the Governor
Reclassifies incineration as disposal, not recycling, and directs investments in zero-waste strategies for affected communities.

AB 1953 (Maienschien) Water Refill Stations
Status: Held
Requires certain public areas to install and maintain accessible water bottle refill stations.

AB 1985 (R. Rivas) Organic Waste
Status: Signed by the Governor
Assists local governments in achieving organic waste targets by facilitating connections with local farmers and community members in need of organic waste materials.

SB 289 (Newman) Battery Recycling
Status: Dead. Held by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Requires battery collection bins at retail outlets where batteries are sold or supplied.

SB 343 (Allen) Truth in Labelling
Status: Signed by the Governor
Prohibits the use of the chasing-arrows symbol or any other suggestion that a material is recyclable, unless the material is actually recyclable in most California communities and is routinely sold to manufacturers to make new products.

SB 1046 (Eggman & Gonzalez) Ban Non-Compostable Plastic Bags
Status: Signed by the Governor
Prohibits the distribution of plastic pre-checkout produce bags unless they are reusable, recyclable or compostable.

SB 1215 / AB 2440 (Newman & Irwin) Battery EPR
Status: Signed by the Governor
Streamlines recycling for rechargeable batteries and battery-embedded products like mobile phones, earbuds, and smartwatches, boosting recycling rates by providing easier disposal options due to current lack of efficient systems.

OTHER BILLS SUPPORTED BY
CALIFORNIANS AGAINST WASTE

AB 478 (Ting) Thermoform Minimum Content
Status: Dead. Held by Senate Appropriations Committee.
Would require producers of plastic clamshell packaging to include post-consumer recycled content.

AB 661 (Bennett) Recycled Product Standards for State Agencies
Status: Signed by the Governor
Addresses the state’s recycling goals by requiring state agencies to observe updated recycled product standards when contracting with vendors.

AB 1086 (Aguiar-Curry) Organic Waste Management
Status: Dead. Held by Senate Appropriations Committee.
Requires the Natural Resources Agency to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature that provides an implementation strategy to achieve the state’s organic waste, climate change and air quality mandates, goals, and targets.

AB 1201 (Ting) Compostable Product Standards
Status: Signed by the Governor
Will ensure that products labeled “compostable” are actually compostable and ensure harmful chemicals stay out of California’s compost stream.

AB 1276 (Carrillo) Unnecessary Food Serviceware
Status: Signed by the Governor
Expands plastic straws upon request law to include other single-use food accessories, other food facilities, and third-party delivery platforms - including food that is taken away, delivered, or served on-site.

AB 1371 (Friedman) Plastic Film in E-Commerce
Status: Died in Assembly Third Reading
Phases out the use of plastic "films" -- including mailers, void fill and polystyrene peanuts — in e-commerce packaging. Critical since there are already so many better non-plastic options.

AB 1724 (Stone) Microfiber Filtration
Status: Held
Requires all new washing machines sold in California to be equipped with microfiber filtration by 2024. The bill will also require the state to retrofit all state-owned washing machines with a microfiber filter.

AB 1894 (L. Rivas & Petrie-Norris) Smoking Waste Pollution Prevention Act
Status: Signed by the Governor
Transitions the sale of single-use cigarette and cigar, and all-in-one disposable vapes to rechargeable and reusable smoking products.

AB 2026 (Friedman) Shift to Sustainable E-Commerce Packaging
Status: Held
Requires companies to shift to e-commerce packaging that is reusable or recyclable/compostable and accepted in curbside bins and away from plastic mailing envelopes, bubble wrap, air pillows, and expanded polystyrene.

AB 2208 (Kalra) Reduce Waste From Toxic Mercury Lamps
Status: Signed by the Governor
Ends the sale of mercury-containing fluorescent lamps (lightbulbs). Mercury is difficult to dispose of and becomes toxic and hazardous to humans and wildlife.

AB 2638 (Bloom) Water Refill Stations in Schools
Status: Signed by the governor
Requires new construction or modernization projects submitted to the Division of State Architect (DSA) by a school district or governing body of a charter school includes one or more water bottle filling stations.

AB 2779 (Irwin) Bottle Bill for Wine and Distilled Spirits
Status Held
Moderately expands the California Beverage Container Recycling Program to include all alcoholic beverages packaged in aluminum cans.

AB 2784 (Ting) Increase Use of Recycled Plastic Content
Status: Vetoed by the Governor
Establishes a recycled content standard for plastic thermoform containers, fostering a circular economy for their production, collection, recycling, and reprocessing for post-consumer thermoform containers.

SB 38 (Wieckowski) Beverage Containers
Status: Signed by the Governor
This bill exempts beverage manufacturers that sell fewer than 2 million beverage containers in a calendar year from the Bottle Bill recycled content requirements minimum. The bill also makes some technical changes on payments methods and contamination issues.

SB 54 (Allen) - Plastic Pollution Producer Responsibility Act
Status: Signed by the Governor
Reduces pollution from single-use packaging and food service ware waste. As currently written, this is "placeholder" language that requires producers to source-reduce disposables, sets ambitious recycling and composting requirements, and requires all disposable packaging and food serviceware to be truly recyclable/compostable by 2032.

SB 240 (Eggman) Food Donation Tax Credit
Status: Dead. Not taken up for a vote in the Senate.
Would extend the sunset of the Healthy Food Donation Bank tax credit to January 1, 2027.

SB 1013 (Atkins) Adding Wine and Distilled Spirits to the CA Bottle Bill
Status: Signed by the Governor
Expands California's Bottle Bill to include wine and spirits containers, boosting recycling volumes, reducing litter, and protecting California’s environment and natural resources.

SB 1256 (Wieckowski) Stop Single-Use Propane Canister Waste
Status: Vetoed by the Governor
Ends the sale of disposable 1 lb propane canisters (typically used with camping stoves) since refillable options are readily available.