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SB-45 Recycling: beverage containers: tethered plastic caps.(2025-2026)

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Date Published: 12/12/2024 09:00 PM
SB45:v99#DOCUMENT


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 45

Introduced by Senator Padilla

December 12, 2024

An act to repeal and add Section 14548 of the Public Resources Code, relating to recycling.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 45, as introduced, Padilla. Recycling: beverage containers: tethered plastic caps.
The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, is established to promote beverage container recycling. The act defines “beverage container” to mean the individual, separate bottle, can, jar, carton, or other receptacle, however denominated, in which a beverage is sold, and that is constructed of metal, glass, or plastic, or other material, or any combination of these materials, but does not include cups or other similar open or loosely sealed receptacles. A violation of the act is a crime.
Existing law authorizes the department, subject to the availability of funds, to pay a quality incentive payment of up to $180 per ton to qualified recyclers for thermoform plastic containers diverted from curbside recycling programs, as provided.
This bill would delete that authorization. The bill would instead require, on and after January 1, 2027, beverage containers, as defined, intended for sale in this state, to have a cap that is tethered to the container that prevents the separation of the cap from the container when the cap is removed from the container by the consumer. The bill would exempt, until January 1, 2028, any type of beverage container with a recycling rate of better than 70% for calendar years 2022 and 2023, as determined by the department, from compliance with that requirement. The bill would exempt beverage containers with a capacity of 3 liters or more from the scope of the bill.
By creating a new requirement under the act, a violation of which would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) While better than 70 percent of PET plastic beverage containers are returned for recycling and diverted from the waste and litter stream in California, available data indicates that the recycling rate for easily separable plastic caps is lower and the litter rate is higher than for beverage containers generally and PET plastic beverage containers specifically.
(2) Annual California beach litter data consistently shows that caps for plastic beverage containers represent a disproportionately greater source of beach litter compared to plastic beverage bottles, and are perennially among the top five items found in California beach litter surveys.
(3) Discarded caps for plastic beverage containers have been found to pose a unique and significant threat to marine wildlife. Marine wildlife ingest plastic bottle caps, mistaking them for food, which can lead to internal injuries, starvation, and death.
(4) Due to their relatively small size and different resin type even those plastic caps collected for recycling with associated bottles frequently wind up in material recovery facility residual, and are not recycled into new materials and products.
(5) Recognizing the lower recycling rate and higher litter rate, policymakers in the European Union included a tethered cap requirement in the 2019 Single-Use Plastics Directive. Effective July 3, 2024, all Single-Use plastic beverage containers of less than three liters may only be placed on the market if the caps remain attached to the containers during the products’ intended use stage.
(6) Several United States beverage producers have already begun adding tethered caps on plastic beverage containers sold in California, including Crystal Geyser, BlueTriton (Arrowhead), Coca-Cola (smartwater), PepsiCo (Gatorade), Keurig Dr. Pepper (CORE Hydration), Nestlé (Essentia), The Wonderful Company (FIJI Water), and Danone (evian).
(7) Public opinion polling and surveys in the European Union conducted by Sidel have found that consumers prefer caps that remain attached to their beverage containers for reasons of convenience, cleanliness, environmental benefit, and recyclability.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting these provisions to do all of the following:
(1) Reduce the environmental impact of beverage container plastic caps leakage into the environment by mandating the use of tethered caps on all beverage containers sold in the state.
(2) Protect wildlife from the harmful effects of ingesting plastic caps that have become separated from beverage containers.
(3) Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of California’s recycling and material recovery efforts by increasing the number of plastic caps that remain attached to beverage containers during collection and processing.
(4) Align with global best practices and regulatory standards, such as those set by the European Union.

SEC. 2.

 Section 14548 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
14548.

(a)For purposes of this section, “thermoform plastic container” means a plastic container, such as a clamshell, cup, drinking cup, pod, tub, lid, box, tray, egg carton, or similar rigid, nonbottle packaging, formed from sheets of extruded resin and used to package items such as fresh produce, baked goods, nuts, deli items, and nonbottle beverages. The term does not include any of the following:

(1)A lid or seal of a different material type from plastic.

(2)Thermoform plastic containers that are medical devices, medical products that are required to be sterile, prescription medicine, and packaging used for those products.

(3)A refillable thermoform plastic container that ordinarily would be returned to the manufacturer to be refilled and resold.

(4)A plastic beverage container subject to the California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (Division 12.1 (commencing with Section 14500)).

(5)A thermoform plastic container of a resin type for which the total amount of the resin type sold in California annually is either of the following:

(A)Less than 1,000,000 pounds for a resin type other than expanded polystyrene.

(B)Less than 40,000 pounds of expanded polystyrene.

(6)A thermoform plastic container that is designed to be composted and is eligible to be labeled “compostable” pursuant to Section 42357.

(b)In order to improve the quality and marketability of empty beverage containers collected for recycling in the state by curbside recycling programs, the department may, subject to the availability of funds, pay a quality incentive payment for thermoform plastic containers diverted from curbside recycling programs.

(c)The department may make a quality incentive payment pursuant to this section to any recycling center certified pursuant to this division.

(d)The department may make a quality incentive payment only for materials that are substantially free of contamination, recycled, and not disposed of after collection.

(e)The amount of the quality plastic incentive payment shall be up to one hundred eighty dollars ($180) per ton, as determined by the department.

(f)An operator of a certified recycling center receiving a quality incentive payment shall make available for inspection and review any relevant record that the department determines is necessary to verify the accuracy of data upon which the quality incentive payment is based and the operator’s or certified center’s compliance with any applicable regulation.

(g)The department may make only one quality incentive payment for each thermoform plastic container collected pursuant to this section.

(h)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2023.

SEC. 3.

 Section 14548 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

14548.
 (a)  Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), on and after January 1, 2027, beverage containers intended for sale in this state and subject to this division, shall have a cap that is tethered to the container that prevents the separation of the cap from the container when the cap is removed from the container by the consumer.
(b) For any type of beverage container subject to this division, with a recycling rate of better than 70 percent for calendar years 2022 and 2023, as determined by the department, compliance with the requirements of subdivision (a) shall not be required until January 1, 2028.
(c) A beverage container with a capacity of three liters or more is exempt from complying with this section.
(d) For purposes of this section, “beverage container” means an individual, separate bottle, can, jar, carton, or other receptacle, however denominated, in which less than three liters of a beverage is sold, and that is constructed of plastic. “Beverage container” does not include a cup or other similar open or loosely sealed receptacle.

SEC. 4.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.