The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, prohibits a person from selling a plastic bag in this state that is labeled with the term “compostable” or “marine degradable” unless, at the time of sale, the plastic bag meets specified standards for those types of bags. The Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims, as developed by the Federal Trade Commission, provide the basis for voluntary compliance with Federal Trade Commission Act provisions regulating environmental advertising and marketing practices.

This bill would require, beginning July 1, 2011, a manufacturer of a compostable plastic bag meeting the specified standards to ensure that the compostable plastic bag is “readily and easily identifiable,” as the bill would define that term, from other plastic bags, in a manner that is consistent with the Federal Trade Commission Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims. The bill would prohibit a compostable plastic bag sold or distributed in the state from displaying a chasing arrow resin identification code or recycling type of symbol in any form. A manufacturer would be required to comply with these requirements only to the extent that those labeling requirements do not conflict with the Federal Trade Commission Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims.