California Companies Must Comply with Plastic Reduction Law by August 1

California’s new plastic reduction law is another reminder that the plastics landscape is changing quickly. Requirements like these are raising expectations for how companies manage plastic use, while litigation, PFAS-related claims, and new disclosure obligations continue to reshape the broader risk landscape. That’s the focus of our webinar, Plastics Under Scrutiny: Understanding a New Era of Corporate Liability. If you weren’t able to join us live, the recording is now available on YouTube. 🎥 Watch now: https://lnkd.in/dRj6QVGC

As California’s landmark packaging law, SB 54, reshapes the future of packaging, companies are racing to innovate and reduce, even as legal challenges add uncertainty to the path ahead for us all. Check out my newest Trellis article below ⚠️ ♻️

PHENOMENAL PLASTIC-FREE NEWS! Just in time for Plastic-free July! Companies race to comply with California's new plastic reduction law "There’s little guesswork but a lot of preparation ahead for companies to comply with California’s new plastic packaging law. The first-of-its-kind regulation is about to reshape packaging in the world’s fifth-largest economy. As part of the landmark extended producer responsibility law, the state is requiring companies to cut 25 percent of their plastic packaging by 2032. The new regulations went live on May 1, 2026; companies have until Aug. 1 to submit plans detailing how they’ll reach that target. 5 pathways:   Reuse and refill: Move at least 10 percent of all single-use plastic packaging and food serviceware to reusable or refillable models.   Elimination: Remove components entirely.  Right-sizing: Cut materials, use product concentrates or move to bulk formats. Post-consumer recycled content: Increase recycled content. Alternative materials: Transition packaging to non-plastic materials.    These changes will ripple through the economy, raising the bar for packaging solutions." This is what a Governor on a mission to help planet and people looks like! #plastic #plasticpollution #govnewsom #gavinnewsom #plasticpolicy #companies #recycling #plasticpackaging #reuse #recycle https://lnkd.in/gfpXfp7k

California’s plastic reduction law is forcing a conversation that every brand and manufacturer will soon be having: Reduce plastic or face penalties. For companies facing these mandates, there doesn’t have to be a single solution. PCR, mono-materials, compostables, fillers, lightweighting, and reuse systems are all tools. The challenge is finding the right single solution or combo that reduces plastic while protecting product performance and the bottom line. That’s exactly where we’re focused at Ecoshell. Our compounds can reduce plastic by up to 25% as a true drop-in solution, or at lower loadings alongside PCR, alternative materials, or compostables to further reduce costs and improve sustainability. No new equipment. No major process changes. Just less plastic, lower costs in many applications, and another tool to help companies meet increasingly aggressive EPR requirements. More on upcoming plastic reduction mandates: https://lnkd.in/ggYaWfF8

AS CALIFORNIA GOES, HOPEFULLY SO WILL THE REST OF THE COUNTRY. OUR BRAND MANAGER RESEARCH INDICATES THIS IS LIKELY, GIVEN THE SIZE OF THE STATE'S ECONOMY - 4th LARGEST IN THE WORLD! THE JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE MARKETING WELCOMES STUDIES ON THE IMPACT OF INITIATIVES SUCH AS THE ONE IN CALIFORNIA. FROM TRELLIS BRIEFING: https://lnkd.in/gauJcdbZ Policy Companies race to comply with California's new plastic reduction law There’s little guesswork but a lot of preparation ahead for companies to comply with California’s new plastic packaging law. The first-of-its-kind regulation is about to reshape packaging in the world’s fifth-largest economy. As part of the landmark extended producer responsibility law, the state is requiring companies to cut 25 percent of their plastic packaging by 2032. The new regulations went live on May 1, 2026; companies have until Aug. 1 to submit plans detailing how they’ll reach that target.  5 pathways   Reuse and refill: Move at least 10 percent of all single-use plastic packaging and food serviceware to reusable or refillable models.   Elimination: Remove components entirely.  Right-sizing: Cut materials, use product concentrates or move to bulk formats. Post-consumer recycled content: Increase recycled content. Alternative materials: Transition packaging to non-plastic materials.    These changes will ripple through the economy, raising the bar for packaging solutions. #sustainablemarketing #journalofsustainablemarketing #plasticwaste #plasticrecycling #recycling

California is raising the bar on plastic packaging and the impact could reach far beyond the state. Companies have until Aug. 1 to submit their plans for complying with a first-of-its-kind mandate to actively reduce plastic packaging. From reuse and refill to elimination, right-sizing, recycled content and alternative materials, companies have multiple pathways forward. But the decisions they make could ultimately reshape packaging portfolios nationwide. What does compliance look like in practice? #CircularEconomy #SustainablePackaging #Plastics #Sustainability

The clock is ticking for companies operating in California. Under the state’s new plastic reduction regulations, companies have until Aug. 1 to submit detailed plans outlining how they’ll reduce plastic packaging over the next six years. The ultimate target: A collective 25% reduction in single-use plastic packaging and food serviceware by 2032. Here’s how sustainability and packaging teams are preparing and the five pathways companies can use to meet the mandate: https://buff.ly/4z9PStX #CircularEconomy #Plastics #Packaging #Sustainability

California's SB 54 just moved from theory to obligation. On May 1, 2026, the Office of Administrative Law approved the permanent regulations for the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. They are now in effect, and the deadlines are no longer abstract. Producer registration closed June 1. The baseline producer report, built on 2023 data, is due July 1. If your brand sells single-use packaging or single-use plastic food serviceware into California, you are already inside the compliance window whether or not your team has mapped it. The numbers set the direction. By 2032, producers must cut single-use plastic by 25 percent, make 100 percent of covered packaging recyclable or compostable, and hit a 65 percent recycling rate for single-use plastic. Funding the shift is a 5 billion dollar commitment from industry, roughly 500 million dollars a year from 2027 through 2037, administered by the Circular Action Alliance as the state's sole producer responsibility organization. What makes SB 54 significant is its scope. It does not treat the takeout container and the cosmetic compact as separate problems. Both are single-use plastic. Both count against the same reduction targets. A foodservice operator replacing foam cups and a beauty brand rethinking a rigid ABS compact are now answering the same regulatory question: can this material be recyclable or compostable at scale, without redesigning the entire supply chain. That last constraint is where most transition plans stall. Compostable claims mean little if the material demands new molds, new tooling, and new capital. The credible path forward is drop-in material substitution, where a biodegradable resin runs on existing equipment and existing part geometry. Compatibility, not novelty, is what turns a 2032 target into a 2027 shipment. SB 54 is the clearest signal yet that packaging sustainability is now a financial and legal line item, not a marketing one. The producers who treat this June and July as the start of a six-year runway, rather than a missed deadline, are the ones who will still have California shelf space in 2032. #SB54 #EPR #SustainablePackaging #CircularEconomy #Foodservice #BeautyPackaging #Biodegradable #PlasticReduction #PackagingIndustry #Compostable #SupplyChain #CosmeticsPackaging

We've written before about microplastics and what (little) we actually know about clearing them from the body. There's a simpler, earlier link in that chain worth talking about: what's touching your food before it ever gets to you. If you've shopped for produce in Arizona and then in California, you've probably noticed the bags feel different. That's not a supplier quirk, it's law. As of January 2025, California requires produce bags to be certified compostable, plant-based film instead of standard polyethylene. As of January 2026, California also banned plastic bags at checkout entirely, even the thicker "reusable" ones, leaving paper as the only option. Arizona took the opposite path. A 2016 state law blocks cities and counties from regulating plastic bags at all, so the thin, standard plastic you're used to is still what you'll find in the produce aisle here. Worth being honest about what this does and doesn't mean for you personally. Compostable doesn't automatically mean lower microplastic exposure at the food-contact level, it's still a plastic film, just one built to break down under industrial composting instead of sitting in a landfill or waterway for centuries. The bigger win is downstream: less plastic waste, less of it breaking down into the soil and water where it eventually becomes the microplastics we're all trying to avoid in the first place. Two states, two different bets on how to handle the same problem. Worth knowing next time your produce bag feels a little different depending on which side of the state line you're standing on. Sources: SB 1053 overview (Hunton Andrews Kurth): https://lnkd.in/gqYivipT California's compostable produce bag rule (NPR): https://lnkd.in/g6bTfA72 Arizona's plastic bag preemption law, HB 2131 (Ballotpedia): https://lnkd.in/gba34j6T

California Grocery Prices Risk Increase as New Plastic Packaging Law Takes Effect Beginning next month in California, consumers could soon experience higher grocery bills as the state initiates fee collection under the landmark Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. The 2022 legislation requires consumer goods manufacturers to fund local recycling programs and manage packaging waste, transferring financial burdens from municipal taxpayers directly to corporate producers. Broad Context Behind California’s EPR Mandate…...