Battle over single-use plastics erupts as 17 states move to block California law
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Attorneys general in seventeen states are suing California over its landmark single-use plastic law, which went into effect on June 1.The lawsuit comes after a coalition of environmental groups sued the state over the same law this month, arguing the new final regulations create loopholes so large they gut the law.The states are led by Nebraska Atty.Gen.
Mike Hilgers, and the plaintiffs include the National Assn.of Wholesaler-Distributors.
The coalition is asking the court to block enforcement of the law immediately.“Once again, California is trying to enact a policy that negatively impacts the rest of the country,” said Hilgers in a news release.“If California goes unchecked, consumers will be forced to pay more for basic necessities.”The other states in the coalition are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S.District Court of Eastern California in Sacramento on Monday.State Senate Bill 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, was signed by Gov.
Gavin Newsom in 2022.It was considered landmark legislation because it requires plastic and packaging companies to use less single-use plastic and ensure by 2032 that all food packaging is either recyclable or compostable.Accumulating plastic waste is overwhelming waterways and oceans, sickening marine life and threatening human health.The intent was not only to reduce single=use plastic, but also to put the onus and cost of dealing with it on packaging producers and manufacturers, not consumers and local governments.
It was supposed to incentivize companies to consider the fate of their products and spur innovation in material redesign.According to one state analysis, 2.9 million tons of single-use plastic and 171.4 billion single...