Senate Bill 54 Takes Staggered Approach at Plastic Waste Across California

When looking at the city of Bakersfield’s recyclable list, styrofoam is listed as something that goes in the trash can, not the blue recycle bin.

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Senate Bill 54 focused on Single-Use Plastics was signed during the 2021-22 legislative session and went into effect on last week. According to Cal Recycle, “Packaging makes up over 50% of what we dump in California landfills by volume” and “Californians throw away 290 Olympic pools worth of plastic a day.” The focus of the bill is to reduce single-use packaging waste and “ensure it is recycled to meet our state’s recycling and climate goals,” by pushing producers of the products to make them as easy to recycle as possible, with a focus on styrofoam’s ability to be recycled, but a lack of availability for it to be recycled.

When looking at the city of Bakersfield’s recyclable list, styrofoam is listed as something that goes in the trash can, not the blue recycle bin. That’s because Kern County does not have protocols in place to recycle styrofoam. According to DART/SOLO, a popular food ware brand that produces styrofoam cups, APTCO off of the 99 and Pond Road near McFarland collects and recycles styrofoam.

While the law went into effect last week, it features a staggered approach with a target of 65% recycled single-use plastic, 25% less being sold, and 100% of packaging and single-use plastic food ware being recyclable or compostable by 2032.

 Courtesy: www.wasteadvantagemag.com

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