US states sue California over landmark plastics packaging law
By Jonathan Stempel
June 23 (Reuters) – California has been sued by 17 U.S. states seeking to strike down a new state law designed to limit the use of single-use plastic and encourage recycling.
In a complaint filed Monday in federal court in Sacramento, Calif., the states, each with a Republican attorney general, accused California of trying to “impose its policy preferences on the entire country” with the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Manufacturer Liability Act.
• The law was signed by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022 and went into effect May 1. The law requires manufacturers to reduce single-use plastic for packaging and foodservice items by 25% and ensure all such items are recyclable or compostable by 2032.
• States, led by Nebraska, said the law violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution by placing significant burdens on interstate commerce.
• They also said the law would raise prices for consumers, with inflationary effects hitting low-income Americans especially hard, as manufacturers bear the “exorbitantly expensive” costs of converting a wide range of products and applications.
• “California is once again trying to enact a policy that will negatively impact the rest of the country,” Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said in a statement. “If California goes unchecked, consumers will have to pay more for basic needs.”
• The National Wholesaler-Distributors Association is also a plaintiff.
• Defendants include Zoe Heller, director of the California Department of Resource Recycling and Recovery, and the Circular Action Alliance, a “producer responsibility organization” tasked with enforcing the law. The nonprofit also said it is the only such organization in Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington.
• CalRecycle, as Heller’s office is known, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The Circular Action Alliance did not immediately respond to a similar request.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
