New York Governor Kathy Hochul in her draft executive budget and annual State of the State report, proposes expanding New York’s toxics in packaging act. Her proposed update would effectively ban three groups of chemicals from all packaging by the end of 2024 by limiting them “individually or combined in amounts exceeding 100ppm by weight”: (i) per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); (ii) the metals lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium; and (iii) phthalates and ortho-phthalates.
New York was already banning intentionally-added PFAS in food packaging by the end of 2022 (FPF reported, also here), but this inclusion of stricter regulations for heavy metals and phthalates would bring New York’s legislation in line with the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH) model legislation that was updated in early 2021 (FPF reported). Nine states including New York are members of the TPCH coalition, which writes the model legislation that member states then work to individually incorporate into official regulation. Research by Leonardo Trasande of New York University estimated that exposure to phthalates costs the US “$39.9–47.1 billion in lost economic productivity” per year (FPF reported).
Hochul’s budget proposal also includes funding for an extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme for packaging. Hochul proposed establishing the program by 2026, but in the weeks since her draft budget was published there has been ongoing debate over whether EPR in New York should be created through executive budget action or as a more standard legislative proposal. The budget must be finalized by April 1, 2022, and there are several competing budget and bill proposals. The proposed budget from the New York State Senate includes a line item for EPR, while the State’s Assembly budget proposal does not. State Senator Todd Kaminsky introduced an EPR bill last year which did not pass at the time but could be recycled this legislative session.
At least six other states have packaging EPR bills currently under consideration in state government. Vermont’s bill includes single-use food service ware in addition to paper packaging. On the other side of the US, the state of Oregon is adding wine sold in aluminum cans to its recycling deposit scheme. According to reporting from Waste Dive, the measure is meant to reduce confusion since consumers are already assuming that the cans from wine are returnable, like nearly every other canned beverage in the state.
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) published the state’s first “approved packaging list” on March 4, 2022. The 2018 Sustainable Packaging for the State of California Act went into effect this year which requires all food providers “located in state-owned facilities, operating on or as a concessionaire on state-owned property, or under contract to provide food service to a state agency” to use food packaging that is reusable, recyclable, or compostable. Packaging manufacturers must apply to be included on the list.
References
Office of Governor Kathy Hochul (January 2022). “FY 2023 New York State executive budget.” New York State.
Office of Governor Kathy Hochul (January 2022). “State of the State 2022: A new era for New York.” New York State. (pdf)
Megan Quinn (January 21, 2022). “New York Gov. Hochul’s budget proposal calls for packaging EPR by 2026.” Waste Dive
Megan Quinn (March 11, 2022). “Notable chemical recycling, EPR and bottle bill updates pass in state legislatures.” Waste Dive
Megan Quinn (February 9, 2022). “EPR remains top item in state recycling policy debate, but bottle bills and plastic bans also in play.” Waste Dive
CalRecycle (March 4, 2022). “Approved Recyclable Food Service Packaging Items.”
Read more
Packaging Law (January 28, 2022). “Approved Packaging List for Certain CA Food Service Operations to be Published in March.”
US Department of State (February 28, 2022). “U.S. Actions to Address Plastic Pollution.”
Maria Rachal (February 28, 2022). “Los Angeles City Council moves toward phasing out single-use plastics, including bags and EPS foam.” Waste Dive
The Waste Dive Team (February 2022). “The Waste Dive Outlook on 2022.” Waste Dive
