Solid waste: compostable products.

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation includes claims about banning misleading labels and requiring clear labeling that are supported by the official source material.

Compostable Product Labeling

This law requires compostable products to be clearly labeled for consumer identification and efficient waste processing, bans misleading labels like 'biodegradable' or 'compostable except in California', and mandates a study on the health effects of degraded compostable plastics.

What This Bill Does

• Requires compostable products to have clear labels that help both people buying them and places sorting waste identify these items.
• For plastic products meeting specific standards for compostability, it mandates labeling with 'compostable'.
• Prohibits selling or offering products labeled as 'biodegradable', 'degradable', 'decomposable', or similar terms if they imply the product breaks down in a landfill.
• Extends the ban to include labels like 'compostable except in California'.
• Requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to study how degraded compostable plastics and their additives affect health, with updates every two years.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who sell or offer products labeled as compostable.
• Consumers buying compostable products.
• Recycling centers processing waste.

Terms To Know

ASTM standard specifications

Specific rules set by the American Society for Testing and Materials that define how materials should behave, including standards for compostability of plastics.

Biennial status updates

Reports given every two years about a study's progress or findings.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if someone breaks the labeling rules.
• It is unclear how the health effects of compostable plastics will be determined in the study.
• There are no details on when the final report from the health effect study will be available.

Official Summary Text

SB 1031, as amended, Blakespear.
Solid waste: compostable products.
Existing law prohibits a person from selling or offering for sale a product, as defined, that is labeled with the term “compostable” or “home compostable” unless, among others, the
productis
product is
labeled in a manner that distinguishes the product from a noncompostable product upon reasonable inspection by consumers and to help enable efficient processing by solid waste processing facilities.
This bill would instead require the product to be labeled in a manner that distinguishes the product from a noncompostable product upon reasonable inspection by consumers and by solid waste processing facilities during receiving and
processing and
processing. The bill would require a plastic product that meets certain ASTM standard specifications regarding the compostability of plastics
to be labeled with the word “compostable,” as specified.
Existing law prohibits a person from selling or offering for sale a product that is labeled with the term “biodegradable,” “degradable,” or “decomposable,” or any form of those terms, or in any way implies that the product will break down, fragment, biodegrade, or decompose in a landfill or other environment, except as provided.
This bill would additionally apply that prohibition to a product that is labeled with the term “compostable except in California.”
This bill would require the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to conduct a study evaluating the health effects of degraded compostable plastics and their additives, as provided. The
bill would require the office to provide biennial status updates, which may include a compilation of the study findings into a report, and to post the final report on its internet website.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF