Solid waste: compostable products.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and digest do not provide specific details about penalties for noncompliance with labeling rules.

Compostable Product Labeling

This law requires compostable products to be clearly labeled for consumer identification and efficient processing by recycling centers, 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 distinguish them from noncompostable items upon reasonable inspection by consumers and solid waste processing facilities during receiving and processing.
• Specifies that plastic products meeting certain ASTM standard specifications must be labeled as 'compostable'.
• Prohibits selling or offering for sale any product with misleading terms like 'biodegradable', 'degradable', 'decomposable', or 'compostable except in California'.
• Requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to study the health effects of degraded compostable plastics and their additives.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who sell or offer for sale products labeled as compostable, biodegradable, degradable, or decomposable.
• Consumers buying these types of products.
• Recycling centers processing compostable items.

Terms To Know

ASTM standard specifications

A set of rules and tests that determine if a plastic product can be called 'compostable'.

Biennial status updates

Reports given every two years about the progress or findings of a study.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if someone breaks these labeling rules.
• It is unclear when this law will take effect since there's no official effective date provided.

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 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. 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