Key Facts

• California’s law aims to cut single-use plastics and make packaging recyclable or compostable by 2032.
• The law requires producers to reduce plastic use, increase recycling, and pay $5 billion to fix plastic pollution damage.
• Only about 5-6% of plastic is currently recycled in the U.S. due to cheap new plastic and weak markets for recycled materials.
• Seventeen states filed a lawsuit to block California’s law, saying it unfairly burdens companies outside California.
• The law makes businesses register and pay fees to a private group called Circular Action Alliance.
• Industry groups say this restricts trade between states and hands tax-collecting powers to a private group without public oversight.
• Supporters argue the law fairly shares the cost of managing plastic waste between companies and communities.
• The American Chemistry Council helped negotiate the law but now some industry groups are suing against it.