Product management: single-use recyclable packaging containers.

The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, which is administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery requires every rigid plastic packaging container, as defined, sold or offered for sale in this state, to generally meet one of specified criteria. Existing law requires the operator of a store to establish an at-store recycling program for plastic carryout bags, until January 1, 2013. This bill would enact the Plastic Ocean Pollution Reduction, Recycling, and Composting Act and would prohibit a food provider, after July 1, 2011, but not after July 1, 2013, from distributing a disposable food service packaging or a single-use carryout bag, as defined, unless the packaging or bag meets the criteria for either compostable packaging or recyclable packaging. The bill would prohibit a food provider, on and after July 1, 2013, from distributing a disposable food service packaging or a single-use carryout bag to a consumer, unless the department determines the packaging or bag is recovered for composting or recovered for recycling at a rate of 25 percent or more.