Retail plastics recycling program: plastic bags, packaging, and shipping envelopes.

The At-Store Recycling Program law, required, among other things, an operator of a store, as defined, to establish an at-store recycling program that provides customers the opportunity to return clean plastic carryout bags to that store. The law required a plastic carryout bag provided by a store to have specified information printed or displayed on the bag, and required the placement of a plastic carryout bag collection bin in each store that is visible and easily accessible to the consumer. The law also required the operator of a store to make reusable bags, defined to include specified durable plastic bags, available to customers, for purchase. The law required a manufacturer of plastic carryout bags to develop educational materials to encourage the reducing, reusing, and recycling of plastic carryout bags and to make the materials available to stores, as specified. A violation of these requirements was subject to specified civil penalties. The law repealed these provisions on January 1, 2020. This bill would reestablish the operation of those requirements and would additionally require an at-store recycling program established by the operator of a store to provide an opportunity for a customer of the store to return to the store clean durable plastic bags, as specified. The bill would require an online retailer that provides lockers for the secure pickup of purchased products at a store to provide a collection bin at the store near the lockers that is visible, easily accessible to the consumer, and clearly marked as available for the purpose of collecting and recycling plastic packaging and plastic shipping envelopes. The bill would require an online retailer that has a physical retail establishment with in-person sales in this state to accept at the retail establishment plastic packaging and plastic shipping envelopes of its purchased products for the purpose of collecting and recycling, at no cost to the customer. The bill would require an online retailer to pickup at the time of delivery of purchased products, plastic packaging and shipping envelopes from previously delivered products, at no cost to the customer. The bill would commence all of these requirements on January 1, 2023, and would require the operators and retailers to collect, transport, and recycle the collected plastic bags, plastic packaging, and plastic shipping envelopes, as specified. A violation of these requirements would be subject to the above-specified civil penalties. The bill's requirements would be repealed on January 1, 2030, unless a later enacted statute deletes or extends that date.