Solid waste: products: labeling: compostability and biodegradability.

Existing law prohibits a person from selling a plastic product that is labeled as "compostable" or "home compostable" unless, at the time of sale, the plastic product meets a specified specification or has a specified certification, as provided. Existing law prohibits the sale of a plastic product that is labeled as "biodegradable," "degradable," or "decomposable," and prohibits implying that a plastic product will break down, fragment, biodegrade, or decompose in a landfill or other environment, unless the plastic product meets one of several specified standards relating to environmental marketing claims. Existing law authorizes a person to sell commercial agricultural mulch film labeled with the term "soil biodegradable" only if the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery has adopted a certain specification and the commercial agricultural mulch film is certified to meet both that specification and the ASTM standard specification for compostability. Existing law authorizes the Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery to issue guidelines for determining whether a plastic product is not compliant with these labeling requirements, and whether a plastic product is designed, pigmented, or advertised in a manner that is misleading to consumers. Existing law defines "plastic product" for these purposes to mean a product made of plastic, whether alone or in combination with other material. This bill would repeal that definition of "plastic product" and replace certain references to "plastic product" in those and related provisions with "product," which includes, but is not limited to, a consumer product, as defined, a package or packaging component, a thin plastic sheet film product, and a food or beverage container. The bill would additionally prohibit a person from offering for sale a product that is labeled as "compostable" or "home compostable" unless, at the time of sale or offering for sale, the product meets that specified specification or has that specified certification and would additionally prohibit a person from offering for sale a product that is labeled as "biodegradable," "degradable," or "decomposable," unless the product meets one of those specified standards relating to environmental marketing claims. The bill would additionally authorize a person to offer for sale commercial agricultural mulch film labeled with the term "soil biodegradable" if the department adopts that specification and the film has that certification. The bill would exempt from the requirement to comply with an ASTM standard specification pursuant to these provisions fiber products that are demonstrated to not incorporate any plastics or polymers. This bill would prohibit a person from selling or offering for sale a product that is labeled with the term "compostable" or "home compostable" unless the product satisfies specified criteria. As part of that criteria, the bill would require the department, by January 1, 2024, to make a specified determination, and on or before January 1, 2026, to adopt certain regulations depending on the results of that determination. The bill would authorize the department to adopt regulations for determining whether products are labeled in a manner that distinguishes the products from noncompostable products upon reasonable inspection by consumers and to help enable efficient processing by solid waste processing facilities. This bill would also make conforming changes and revise a related definition of "supplier."