Beverage container recycling: nonpetroleum materials.

(1) The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act, which is administered by the Department of Resource Recovery and Recycling, is established to promote beverage container recycling. The act requires a beverage manufacturer to pay to the department a processing fee for each beverage container sold or transferred and requires the department to distribute those fees, with other moneys, as processing payments to processors and recycling centers. Beginning January 1, 2025, this bill would require the department to provide a 10% reduction in the processing fee applicable to the percentage of a beverage container, by weight, that derives from nonpetroleum biomaterials, not to exceed 50% of the total beverage container weight sold. The bill would require an independent third party to certify the recyclability and percentage of nonpetroleum biomaterials used in beverage containers, as specified. The bill would require the department to charge a fee to cover its reasonable costs of implementing these provisions. (2) The act annually requires, on or before March 1, a manufacturer of a beverage sold in a plastic beverage container subject to the California Redemption Value to report to the department the amount of virgin plastic and postconsumer recycled plastic used by the manufacturer for plastic beverage containers subject to the California Redemption Value for sale in the state in the previous calendar year. Existing law requires the department to post this information on its internet website within 45 days. This bill would also authorize a beverage manufacturer to report to the department, in pounds and by resin type, the amount of virgin plastic derived from nonpetroleum biomaterials for plastic beverage containers subject to the California Redemption Value for sale in the state in the previous calendar year.