Newsworthy

Legislation & Regulations

Recycling-related bills greenlit in California

As September ended, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a number recycling-related bills into law and vetoed another that would have created an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

Newsom signed Senate Bill 1053, which bans the distribution of single-use plastic bags in California’s grocery store checkout lines starting in 2026.

S.B. 1053 was authored by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear to “close a loophole” in existing legislation, enacted 10 years ago, that allows stores to sell customers thicker plastic carryout bags that were considered reusable and met certain recyclability standards. However, Blakespear notes that bags covered by the decade-old legislation rarely are reused or recycled and end up in landfills or the environment.

Under S.B. 1053, grocery stores can offer recycled paper bags at checkout, or consumers can use their own bags for their purchases. Blakespear notes the legislation does not restrict the sale of any type of bag, rather it provides that only paper bags can be available at the point of sale.

The legislation initially was supported by state Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, who authored an identical bill, A.B. 2236, that was pushed through the California assembly to help build momentum for the policy.

Both bills were supported by more than 200 organizations, including Californians Against Waste, the California Grocers Association, Ocean Conservancy and Oceana.

Additionally, Newsom signed the Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024, or S.B. 707. The law establishes an EPR program for the collection and recycling of apparel or other textile articles deemed unsuitable for reuse by consumers in their current conditions.

The law, first authored by Sen. Josh Newman in 2023, is considered the first EPR textile recycling program in the U.S. and requires participants in the textile value chain to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of their products, including repair, recycling and reuse of garments and fibers.

Once implemented, Newman says S.B. 707 not only will reduce the number of textiles sent to landfills but also support the development of upcycling and recycling across the state and help address the environmental impacts of “fast fashion” and the “throwaway culture it has abetted.”

The legislation received support from nonprofit organizations such as the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC), retailers Ikea and Goodwill and Phoenix-based hauler Republic Services Inc., as well as from local governments, agencies and sanitation districts.

The law requires CalRecycle to adopt regulations governing the program and, beginning Jan. 1, 2032, to reassess the adopted regulations to include adjusting the minimum required collection sites, establishing a minimum recycling efficiency rate for covered products collected and recycled by program operators and establishing other program criteria.

The law also establishes the Textile Stewardship Recovery Fund in the state treasury to receive all the money collected through program operators and would make funds available to CalRecycle for program purposes. CalRecycle will be able to impose fines that do not exceed $10,000 per day for violations of the program’s requirements or that do not exceed $50,000 per day in cases of intentional, knowing or reckless violations.

Newsom also signed S.B. 1143, expanding the range of products covered under the state’s paint recycling program, managed by PaintCare.

PaintCare is a nonprofit organization that has been active in California since 2012, representing paint companies and organizing stewardship programs for leftover architectural coatings in states with stewardship laws.

With his signing of S.B. 1143, the program’s list of covered products expands to include additional nonindustrial coatings and coating-related products, as well as aerosol coatings, by 2028.

An EPR bill that would have required all EV batteries in the state to be reused, repaired, repurposed or remanufactured and eventually recycled at end of life was sent back to the state’s Senate without Newsom’s signature.

Under S.B. 615, introduced by Sens. Ben Allen and Dave Min, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) would be responsible for adopting regulations to implement and enforce the bill’s requirements and for establishing a method for EV battery suppliers, secondary users and handlers and qualified facilities to report EV battery transactions.

The bill also would impose fines of up to $50,000 per day for battery suppliers that don’t comply with its rules, with fines of up to $100,000 per day if the violation is deemed intentional. Had S.B. 615 passed, the DTSC would have needed to adopt the bill’s regulations by July 1, 2028.

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Metals

North American aluminum demand increased in the first half of 2024

According to preliminary estimates from the Aluminum Association, based in Arlington, Virginia, aluminum demand in North America, which comprises the U.S. and Canada, increased 5.2 percent year over year through the first half of 2024. This follows a year of softer demand in 2023 primarily driven by industry destocking and an approximate 25 percent decline in imports.

The demand data were part of the “Aluminum Situation” report produced monthly by the Aluminum Association.

“Customers and end consumers have made it clear that they want sustainable, recyclable materials like aluminum,” Aluminum Association CEO Charles Johnson says. “Our members are investing in production and jobs in the United States to help meet this demand both now and in the future.”

The report found that aluminum demand in the U.S. and Canada (shipments by domestic producers plus imports) totaled an estimated 14,056 million pounds through the first half of 2024, an increase of 5.2 percent compared with the first half of 2023, when demand was 13,365 million pounds.

Semifabricated, or mill, product demand remained largely steady year over year through the second quarter, according to the report, while sheet and plate demand rose 7.5 percent and foil, extruded products and electrical markets declined.

Aluminum exports (excluding scrap) increased by 25.6 percent year to date and imported aluminum and aluminum products into North America decreased 14 percent over that same period.

The association’s Index of Net New Orders of Aluminum Mill Products (baseline index of 100) increased 1.1 percent through June, coming in at 105.97.

In the last decade, Aluminum Association member companies have announced more than $10 billion in domestic manufacturing operations, including new, U.S.-based greenfield facilities, for the first time since the 1980s. Aluminum production in the U.S. is growing thanks to increased demand for sustainable packaging, safe and efficient vehicles, greener buildings and vital infrastructure, the association says.

Scrap generation appears to have slowed as demand has grown, however, with one secondary producer saying the market is softer than it was a year ago.

“It’s not as robust,” Michael Boyle, president of Owl’s Head Alloys, headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, says of generation in September. “On the scrap supply side, everyone’s chasing the same pounds right now."

“We just didn’t see that big [scrap] flow pick up like we usually do on a seasonal basis,” he says of May. “People are fighting over the same metal units at this point, and something has to change.”

In his commentary in the “Bureau of International Recycling World Mirror on Non-Ferrous Metals” for October, Rick Dobkin of Shapiro Metals, St. Louis, writes: “As for recycling, we are starting to see some of the greenfield aluminum expansions entering the marketplace and causing sporadic shortages of certain items. Rolling mill scrap was very tight recently but now seems to be a little better balanced. Extrusion scrap is hit or miss. Whereas that part of the business had been expected to return to growth in the second half of this year, people are now saying any improvements are likely to come in mid-2025. On the secondary aluminum side, export markets have been faltering of late amid reduced pricing and demand. Demand seems reasonable and stable domestically.

“We are entering the period of contract negotiations for 2025, with the mills concerned about availability of scrap given increased demand from the new operators,” Dobkin adds. “There have been some recent calls to prohibit the export of scrap metals, but these have not gained much traction as yet.”