California regulators are proposing a "mechanical first" approach to recycling under the state's packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR) program, potentially favoring mechanically recycled plastics over chemically recycled material.
The debate stems from California's implementation of Senate Bill (SB) 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, a landmark 2022 law that shifted responsibility for managing packaging waste from local governments to producers.
The law established an EPR program for packaging and single-use food service ware and requires producers to meet packaging recyclability, recycling and source-reduction targets by 2032. Under the legislation, all covered packaging must be recyclable or compostable by 2032, single-use plastic packaging must achieve a 65pc recycling rate, and producers must reduce covered plastic packaging sold into the state by 25pc.
As regulators develop rules for the program, California's Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has indicated that mechanical recycling should be prioritized whenever it is technologically and economically feasible, while allowing chemical recycling to play a role for materials that cannot be effectively processed through conventional recycling systems.
Advanced recycling companies, recyclers and packaging industry groups argue the chemical recycling approach aligns with SB 54's goal of increasing recycling rates and will be needed to help meet the law's long-term targets, particularly for flexible packaging and other plastics that are difficult to recycle mechanically. Environmental groups and some lawmakers counter that the legislation was intended to prioritize waste reduction, reuse and conventional recycling pathways, and warn that broader use of chemical recycling could undermine those goals.
The outcome could influence investment and feedstock demand across the recycling sector, particularly for producers of mechanically recycled plastics as California moves forward with EPR implementation.
