Tasha Boerner

Existing law requires a manufacturer or supplier making an environmental marketing claim relating to the recycled content of a plastic food container product to maintain specified information and documentation in written form in its records in support of that claim. Existing law requires the maintained information to include that the recycled content for materials has been diverted from the solid waste stream either during the manufacturing process (preconsumer) or after consumer use (postconsumer) and that the recycled content claim conforms to the uniform standards for recycled content contained in the Federal Trade Commission Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims. Existing law provides for the imposition of a civil penalty by a city, county, or the state for a violation of these provisions.

This bill would expand the application of those provisions from plastic food container products to all products. The bill would revise the reference to the Federal Trade Commission Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims to specifically refer to those guides as they read on January 1, 2026. The bill would additionally require documentation in written form that the recycled content claim is based on the actual physical recycled content used in the production of the product, calculated as specified, without the use of certain types of accounting. The bill would define "postconsumer" for purposes of these provisions.