Core77
e
- Topics
- Features
- Awards
- Careers
-
Firms
- Firms
- Search Firms;
- Firm Projects
- Forums
-
More...
- About Us
- Contact Us
- Advertise
- About
- Terms of Use
Core77 is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more
California Passes Bill SB 372, to Make Beverage Manufacturers & Distributors Responsible for Recycling
"That incentivizes them to make the packaging more recyclable in the first place"
By Rain Noe - January 23
California's recycling system is failing. They're no different from many U.S. states and counties; following China's unassailable decision to stop accepting the world's refuse, municipalities and businesses across the country have struggled to find a way to recycle without going broke. In California, more than half of their recycling centers have closed in the past six years, and "forty-five of Los Angeles County's 88 cities have no recycling centers," according to the L.A. Times.
Photo by Brian Yurasits on Unsplash
To address the crisis, this month California's Senate Environmental Quality Committee held a hearing on the newly-proposed Beverage Container Recycling Act of 2020, otherwise known as bill SB 372. SB 372 takes the position that the very companies that profit from producing single-use beverage containers--that is, the beverage manufacturers and distributors themselves--should be the ones responsible, under California state law, for taking care of the recycling.
It's a great idea, and not without precedent. According to Consumer Watchdog, forward-thinking states Oregon and Michigan, along with the countries of Norway, Germany and Lithuania, have passed laws requiring the beverage industry be the ones responsible for running programs to recycle their own products. As a result, the redemption rates in those places are 81%, 89%, 95%, 98% and 93%, respectively. (California currently comes in at a dismal 66%.)
Chart by Consumer Watchdog
"Successful recycling in the rest of the world is based on consumer convenience and returning cans to the point of purchase using modern automation such as Reverse Vending Machines," reads a Consumer Watchdog report, "Trashed: How California Recycling Failed and How to Fix It." "Consumers feed empties into the machines that sort them and get store credit or cash back.
"Models that work make beverage and retail companies that produce, deliver, and sell their products responsible for the recycling of their packaging. That incentivizes them to make the packaging more recyclable in the first place."
Thankfully, last week California's Senate Environmental Quality Committee voted to pass SB 372 by a margin of 4 to 1. Next the bill will be sent to the Appropriations Committee for review. With any luck it will be signed into law.
-
o1Favorite
-
Q1Comment
-
&
Rain Noe
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
Hiring Now See all industrial design jobs
-
Freelance 3D Product Modeling and Render ArtistFranklin, Tennessee | Onsite or Remote PossibleAnthem RepublicOct 15 -
Graphic Designer Sportstyle Apparel CoreHerzogenaurach (91074), GermanyPuma GroupOct 14 -
Industrial DesignerSanta Barbara, CaliforniaSTELOct 13 -
Senior Designer Sportstyle Apparel WomenHerzogenaurach (91074), GermanyPuma GroupOct 13 -
Senior Industrial DesignerAtlanta, GeorgiaTHRIVEOct 11
-
K1:1 | with Michael DiTulloA New Core77 video podcast series. Fresh interviews weekly. Subscribe on Youtube.
-
Hot On Coroflot
-
Design Jobs
ANDREW DIXON
Elodie Delassus
K
{Welcome
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
K
Reset Password
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.
California Passes Bill SB 372, to Make Beverage Manufacturers & Distributors Responsible for Recycling
um how about a write-up of reverse-vending machines - that I only just heard of for the first time. And ideally their whole supply chain - do they also use the same trucks to bring stuff to/from the same factories? Where does the actual recycling happen?