Updated Packaging Producer Responsibility Regulations Released with Troubling Broad Exemptions

On May 16, 2025, the California Department of Resources and Recycling (CalRecycle) released updated draft regulations for SB 54 (Allen) – the state’s landmark Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. Passed in 2022 and hailed by the Newsom Administration as “the most significant overhaul of the state’s plastic and packaging policy in history,” SB 54 was designed to drastically reduce single-use plastic waste and shift the cost of managing single-use packaging waste from local governments and garbage ratepayers to the producers and consumers of those materials.

The updated draft regulations follow more than two years of stakeholder engagement and an unusual delay in the adoption of regulations. While the new draft includes some positive revisions, it also includes broad new exemptions for many food and personal care product packaging regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture. These exemptions would significantly narrow the range of materials covered by the law, raising concerns about the effectiveness and scope of the program moving forward.

CalRecycle hosted an informal public workshop on the draft regulations on May 27, 2025, and is accepting written comments through June 3, 2025, via their public comment portal. Additionally, the SB 54 Advisory Board will meet on May 30, 2025, to review and discuss the draft text, with public input accepted during the meeting.

If you have any questions, please contact CSAC Legislative Advocate Jordan Wells.