US states sue California over landmark plastics packaging law

By Jonathan Stempel

June 23 (Reuters) – California has been sued by 17 U.S. states, which are seeking to undo a new state law designed to limit the use of ​single-use plastic and promote recycling.

In a complaint filed on ‌Monday in the Sacramento, California federal court, the states, each with a Republican attorney general, accused California of trying to “impose its own policy preferences on the entire nation” with its Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility ‌Act.

• ​The law was signed by Democratic ⁠Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022, ⁠and took effect on May 1. It requires producers to reduce single-use plastic for packaging and food service items by 25%, and ensure that all such items are recyclable or ​compostable by 2032.

• States led by Nebraska said the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause by substantially burdening interstate ⁠commerce.

• They also said the law ⁠will boost prices for consumers, with inflationary effects ​hitting lower-income Americans especially hard, as producers pass on the “extremely expensive” ​costs of transforming a wide range of products and ‌practices.

• “Once again, California is trying to enact a policy that negatively impacts the rest of the country,” Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said in a statement. “If California goes unchecked, consumers will be ⁠forced to pay more for basic necessities.”

• The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors is also a plaintiff.

• Defendants include Zoe Heller, who is director ⁠of the California Department ‌of Resources Recycling & Recovery, and the Circular ⁠Action Alliance, a “producer responsibility organization” charged with implementing ​the ‌law. The nonprofit said it is also the ​only such ⁠organization in Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington.

• CalRecycle, as Heller’s office is known, did not immediately respond on Tuesday to a request for comment. The Circular Action Alliance did not immediately respond to a similar request.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing ​by Andrea Ricci )