Requires manufacturers to meet certain standards with their packaging in New York state to reduce waste

Title of bill

An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the reduction and recycling of packaging

Purpose or general idea of bill/provisions

This bill would require all packaging sold in New York State after January 1, 2019, to be "environmentally sound." Packaging would qualify as "environmentally sound" if it is "reduced," "reusable," "recycled" or "recyclable." Standards defining these terms would rely on existing DEC regulations as adopted pursuant to the State Solid Waste Management Act of 1988. Within five years of enactment, however, to qualify as a "recycled" package, 45% post-consumer recycled content would be required. Labels indicating compliance from the Act's provisions would be required on all packaging. Unconditional exemptions are provided for packaging necessary to comply with federal food, drug and cosmetic laws and regulations, packaging for products in concentrate form, and certain not-for-profit organizations and inventories of packaging manufactured prior to 2002. Conditional exemptions may be authorized by DEC for packaging for which no alternative is available.

The Departments of Agriculture and Markets, and Environmental Conservation would assume primary enforcement responsibility, civil penalties would be established for violations of the law, and a private right of action would also be authorized.

Civil penalties would be established of up to $50 for each unit of pack- aging not in compliance, or $500 for each intermediate package or ship- ping container not in compliance, with the maximum penalty not to exceed $20,000 for any shipment of packaging. Civil actions would also be established.

Justification

The State Solid Waste Management Act of 1988 directed all municipalities to engage in mandatory source separation of recyclable materials from trash. The State Solid Waste Management Plan and corresponding DEC regulations require municipalities to demonstrate a 40% level of solid waste recycling. Packaging comprises more than one-third of the municipal solid waste stream and at the same time, is recognized as a major potential market for secondary materials collected under municipal programs. Municipalities, with limited State assistance, now bear virtually sole responsibility for marketing source-separated recyclables. This bill would require packaging manufacturers to share in that responsibility by requiring packaging sold in New York State to be specifically designed for reduction, reuse or recycling, or contain a significant percentage of recycled materials. The legislation is modeled after existing and proposed laws in other states, and builds upon an existing New York State law restricting the heavy metal content of pack- aging sold in the State. This initiative is also consistent with recent State laws vesting the manufacturers and retailers of materials that often must be managed as solid waste (e.g., lead acid batteries and motor oil), with increased responsibility for the reduction, reuse and recycling of those materials.

Legislative history

2013-14: A.1691/EnCon 2011-12: A.3543/Encon 2009-10: A.4109/Encon

This bill dates back to the 1993-94 legislation session and has been re-introduced in almost every session since them.

Fiscal implications

Some increased costs to DEC for revisions of existing regulations and review of applications for conditional exemptions, with authorization to establish fees sufficient to cover agency costs.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.