ASA Helps Defeat Unnecessary Packaging Bill in California

As ASA continues to monitor and act on California’s legislative and regulatory activities – last week a key bill that would have had a detrimental effect on members in-state, as well as nationally, was removed from consideration.  AB 1290 was yet another packaging ban in California, introduced shortly after SB 54 was signed into law – which at the time was the most vigorous source reduction and recycling mandate in the entire world.  While SB 54 had not yet gone into effect, AB 1290 assumed it would not succeed and instituted even more restrictive covenants on packaging, including but not limited to:

• Sales packaging or primary packaging intended to provide the user or consumer with the individual serving or unit of the product and most closely containing the product.
• Grouped packaging or secondary packaging intended to bundle, sell in bulk, brand, or display the product.
• Transport packaging or tertiary packaging intended to protect the product during transport.

Due to ASA’s ongoing work with coalitions in Sacramento, our organization was able to join other industry associations like the American Chemistry Council and the California Chamber of Commerce to oppose the bill.  As a result, changes to the bill were made throughout the process (allowing for more exemptions like OTC medicine bottles), but the restrictions on product packaging remained.  With the coalition re-doubling its efforts, word was received late in the evening on May 31^st that the author had pulled the bill for consideration for the rest of the cycle.  ASA continues to monitor legislative and regulatory issues across the country that affect our members.  If you have a question about a legislative or regulatory issue, please contact Steve Rossi at srossi@asa.net.