The legislature considered two identical bills this year that would have helped phase out single-use plastic packaging in California. One of those was SB 54.
Big oil, plastics and chemical companies were among the strongest opponents of the bill. One company in particular, Dart Industries, spent tens of thousands of dollars on campaign and other contributions to legislators--no doubt intending to encourage a NO vote on the bills.
There are compostable and reusable products on the market that can easily and affordably replace single-use plastics. But those products don’t use as much oil and chemicals as plastics do. And while many major plastics companies own subsidiaries that make the compostable and reusable products, they prefer to stick with the status quo. Change is hard.
Single-use plastics are an environmental and economic burden to communities throughout California. They pollute waterways, kill wildlife and overwhelm waste facilities.
Your assembly member either voted no or abstained from voting on SB 54 when it was on the assembly floor on the last night of the legislative session. The bill needed 41 votes and fell 4 votes short of passage.
Your assembly member failed to support one of the most important environmental bills to come to the assembly this year. Share your disappointment in that failure now.
