On November 4, CalRecycle released a draft program environmental impact report (EIR) for its SB 54 single-use packaging regulations. The program EIR outlines how CalRecycle believes the state’s recycling system must expand to meet the new single-use packaging collection and recycling requirements.
As a program EIR, developers and local governments may be able to tier off this document in complying with the California Environmental Quality Act, thereby saving time and resources that would have otherwise been needed to develop larger, more complex EIRs.
In the document, CalRecycle observes that the state will have to increase the state’s plastic packaging capacity to roughly eight times the current level. This will include the construction of 16 new large materials recovery facilities (MRFs), 6 medium MRFs, 8 small MRFs, 1,181 recycling depots, and 133 processing facilities for glass, paper, plastic, and metal packaging. Recycling depots are envisioned to be operated at existing transfer stations, solid waste collection sites, retail facilities, and standalone containers in parking lots.
CalRecycle assumes that every county will have at least one recycling depot, plus an additional depot for every 60,000 people in Metropolitan Statistical Areas or 40,000 people for all other areas. They expect at least one depot in each city with over 15,000 residents in an MSA (or 7,500 residents in cities outside of an MSA) plus one additional depot for every 75,000 people in cities within an MSA (or 35,000 people for cities outside an MSA).
Under SB 54, the producer responsibility organization (PRO) will have to reimburse local governments for any implementation costs associated with these improvements, which could be operated by local governments, recycling service providers, or the PRO itself.
For more information, contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate, John Kennedy.