SB 343 was passed by the California Legislature and signed into law by Governor Newsom in 2021, and it was intended to limit deceptive or misleading claims about the recyclability of products and packaging. It sought to do so by limiting claims of recyclability—including use of the well-known chasing arrows symbol—to products and packaging that meet certain criteria.  Generally, the criteria are that the material is of a type collected by jurisdictions serving at least 60% of California and is sorted into defined waste streams for recycling facilities serving at least 60% of recycling programs statewide. 

However, these criteria exclude—and SB 343 thus disincentivizes—a number of recycling efforts.  For example, unless an exemption applies, these criteria may disincentivize company-sponsored campaigns to recycle products through specialized programs, as well as the use of packaging that is, in fact, recyclable but not traditionally collected by curbside recycling programs.  

In addition, CalRecycle’s recent SB 343 Preliminary Findings Report indicates that a number of products commonly believed to be recyclable—such as plastic bags designed for reuse—do not actually meet the criteria to be considered recyclable in California. In sum, California’s actions to limit misleading recycling claims may have the unintended consequence of actually reducing recycling options in the State. 

 As companies try to navigate SB 343’s requirements, tracking how CalRecycle addresses these requirements and their potential consequences will be important. CalRecycle plans to hold a formal public meeting and to publish a final Material Characterization Study in the coming months. SB 343 can be found here, and CalRecycle’s SB 343 Preliminary Findings Report can be found here.