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Two bills that would increase recycling accessibility in communities and improve recycling data collection were re-introduced in the U.S. Senate on April 19, 2023, by members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW). The bipartisan legislation was introduced by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), ranking member of the EPW Committee; Tom Carper (D-DE), Chairman of the EPW Committee; and John Boozman (R-AK), a member of the EPW Committee.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will host a half-day public workshop, “Talking Trash at the FTC: Recyclable Claims and the Green Guides,” on May 23, 2023. Topics of discussion at the workshop will include: the current state of recycling practices and recycling-related advertising in the U.S.; consumer perception of current and emerging recycling-related claims; and the need for any updates or other changes to the Green Guides related to recycling claims.

On January 27, 2023, CalRecycle, the California agency that oversees the state’s waste management, recycling, and waste reduction programs, published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding amendments to the Recycling and Disposal Reporting System (RDRS).

Update: The formal Federal Register notice was published on December 20, 2022, and comments are due on February 21, 2023.

On November 30, 2022, the European Union Commission proposed a Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste, which would replace 94/62/EC, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. The proposed regulation would, among other things:

Addressing the crowd at Keller and Heckman’s 23rd Annual Food Packaging Law Seminar, Dr. Sharon Koh-Fallet, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Branch Chief of the Regulatory Review Branch in the Division of Food Contact Substances (DFCS), reminded attendees that all FDA authorizations and exemptions from authorization are based on a substance’s intended use. Dr.

Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI), a UK-based organization, has published a revised version of its 2019 publication, Design for Recyclability Guidelines. The Guidelines provide design parameters that will help deliver recyclable fiber-based packaging. 

European Commission's (EC) Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 of September 15, 2022, on recycled plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foods, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 282/2008, were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on September 20, 2022 (and a