The Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People’s Republic of China (CNCA) issued Green Product Certification Implementation Rules on June 4, 2021 (CNCA Announcement No. 7 of 2021). These rules include revisions to the first batch of 12 Green Product Certification Implementation Rules (CNCA Announcement No. 6 of 2020), including “Green Product Certification Implementation Rules for Wood Plastic Products.”

The Australian Government has released a plan to reduce plastic waste. Currently, 2.5 million metric tons of plastic waste is generated in Australia each year, with 13% of that recovered.

China State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) requested comments on two Voluntary National Standards concerning biodegradable materials.

The Washington State legislature has passed a bill that restricts the use of “compostability” and “biodegradability” claims for plastic products, including food service ware, that do not meet uniform standards identified by the state. The bill, HB 1569, was signed by the Speaker of the House on April 18 and by the President of the Senate on April 25. Governor Jay Inslee signed the bill on May 7 and will become effective on July 1, 2020.

Keller and Heckman Partner Pam Langhorn will give a presentation on "Material Health: Keeping Consumers Safe While Building Brand Loyalty" at the Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s (SPC) 2017 conference. The conference, SPC Advance 2017, is being held jointly with The Association of Plastic Recycler’s (APR) Fall Meeting. The meeting is open to members of both SPC and APR.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continues to issue warning letters to companies that make misleading and unsubstantiated environmental marketing claims. With respect to packaging, the Commission issued a fourth final order in 2014 settling charges that companies made misleading biodegradability claims for their products (see the PackagingLaw.com com article, FTC Approves Final Order on Deceptive Biodegradable Plastics Claim).