New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment published a plan to phase out certain hard-to-recycle and single-use plastic items after a public consultation held in 2020 revealed general support to reduce plastic consumption in the country.
Efforts to increase plastic recycling and reuse are underway both by industry and regulators. Three plastics and material science companies announced last month the establishment of the Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund to invest in scalable recycling technologies, equipment upgrades and infrastructure solutions that advance the recovery and recycling of plastics in the U.S. and Canada. An initial investment of $25 million was made by Dow, LyondellBasell, and NOVA Chemicals.
Massachusetts and California have pending bills that would impact the use of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in cookware.
The European Commission (EC) published its long-awaited Guidelines on single-use plastics, Commission notice 2021/C 216/01, in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on June 7, 2021.
The Thai Ministry of Industry notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of five draft food-contact regulations on June 9, 2021. The draft regulations, which establish standards for various plastic utensils and plastic bags for foods, are described below.
Washington State has enacted a law that establishes minimum recycled content requirements for certain plastic products and prohibits the sale and distribution of certain expanded polystyrene products. The law will also limit the distribution of single-use plastic products by food service establishments. In addition, the law, which becomes effective on July 17, 2021, establishes registration and reporting requirements for manufacturers of certain plastic products.
Virginia has enacted a ban on polystyrene food service containers, which will be implemented in two phases, and has committed to discontinuing most single-use plastics by state agencies, colleges, and universities.
The Washington State legislature has passed a bill that establishes minimum recycled content requirements for certain plastic products, prohibits the sale and distribution of certain expanded polystyrene products, and limits the distribution of single-use plastic products by food service establishments. The bill also establishes registration and reporting requirements for manufacturers of certain plastic products.
Keller and Heckman Partners Rachida Semail and Hazel O’Keeffe will be among the speakers at Smithers’ Global Food Contact 2021 Conference and Pre-Conference Workshop, which will cover key issues facing the global food contact industry. The virtual conference will take place from June 14-16 and the pre-conference workshop will be held on June 8.
The plastics industry has expressed concern over certain provision in legislation aimed to reduce plastic waste that was introduced by U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), S.984, and by U.S.