Over the last several months, legislatures in Vermont, Maine, Oregon, Delaware, Connecticut, and New York passed bills that include bans on single-use plastic bags. Prior to the 2018/19 legislative session, only California had enacted a statewide single-use plastic bags ban; although, single-use plastic bags are banned in all counties in Hawaii.

The Single-Use Plastics Directive — Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment—was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (click here to view).

Washington State’s Governor Jay Inslee has signed legislation that requires the Department of Ecology to submit a report to the legislature with recommendations on the management and disposal of plastic packaging. Due by October 31, 2020, the report must include:

The European Council adopted the Single-Use Plastics Directive on May 21, 2019. The Directive will impact plastic food-contact articles through several initiatives, including bans on certain single-use plastics, increased collection goals, measures to reduce the consumption of plastic food containers, and extended producer responsibility requirements. (For background information, see the PackagingLaw.com article, EU Publishes Updated Draft of Single-Use Plastics Directive.)

The New York State Senate and Assembly passed a budget for Fiscal Year 2020 on March 31st, after Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the legislature reached an agreement on the $175.5 billion budget. Among the items that the governor and the legislature agreed upon was a ban on single-use plastic bags. On April 22nd, Governor Cuomo signed legislation enacting New York’s single-use plastic bag ban, which will take effect on March 1, 2020. 

A bill to ban plastic grocery bags could be expanded to include paper bags, according to the bill’s sponsor, State Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex). The bill, S2776, currently would prohibit carryout bags made of plastic film, polystyrene foam food service products, single-use plastic straws, and would assess a fee on paper carryout bags. Sen.

A growing number of cities across the U.S. are banning single-use plastic bags. Some of the recently approved/enacted bans in major cities are described below. Several of these bans have already become effective, while most of the others have a compliance date later this year.

The Council of the European Union published on January 18, 2019, an amended version of the draft Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment (also referred to as the “Single-Use Plastics Directive”). The amended draft directive makes significant changes to the European Commission’s (EC’s) original proposed draft of May 28, 2018.

The American Institute for Packaging and the Environment (AMERIPEN) has issued a guidance document aimed at improving the clarity and alignment of definitions for packaging materials and management processes. AMERIPEN is a coalition of companies covering the entire supply chain spectrum, from producers to end-of-life materials managers.