THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2846 |
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to the environment.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that there is no national legislation or standard for recycling labels. The triangular "chasing arrows" symbol or the word "recyclable" on plastics and other products has long been a source of confusion for consumers. The symbol appears on a wide variety of products, from those that are easily recycled, to those that are less so, to those that are not recyclable at all. Items that are not actually recyclable can display the symbol despite there being no tangible end-market to recycle those materials. This type of labeling means that recycling programs often see high rates of contamination when items that are not generally recyclable are mixed in with items that can be recycled. Sorting through contaminated items is costly, and often leads to most items being sent to the landfill, even though some materials would be viable for recycling had they been properly sorted.
Packaging and serviceware marketed to be compostable and biodegradable also contribute to this problem. Many items that are labeled compostable are only designed to break down under industrial-scale conditions and will not break down in an at-home compost pile. Compostable or biodegradable products often end up in landfills because they are touted as more environmentally friendly than other materials. Landfill conditions are not conducive to composting or biodegradation, so these materials tend to persist or break down anaerobically, which can produce greenhouse gas emissions. Some items labeled as compostable may contain toxic chemicals that would remain in the soil even after the composting process is completed.
The legislature further finds that the United States plastics industry will surpass coal-fired power plants as a major leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in less than a decade. A 2021 study found that plastics emit greenhouse gases in every stage of their lifecycle. As renewable energy increases across the country, fossil fuel companies are seeking to recoup lost profits by increasing plastics production. Therefore, combatting climate change will require less new plastic being produced and more plastic being recycled.
The purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Prohibit the sale or distribution of consumer goods for which a deceptive claim about the recyclability of the product or packaging is made;
(2) Establish standards for recyclability of products in the State;
(3) Require the department of health to collect data and issue a material characterization study on recyclable materials collected in the State; and
(4) Prohibit the sale of any product that is labeled as compostable or biodegradable unless the product meets specified criteria.
SECTION 2. Chapter 342G, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§342G- Product
labeling; recyclability. (a) Notwithstanding
any other law to the contrary, no person may offer for sale, sell, manufacture,
import, or distribute any product or packaging for which a deceptive or misleading
claim about the recyclability of the product or packaging is made.
(b)
A product or packaging that displays a
chasing arrows symbol, a chasing arrows symbol surrounding a resin identification
code, or any other symbol or statement indicating the product or packaging is
recyclable, or otherwise directing the consumer to recycle the product or
packaging, is deemed to be a deceptive or misleading claim pursuant to this
section unless the product or packaging is considered recyclable in the State
pursuant to subsections (e), (f), and (g) and is of a material type and form
that routinely becomes feedstock used in the production of new products or
packaging.
This subsection shall not apply to:
(1) Any product or
packaging that is manufactured up to eighteen months after the date the
department publishes the first material characterization study required
pursuant to this section, or before January 1, 2024, whichever is later; and
(2) Any product or packaging manufactured up to eighteen months after the date the department updates the material characterization study pursuant to this section, if the product or packaging satisfied or, for a new product or packaging, would have satisfied, the requirements to be considered recyclable in the State pursuant to subsections (e), (f), and (g) before the publication of the updated study.
(c) Subject to subsection (b)(2), for a product or
packaging that is not considered to be recyclable in the State pursuant to subsections
(e), (f), and (g), all the following shall apply:
(1) Displaying a
chasing arrows symbol or any other symbol or statement indicating the product
is recyclable directly on the product shall be deemed to be deceptive or
misleading pursuant to this section;
(2) If a product or
packaging has multiple material types, a chasing arrows symbol or statement indicating
recyclability may be displayed on the external packaging that is considered to
be recyclable in the State pursuant to subsections (e), (f), and (g) if the
chasing arrows symbol or statement makes clear in the same or greater font,
font size, or symbol size that the other components of the product or packaging
are not recyclable; and
(3) Displaying a
chasing arrows symbol or any other symbol or statement indicating recyclability
on packaging containing a consumable product shall, for purposes of this
section, be deemed to refer only to the packaging. For purposes of this subparagraph, "consumable
product" means a commodity that is intended to be used and not disposed
of.
(d) For purposes of this section, none of the
following constitutes a deceptive or misleading claim about the recyclability
of a product or packaging:
(1) A person using
a chasing arrows symbol in combination with a clearly visible line placed at a forty-five
degree angle over the chasing arrows symbol to convey that an item is not recyclable;
(2) A consumer good
that is required by any federal or state law or regulation, including but not
limited to Section 103(b)(1) of the federal Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable
Battery Management Act (42 U.S.C. 14322(b)(1)), to display a chasing arrows
symbol;
(3) Directing a
consumer to compost or properly dispose of a consumer good through an organics
recycling program; and
(4) A resin
identification code placed inside a solid equilateral triangle.
(e) On or before January 1, 2024, in order to
provide information to the public sufficient for evaluating whether a product
or packaging is recyclable in the State according to the criteria set forth in subsections
(f) and (g) and are of material types and forms that routinely becomes feedstock
used in the production of new products or packaging, the department shall:
(1) Issue rules pursuant
to this chapter and chapter 91 to require all processing and solid waste disposal
facilities operating in the State to submit the following information to the department:
(A) How
any recovered material collected or processed by the operations and facilities
was collected; and
(B) What
material types and forms are actively recovered, and not considered
contaminants, by the operation or facility;
(2) Publish the
information required pursuant to paragraph (1) in a form the department
deems appropriate for achieving the purpose of this section;
(3) Conduct and
publish on its internet website a characterization study of material types and
forms that are collected, sorted, sold, or transferred by solid waste
facilities deemed appropriate by the department for inclusion in the study; provided
that:
(A) The
department shall update the material characterization study required pursuant
to this paragraph every five years, with the first update being issued by the
department in ;
(B) Notwithstanding
subparagraph (A), the department may publish additional information that was
not available at the time of the most recent periodic material characterization
study regarding the appropriate characterization of material types and forms;
(C) For
purposes of studying a representative sample of material types and forms in the
State, within ninety days of a department request, a processing facility shall
allow for periodic sampling conducted by a designated representative of the
department on a mutually agreed upon date and time; provided that the department
shall not request a periodic sampling of a processing facility if that facility
was sampled during the previous twenty-four months; and
(D) For
each material characterization study conducted pursuant to this paragraph, the
department shall publish on its internet website the preliminary findings of
the study and conduct a public meeting to present the preliminary findings and
receive public comments. The public
meeting shall occur at least thirty days after the department publishes the
preliminary findings. After receiving
and considering public comments, and within sixty days of the public meeting,
the department shall finalize and publish on its internet website the findings
of the study.
(f) Subject to subsection (g), a product or
packaging is considered recyclable in the State if, based on information
published by the department pursuant to subsection (e), the product or
packaging is of a material type and form that meets both of the following
requirements:
(1) The material type
and form are collected for recycling by recycling programs for jurisdictions
that collectively encompass at least sixty per cent of the population of the State;
and
(2) The material
type and form are sorted into defined streams for recycling processes by large
volume transfer or processing facilities, as defined by this chapter, that
process materials and collectively serve at least sixty per cent of recycling
programs statewide, with the defined streams sent to and reclaimed at a
reclaiming facility consistent with the requirements of the Basel Convention; provided
that the department may adopt rules modifying this requirement to encompass
transfer or processing facilities other than large volume transfer or
processing facilities, as the department deems appropriate for achieving the purposes
of this section.
(g) A product or packaging shall not be considered
recyclable in the State unless the product or packaging meets all the following
criteria, as applicable:
(1) For plastic packaging,
the plastic packaging is designed to not include any components, inks,
adhesives, or labels that prevent the recyclability of the packaging according
to the APR Design Guide published by the Association of Plastic Recyclers;
(2) For plastic
products and non-plastic products and packaging, the product or packaging is
designed to ensure recyclability and does not include any components, inks, adhesives,
or labels that prevent the recyclability of the product or packaging; and
(3) The product or
packaging is not made from plastic or fiber that contains PFAS substances that
meets either of the following criteria:
(A) PFAS
substances that a manufacturer has intentionally added to a product or
packaging and that have a functional or technical effect in the product or
packaging, including the PFAS substance components of intentionally added chemicals
and PFAS substances that are intentional breakdown products of an added
chemical that also have a functional or technical effect in the product; or
(B) The
presence of PFAS substances in a product or product component or packaging or
packaging component at or above one hundred parts per million, as measured in total
organic fluorine.
(h) Notwithstanding subsections (f) and (g), a
product or packaging is recyclable in the State if the product or packaging has
a demonstrated recycling rate of at least seventy-five per cent, meaning that
not less than seventy-five per cent of the product or packaging sorted and
aggregated in the State is reprocessed into new products or packaging.
(i) Notwithstanding subsections (f)
and (g), a product or packaging not collected pursuant to a curbside collection
program is recyclable in the State if:
(1) Before January
1, 2030, the non-curbside collection program recovers at least sixty per cent
of the product or packaging in the program and the material has sufficient
commercial value to be marketed for recycling and be transported at the end of
its useful life to a transfer, processing, or recycling facility to be sorted
and aggregated into defined streams by material type and form;
(2) On or after
January 1, 2030, the non-curbside collection program recovers at least seventy-five
per cent of the product or packaging in the program and the material has
sufficient commercial value to be marketed for recycling and be transported at
the end of its useful life to a transfer, processing, or recycling facility to be
sorted and aggregated into defined streams by material type and form; or
(3) The product or
packaging is part of, and in compliance with, a program established pursuant to
state or federal law on or after January 1, , governing
the recyclability or disposal of that product or packaging if the department
determines that the product or packaging will not increase contamination of
curbside recycling or deceive consumers as to the recyclability of the product
or packaging.
(j) The information published by the department
pursuant to subsection (e) shall not limit the discretion of a county agency under
existing law to decide whether, and to what extent, a material type or form
shall be accepted by a county recycling program.
(k) For the purposes of this section, "chasing
arrows symbol" means an equilateral triangle, formed by three arrows
curved at their midpoints, depicting a clockwise path, with a short gap separating
the apex of each arrow from the base of the adjacent arrow. "Chasing arrows symbol" also includes
variants of that symbol that are likely to be interpreted by a consumer as an
implication of recyclability, including, but not limited to, one or more arrows
arranged in a circular pattern or around a globe.
§342G-
Sale of products; compostable or biodegradable;
labeling. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no person
shall sell or offer for sale a product in the State that is labeled with the
term "compostable" or "home compostable" unless:
(1) At the time of
sale or offering for sale, the product meets the applicable ASTM standard
specification or, if applicable, the product has OK compost HOME certification;
provided that compliance with only a section or a portion of a section of an
applicable ASTM standard specification does not constitute compliance with this
section;
(2) Notwithstanding
paragraph (1), a person may sell or offer for sale a product in the State that
is labeled with a qualified claim for a term specified in paragraph (1) if the
product meets the relevant standard adopted by the department pursuant to this section;
or
(3) For a product labeled
with the term "home compostable":
(A) The
manufacturer of that product holds OK compost HOME certification with regard to
that product;
(B) Notwithstanding
subparagraph (A), if the ASTM adopts a standard specification for the term "home
compostable" on or before January 1, , and the
department determines that the ASTM standard specification is at least equal
to, or more stringent than, the OK compost HOME certification, the product meets
that ASTM standard specification; or
(C) If
the department adopts a standard pursuant to this section, the product meets
the standard adopted by the department and not the standard specified in subparagraphs
(A) and (B).
(b) Except as provided in subsection (a) or (f), no
person shall sell or offer for sale a product in the State that is labeled with
the term "biodegradable", "degradable", or "decomposable",
or any form of those terms, or in any way imply that the product will break down,
fragment, biodegrade, or decompose in a landfill or other environment.
(c) The department may issue guidelines, consistent
with this chapter, for determining whether a product is not compliant with the
labeling requirements of this section and whether a product is designed,
pigmented, or advertised in a manner that is misleading to consumers.
(d) A manufacturer or supplier, upon the request of
a member of the public, shall submit to that member, within ninety days of
the request, information and documentation demonstrating compliance with this
chapter in a format that is easy to understand and scientifically accurate.
(e) A product that is in compliance with this
chapter shall not, solely as a result of that compliance, be deemed to be in compliance
with any other applicable marketing requirement or guideline established under
state law or by the Federal Trade Commission.
(f) The department may adopt the European
Committee for Standardization's standard specification EN 17033:2018 entitled "Plastics—Biodegradable
mulch films for use in agriculture and horticulture—Requirements and test
methods" or may adopt a standard that is equivalent to or more stringent
than that standard as it read on January 1, 2020.
(g) A person may sell or offer for sale commercial
agricultural mulch film labeled with the term "soil biodegradable"
only if the department has adopted the standard specification, or an equivalent
or more stringent standard, pursuant to subsection (f) and the commercial
agricultural mulch film is certified to meet both that specification and the
ASTM standard specification for compostability.
(h) No person shall sell or offer for sale a product
in the State that is labeled with the term "compostable" or "home
compostable" unless the product satisfies all the following:
(1) If any standard
specification is applicable to the product pursuant to this chapter and the
department has approved a third-party certification entity to certify products
according to that standard specification, the product shall have certification
that it meets at least one such standard from an approved third-party
certification entity for the standard; provided that this requirement shall
only apply on or after January 1, 2024, and it shall not apply unless there is,
and has been for at least one year immediately prior to the product being sold
or offered for sale, a third-party certification entity approved by the department
to provide the applicable certification;
(2) On or after
January 1, 2026, the product is an allowable agricultural organic input under
the requirements of the United States Department of Agriculture national organic
program; provided that:
(A) By
January 1, 2024, the department, through a public stakeholder process, shall
determine whether, for purposes of this section, it would be feasible to
separate the collection of products in order to recover organic waste that is
suitable for use in organic agricultural applications from the collection of
products not suitable for use in organic agricultural applications; and
(B) If the department determines that such bifurcation is feasible and would enable efficient processing by solid waste processing facilities, the department shall adopt rules on or before January 1, 2026, to establish a bifurcated approach, and products that are not collected for the purpose of recovering organic waste that is suitable for use in organic agricultural applications shall comply with the department's rules and shall not be subject to the requirements of this subparagraph;
(3) The product does
not have a total organic fluorine concentration of greater than one hundred
parts per million, unless the department adopts a different standard that it
determines would more effectively limit the presence of PFAS substances;
(4) The product is
labeled in a manner that distinguishes the product from a non compostable
product upon reasonable inspection by consumers and to help enable efficient
processing by solid waste processing facilities; and
(5) The product is
designed to be associated with the recovery of desirable organic wastes, such
as food scraps and yard trimmings, that are collected for composting, unless
the product complies with the department's rules pursuant to paragraph (2), to
the extent the department elects to adopt those rules.
(i) The department may grant a five-year extension
for complying with the requirements of subsection (h)(2) if either of the following
apply:
(1) The product or
substance has or will soon be, as determined by the department, included as allowed
on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, title 7 Code of Federal
Regulations sections 205.600 to 205.607; or
(2) The product or substance
has or will soon be, as determined by the director, included as an allowable
organic input for compost under federal law.
(j) The department may adopt rules for determining
whether products comply with the requirements of subsection (h)(4). The department, in adopting rules pursuant to
this section, may consider whether the rules are consistent with the product labeling
requirements of other states, stakeholder input, and industry-standard
guidelines. The rules may include
requirements that products are not designed, pigmented, or advertised in a
manner that is misleading to consumers.
(k) For purposes of this section:
"ASTM" means the ASTM International.
"ASTM standard specification"
means either:
(1) The ASTM
Standard Specification for Labeling of Plastics Designed to be Aerobically
Composted in Municipal or Industrial Facilities D6400, as published in 2019; provided
that if the ASTM standard specification is revised and the department determines
that the new standard is more stringent and more protective of public health, public
safety, and the environment, and is reflective of and consistent with state policies
and programs, the department may adopt the new standard; or
(2) The ASTM
Standard Specification for Labeling of End Items that Incorporate Plastics and
Polymers as Coatings or Additives with Paper and Other Substrates Designed to be
Aerobically Composted in Municipal or Industrial Facilities D6868, as published
in 2019; provided that if the ASTM standard specification is revised and the department
determines that the new standard is more stringent and more protective of public
health, public safety, and the environment, and is reflective of and consistent
with state policies and programs, the department may adopt the new standard.
"Commercial agricultural
mulch film" means film plastic that is used only as a technical tool in
commercial farming applications.
"OK compost HOME
certification" means certification of conformity with the existing TUV
Austria certification "OK compost HOME certification", which as of
January 1, 2011, uses European Norm 13432 standard adapted to low-temperature composting
in accordance with the TUV Austria program "OK 2-Home Compostability of
Products."
"Product" includes but is
not limited to:
(1) A consumer
product;
(2) A package or a
packaging component;
(3) A bag, sack,
wrap, or other thin plastic sheet film product; and
(4) A food or beverage
container or a container component, including but not limited to a straw, lid,
or utensil."
SECTION 3. Section 342G-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new definitions to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:
""Consumer product" means a product or part of a product that is used, bought, or leased for use by a person for any purpose.
"Perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl
substances" or "PFAS substances" means all members of the class
of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated
carbon atom."
SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2022.
INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Department of Health; Consumer Goods; Packaging; Recyclability; Compostability; Biodegradability; Labeling; Deceptive Claim; Ban
Description:
Prohibits the sale or distribution of consumer goods for which a deceptive claim about the recyclability of the product or packaging is made. Requires the department of health to collect data and issue a material characterization study on recyclable materials collected in the State. Establishes standards for recyclability of products in the State. Prohibits the sale of any product that is labeled as compostable or biodegradable unless the product meets specified criteria.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.