California’s ambitious plan to reduce single-use plastics just got a lot less ambitious.
A 2022 law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom requires a 25 percent reduction in single-use plastics by 2032.
But according to the Los Angeles Times, state regulators have adopted an industry-provided estimate of just over one million tons of plastic sold annually in California — down from the state’s original estimate of 2.9 million tons.
That means the required reduction drops from 725-thousand tons to just 250-thousand tons.
For the average Californian, that’s a reduction of just 13 pounds of plastic annually, instead of 37.
According to YouGov, Americans were more likely to dislike or hate paper straws than to like or love them — 33 percent to 27 percent. And an Ipsos survey found nearly six in ten Americans preferred receiving plastic straws at fast-food restaurant
CalRecycle Director Zoe Heller defended the figure as reflecting the “best available information,” while acknowledging incomplete and inaccurate reporting.
Critics question how the state can enforce meaningful reductions when it apparently doesn’t know how much plastic is being sold. And isn’t it fair to question ‘whether the juice is worth the squeeze’ on the straw ban.
AI helped prepare this story
