…but in practice, there usually is. This week’s newsletter arrives at a moment of structural tensions in waste and recycling policy. Courts and legislatures in California and New York are testing the limits of the scope and viability of EPR. Meanwhile, a series of high-profile chemical recycling collapses is forcing an honest reckoning with whether “advanced recycling” can deliver on its promises.
In the news
This Week in Waste
When the Law Isn’t Enough: California’s SB 54 Lawsuit and the Implementation Gap
California’s landmark plastic packaging law SB 54 — the first comprehensive EPR law for packaging in the U.S. — is now being contested in court by the very environmental groups that championed it. Oceana, NRDC, and Californians Against Waste filed suit on June 2 in San Francisco Superior Court, arguing that CalRecycle’s final regulations create unauthorized carveouts that undermine the law’s recycling and plastic reduction mandates and leave Californians responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in annual waste management costs. Critics argue that CalRecycle unlawfully exempted certain plastic packaging from the law’s requirements and improperly exempted technologies from stricter regulation because they are classified as “recycling.”
Sources: Waste360 ·
Resource Recycling ·
Recycling Today
New York’s EPR Bill Fails Again
For the third consecutive year, New York’s Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act failed to reach the Assembly floor before the legislature adjourned June 10. The bill passed the Senate in both 2024 and 2025 but has never cleared the Assembly, with more than 150 amendments this session still insufficient to break the deadlock between industry opposition and environmental advocates. Business groups argued the bill could add up to $732 per year in costs for a family of four, while a 2025 Siena poll found 73% public support for EPR in New York — illustrating the gap between public support and legislative action found nationally.
Key takeaway: States that have passed EPR (Maine, Oregon, California, Colorado) all involved sustained, structured negotiations with industry before the vote — but as California shows, unintended consequences can still arise.
Sources: Packaging Dive ·
Resource Recycling
Chemical Recycling’s Credibility Crisis: Two High-Profile Failures in One Week
The advanced recycling sector suffered two significant setbacks, raising serious questions about pyrolysis as a viable recycling solution at scale. Ohio EPA revoked Freepoint Eco-Systems’ status as a recycling facility after the plant failed to convert sufficient plastic to pyrolysis oil for three consecutive quarters in 2025 and 2026, with neighbors reporting “black smoke” from the facility. Simultaneously, Braven Environmental abandoned its planned $145 million pyrolysis facility in Texarkana, Texas — the second time Braven’s announced expansion plans have collapsed — while its existing North Carolina operations face scrutiny for improper handling of hazardous waste.
Key takeaway: The gap between chemical recycling’s industry marketing and its on-the-ground performance is growing, and the regulatory and permitting frameworks that classify these facilities as “recycling” rather than incineration are increasingly under scrutiny.
Sources: Waste Dive ·
Earthworks ·
Resource Recycling
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