Recycled-Content Trash Bag Program

The California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) monitors the provisions of Public Resources Code with respect to plastic trash bag mandates. Manufacturers and wholesalers selling plastic trash bags in California must meet these mandates annually. Manufacturers and wholesalers who fail to comply are considered noncompliant. Noncompliant companies are ineligible for the award of any State contract or subcontract, or for the renewal, extension, or modification of an existing contract or subcontract for goods or services until the CIWMB determines it is in compliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the plastic trash bag law.

• Requirements
• Assistance for Manufacturers
• Compliant and Noncompliant Companies

Requirements

Plastic Trash Bag Manufacturers

Must annually certify their compliance by either responding to the CIWMB’s annual certification request or by independently submitting their certification documentation to the CIWMB before March 1st each year. Manufacturers selling regulated plastic trash bags (thickness of 0.7 mil or greater) are required to meet either one of the following:

• Plastic trash bags contain a quantity of plastic postconsumer material (RPPCM) equal to at least 10 percent of the weight of the regulated bags; or
• At least 30 percent of the weight of material used in all of its plastic products is RPPCM.

Wholesalers

Must annually certify their compliance by either responding to the CIWMB’s annual certification request or by independently submitting their certification documentation to the CIWMB before March 1st each year. California Code of Regulations (CCR) section 17979.5 requires the documentation to include:

• Your company name, headquarters mailing address, telephone number and contact person, and every physical address from which regulated plastic trash bags were shipped.
• The number of regulated plastic trash bags and the tons of regulated plastic trash bags shipped from each physical location which were intended for sale or distribution or sold in California during the reporting period.
• A list of each manufacturer and each wholesaler from whom you purchased regulated plastic trash bags during the reporting period.

Forms

• Manufacturer Certification (CIWMB 57): Excel, 105 KB | Adobe PDF, 31 KB
• Wholesaler Certification (CIWMB 58): Excel, 30 KB | Adobe PDF, 20 KB

Assistance for Manufacturers

The following is excerpted from the regulations pertaining to this program, Chapter 4. Resource Conservation Programs, Article 5. Recycled Content Trash Bag Program, which can be viewed in their entirety on our site.

17980.5. What If I Determine During A Reporting Period That I Can Not Meet the Recycled Plastic Postconsumer Material (RPPCM) Content Requirements?

(a) I am a manufacturer of regulated trash bags. Will the Board provide me with any assistance if I determine, during a reporting period, that I may not or cannot meet the RPPCM content requirement?

If at any time during a reporting period, you determine you may not meet the RPPCM content requirement, you must contact the Board within ten (10) calendar days of making the determination. The Board will supply you with information regarding additional suppliers of RPPCM.

Suppliers of RPPCM, updated October 2008 (Adobe PDF, 27 KB | Excel, 54 KB)
Prior to making the certification per CCR Section 17981, in addition to those suppliers that manufacturers have done business with or are otherwise aware of, plastic trash bag manufacturers are required to make a good-faith effort to purchase recycled plastic postconsumer material (RPPCM) to meet the minimum recycled content use requirement with each supplier on the Board-provided list.

Compliant and Noncompliant Companies

Plastic trash bag manufacturers that did not met the minimum RPPCM content requirements and companies that did not submit complete certifications to the CIWMB are noncompliant. California Code of Regulations section 17985(b) requires the CIWMB to publish the list of noncompliant manufacturers and wholesalers. The list is posted to the CIWMB’s website and transmitted to the Department of General Services and state and local procurement officers.

The summary list of compliance and noncompliant manufacturers and wholesalers is based on certifications received by the CIWMB for the 2007 reporting period.