Page 59 - Plastics News September 2016
P. 59
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
California legislators approve trio A third bill (AB 1613), while not directly mentioning
of recycling, sustainability laws plastic processors, could be a boon to those focusing on
vehicle light-weighting and solar companies. It would
Several plastics- and recycling-related bills are distribute about $1.2 billion in revenue collected under
among the many pushed through the California state California’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program, a
legislature amid the annual end-of-session frenzy before government-mandated market-based system that aims to
Labor Day. lower greenhouse gases by holding companies ?nancially
liable for their emissions.
One measure (AB 2530) would require plastic beverage
container manufacturers to report to the state annually on The money, which has been parked in the Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund for two years while legislators and the
how much recycled governor debated how best to spend it, would primarily
content was used in go to investments in cleaner cars and trucks, solar
their bottles. power programs, waste diversion and access to transit
alternatives. Gov. Jerry Brown has until Sept. 30 to sign
“Making that the measures into law.
information available
to the public will Wigton's Innovia to of?cially open
enable consumers to new polymer bank note plant.
determine whether
or not beverage companies are using recycled plastic Innovia Films will of?cially open its state-of-the-art
in the beverages they purchase,” notes on the bill say. polymer substrate manufacturing facility at Wigton
But the bill would not require minimum levels of post- The company has invested £40 million at Wigton to
consumer recycled material to be included in bottles gear up for a contract to produce the base material
sold in California, unlike some other state reporting for the Bank of England’s ?rst polymer banknotes.
programs — and previous attempts to do so in California This included a new
have failed. Should the bill become law, reporting would polypropylene line
begin in March 2018. and construction
of an opaci?cation
Another bill (AB 1005) would extend the state’s Plastic plant to coat the
Market Development program through 2018, authorizing polymer prior to
another year of payments to support in-state recycling printing. The first
markets. The $10 million annual fund pays recyclers and ‘Made in Wigton’
manufacturers up to $150 per ton for collecting, washing, £5 note is due to
processing and manufacturing recycled-content bottles enter circulation on September 13, followed by a £10
in California. The program is administered by the state’s note next year. The facility will also produce bespoke
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, known as polymer bank notes for other central banks around the
CalRecycle, which would be authorized to receive another world. The new £5, featuring Sir Winston Churchill, is
$173,000 per year to run the program under the new bill. the ?rst Bank of England banknote to be printed on
Innovia’s Guardian material, a ?exible plastic ?lm,
All the funds would come from the state’s so-called bottle made and coated at Wigton and then printed by De La
bill, which requires a 5-cent redemption value on containers Rue in Essex. It incorporates advanced security features
that hold less than 24 ounces and a 10-cent value for those making the notes even harder to counterfeit. The
that hold 24 ounces or more. The bottle deposit can be polymer is also harder wearing, as well as resistant to
redeemed by consumers at either a supermarket-based dirt and moisture, so we expect it to last for at least
recycling center or privately-operated recycling centers, 2.5 times longer.
or be “donated,” along with the containers, either a non-
pro?t recycling program or by simply sending those bottles
along through curbside recycling programs.
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