FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Jennifer Fearing, [email protected], 916-992-3667
Juvenio Guerra, [email protected], 310-755-0590

SACRAMENTO (February 2, 2022) – Today Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) announced his endorsement of  the California Plastic Pollution Reduction and Recycling Act which aims to reduce single-use plastics, minimize impacts of plastic pollution on our waters, land, and air, and improve recycling and composting infrastructure in the state. 

“Plastic production, consumption, and pollution are having an unacceptable impact on our communities and our environment and we must act urgently to turn the tide,” said Speaker Rendon. “I am pleased to endorse this ballot measure as an effective approach to minimizing plastic pollution and its impacts on human health, local communities, and the environment while incentivizing less production of single-use plastic and holding producers accountable for the social burden of the plastic packaging they sell in our state. I urge Californians to vote yes this November.” 

The measure, which has qualified for the November statewide ballot, already enjoys the support of over a hundred environmental organizations,, environmental health and justice, progressive agriculture, solid waste, recycling and composting facilities, business organizations, and local and state elected officials.

The Speaker joins several state legislative colleagues who have endorsed the ballot measure, including chairs of key environmental committees Assemblywoman Luz Rivas (D-San Fernando Valley), chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, Senator Henry Stern (D-Calabasas), chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee, and Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Climate Crisis, Resources, Energy, and Transportation. 

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors also voted unanimously in late 2021 to endorse the measure, after a motion co-authored by Chair Hilda L. Solis and Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.

“We welcome Speaker Rendon’s strong support of this effort to tackle plastic pollution head-on this November,” said ballot co-petitioners and California Coastal Commissioners Linda Escalante and Caryl Hart. “Plastic production relies on fossil fuels and exacerbates climate change; its use and disposal create pollution that is leaching into every imaginable corner of our planet. It is imperative that we act to address this issue at the source while we promote systems that will push society toward a future that is less reliant on plastics and is better equipped to deal with its waste. This measure does just that and we are thrilled the Speaker is going to help us get it done.” 

The campaign’s internal polling and independent public polls (PPIC) have consistently shown that more than 6 in 10 California voters support efforts to combat plastic pollution and continued investments in recycling and reuse strategies.

A yes vote for the California Plastic Pollution Reduction and Recycling Act on the November 2022 ballot will:

• Require plastic producers to ensure all single-use plastic packaging and foodware in California is reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2030.
• Ensure plastic producers reduce single-use plastic packaging and foodware as much as possible and by no less than 25 percent by 2030, as well as prohibit the distribution of expanded polystyrene foam food containers.
• Fund recycling programs, habitat restoration, and environmental cleanup by charging a fee to producers of single use plastic packaging and foodware of no more than one penny per package.

To learn more about voting yes on the California Plastic Pollution Reduction & Recycling Act, please visit: www.stopplasticpollutionca.com. 

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