HOUSTON (ICIS)–Passed in the Senate on the last day of
the legislative session, Connecticut lawmakers have recently
finalised the details of a recycled content mandate in
House Bill
6664, requiring plastic beverage containers sold in the
state to contain at least 25% post-consumer recycled (PCR)
content by 1 January 2027, which will then increase to 30%
PCR content by 1 January 2032. The bill is now headed to the
governor’s desk to be signed. These rates and dates come over
six months after the deadline set forth in the recycled
content related
Senate Bill
928, passed in June of 2021. Per SB 928, the Commissioner
of Energy and Environmental Protection was to submit to the
governor and the General Assembly recycled content
requirements on 1 December 2022. Now, five states have active
recycled content mandates that apply to plastic products,
with two states, California and Washington, already in
action.
This comes at a time where some recycled plastic
resins, such as post-consumer recycled polyethylene
terephthalate (R-PET) are
seeing flat to soft
demand due to the macroeconomic headwinds facing the
consumer goods industry. 2023 packaging sales volumes are
predicted to be flat to lower than in years past, resulting
in production cutbacks to avoid heavy inventory builds,
leading to less resin purchased overall, recycled or virgin.
Buyers are heard to be purchasing on a month to month basis
or flat out delaying orders in an effort to manage the
uncertain economic outlook. Despite the current soft
environment, long-term recycled content goals, both voluntary
and regulatory, suggest there is still much progress to be
made with regard to increasing recycled content percentages,
as noted by the most recent reports from the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation Global Commitment, as well as from California’s
2022 PCR content
mandate reporting cycle.
