California Assembly advances bill to phase out single-use plastic e-commerce packaging

The California State Assembly passed legislation (AB 2026) Thursday to reduce the use of plastic mailers, air pillows, bubble wrap and polystyrene foam packaging commonly used in the online retail marketplace. If approved by the state Senate and signed by the governor, California would become the first state in the country to pass a law to reduce single-use plastic waste generated by online retailers. 

Almost every time we receive an online purchase, we’re stuck dealing with a pile of plastic. Most of the time, the foam peanuts, bubble wrap and plastic envelopes that come with our products end up going straight into the trash can, and in the best case scenario, off to the landfill shortly thereafter. With more and more online shopping, we need to change the way we ship things, so that buying something online no longer means contributing to the plastic waste crisis that is poisoning our environment and harming our health. 
CALPIRG applauds the California State Assembly for putting California on a path to eliminate unnecessary single-use plastic in e-commerce. We hope this legislation provides a model for other states to follow. 

Next up: the State Senate. Send a message to your State Senators urging them to approve this critical legislation.