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During his opening remarks of the 2026 legislative session, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie expressed strong commitment to protecting the environment and curbing climate change. Luckily, the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA - A1749 Glick/S1464 Harckham) is already on the Assembly floor and will do just that — and save money for municipalities and taxpayers.
Nearly one year after California’s ban on polystyrene foam took effect under Senate Bill 54, illegal products are still widely available across the state. On December 2, 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an enforcement advisory to producers of polystyrene foam food service ware, warning them that continued sales, distribution, or importation of these products in or into California violates state law.
On December 2, The New Press will release “The Problem With Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late” by Judith Enck and Beyond Plastics with Adam Mahoney. The book, which is currently available for pre-order, provides a powerful investigation into plastic’s impact on human health and the environment, a searing indictment of the plastics industry that created this mess, and a playbook for how we can fight back.
O’Connell to Lead Organization’s Grassroots Efforts to Block Chemical Recycling Facilities in Various States.
IN THE NEWS
While the Trump administration has put a pause on many proposed new tariffs, some — like the 25 percent tariff on aluminum — are still in play. Coca-Cola chief executive James Quincey said that Coke may increase its use of plastic to mitigate price hikes, as it imports aluminum from Canada for its soda cans.
Microplastics have been found for the first time in human ovary follicular fluid, raising a new round of questions about the ubiquitous and toxic substances’ potential impact on women’s fertility. The new peer-reviewed research published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety checked for microplastics in the follicular fluid of 18 women undergoing assisted reproductive treatment at a fertility clinic in Salerno, Italy, and detected them in 14.
Americans are being peddled misinformation about what happens to the plastic they buy and use in their daily lives, and Maryland taxpayers have an opportunity to fight back. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has sued ExxonMobil for the fossil fuel company’s pollution and track record of misinformation — particularly around the recyclability of Americans’ plastics.
While other governments have brought legal action against consumer brands for their plastic pollution, California’s case is the first to target a major plastic producer for falsely promoting recycling as a solution.
This is a historic moment in the fight against plastic pollution, a crisis that has been created by companies that have known recycling was not possible for most plastics. While others have filed important suits against consumer brand companies for their pollution, like New York attorney general Letitia James’ lawsuit against PepsiCo, Bonta’s suit is the first to target a company for lying about plastic recycling’s efficacy.
Black-colored plastic used in children’s toys, takeout containers, kitchen utensils and grocery meat and produce trays may contain alarming levels of toxic flame retardants that may be leaching from electronic products during recycling, a new study found.
In a landmark lawsuit filed this week, the California attorney general accused ExxonMobil of “deceptively” promoting chemical recycling as a solution for the plastics crisis, citing ProPublica’s recent reporting and expanding on our findings. In June, we examined the oil giant’s claim that it had transformed discarded plastic into new fruit cups through an “advanced” chemical recycling technology called pyrolysis.


Environmental and local government officials will hold a news conference on Zoom to release new data showing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer savings in communities across New York with the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA - A1749 Glick/S1464 Harckham).