AB 904: Carpet recycling.

(1)The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste. The act establishes stewardship programs for various products, including, among others, carpet. The act includes a product stewardship for carpet program and a successor carpet producer responsibility program, and requires the product stewardship for carpet program to become inoperative upon the completion of certain conditions related to the implementation of the successor carpet producer responsibility program.

Existing law, the product stewardship for carpet program, requires a manufacturer of carpets sold in this state, individually or through a carpet stewardship organization, to submit a carpet stewardship plan to the department, which is required to include specified elements, including achieving specified carpet recycling rates and a funding mechanism that provides sufficient funding to carry out the plan. Existing law authorizes the department to administratively impose a civil penalty of $10,000 per day on any person in violation of the program or $25,000 per day if the violation is intentional, knowing, or negligent, as specified.

This bill would instead authorize the department to impose administrative, rather than civil, penalties in those amounts, and to impose an administrative penalty of $25,000 per day if the violation is intentional or knowing.

Existing law requires a carpet stewardship organization to include nonvoting board members with representation from, among others, a retailer that sells carpet.

This bill would instead require the stewardship organization to create a governing board for the stewardship program, with 13 voting members, as specified.

Existing law requires a manufacturer of carpets sold in this state, individually or through a carpet stewardship organization, to submit to the department an annual report describing its activities to achieve the purposes of the program, as provided. Existing law authorizes a carpet stewardship organization to award grants and subsidies to incentivize the recycling of carpet materials that have the highest recyclability.

This bill would require a carpet stewardship organization to include in its annual report specified information related to the grants and subsidies provided pursuant to the program, as specified.

(2)Existing law, the successor carpet producer responsibility program, requires producers of covered products to form and join a single producer responsibility organization (PRO) for the collection and recycling of a covered product. Existing law defines PRO to include, among others, the carpet stewardship organization, as defined by the product stewardship for carpet program. Existing law defines a covered product as carpet, as defined, and requires the PRO to develop a producer responsibility plan for the collection, transportation, recycling, and the safe and proper management of covered products in the state.

This bill would remove the carpet stewardship organization from the definition of PRO. The bill would redefine carpet to have the same definition used by the product stewardship for carpet program.

Existing law requires an assessment to be added to the price of all covered products sold in the state to fund the program. Existing law also requires the costs of the program to be borne by producers of covered products, as provided.

This bill would eliminate the requirement for the costs of the program to be borne by producers of covered products.

Existing law requires, no later than January 1, 2029, a person who removes a covered product as part of the installation of a covered product to transport, or contract to transport, all of the removed covered product to an approved collection site, as provided. Under existing law, an approved collection site is a solid waste facility that has agreed to be a collection site for the PRO.

This bill would exempt a covered product from this transport requirement if certain conditions are met, including that it is returned to the producer. The bill would recast approved collection sites and would expand them to include certain carpet recycling centers, municipal facilities, and retailers.

Existing law requires the governing board of a PRO to include 4 nonvoting members, including, but not limited to, a nonvoting member representing a nonprofit organization established to promote a circular economy and to address environmental issues. Existing law requires the PRO to submit an annual report to the department on or before July 1 of each year, as provided. Existing law requires a producer to publish on its internet website, for each of its covered products, an environmental product declaration that identifies a covered products components, as provided.

This bill would instead require the PRO to create a governing board for the program, with 13 voting members, as specified. The bill would require the annual report to be submitted on or before September 1 of each year, instead of July 1 of each year. The bill would instead require a producer to publish on its internet website, for each of its covered products, the components that constitute more than 1% of the products weight and any component that is a hazardous chemical, as specified.

Existing law requires the PRO to submit to the department an annual report, as specified, and to make the report publicly available on the PROs internet website. Existing law requires the PRO to provide annual grants to apprenticeship programs for training carpet installers in proper carpet recycling techniques, as provided.

This bill would require the PRO to include in its annual report specified information related to the grants and incentive payments provided pursuant to the program, as specified.

Existing law requires a producer responsibility plan, among other things, to explain how producers will use standardized stamping or some other means to provide a visual mark on the back of a covered product that is a synthetic material to allow expeditious sorting of the carpet, as provided.

This bill would instead require a producer responsibility plan to explain how producers will use standardized stamping or some other means to provide a visual mark on the back of a covered product that provides the name of the producer, the date of manufacture, and a listing of the types of face fibers and backing materials contained in the product.

Existing law requires a producer responsibility plan to describe how the PRO will provide free dropoff and convenient collection system for covered products.

The bill would require a producer responsibility plan to instead provide the ability for people to drop off postconsumer carpet, free of charge, at certain facilities and with certain availabilities.

Existing law requires a producer responsibility plan to provide annual grants to apprenticeship programs, as provided.

This bill would require a producer responsibility plan to additionally allocate $1,000,000 annually apprenticeship programs operated by labor organizations, as provided.

Existing law requires a producer responsibility plan in effect as of January 1, 2025, to continue in effect, as provided, until it expires or is revoked, as provided.

This bill would repeal this provision.

Existing law requires a producer responsibility plan to prioritize expenditure of assessments collected pursuant to the product stewardship for carpet program on activities to carry out the producer responsibility plan, including grants for apprenticeship programs.

This bill would instead require a producer responsibility plan to prioritize expenditure of assessments collected pursuant to the carpet producer responsibility program on activities to carry out the producer responsibility plan, including grants for apprenticeship programs.

Existing law authorizes the department to establish, review, and adjust performance standards, which may include, but are not limited to, collection, reduction in disposal, and maximizing recycling. Existing law requires the producer responsibility plan to meet any performance standards published by the department. Existing law requires the department to use sales data to establish the performance standard for recycling carpet, as specified.

This bill would eliminate the requirement for the department to use sales data to establish the performance standard for recycling carpet.

Existing law authorizes the department to determine the PRO ineligible to act as the PRO if the PRO violates the provisions of the carpet producer responsibility program 3 or more times.

This bill would require the violations to be knowing or intentional violations.

Existing law requires the department to adopt regulations to implement the program with an effective date no earlier than December 31, 2026.

This bill would instead require the department to adopt the regulations no later than January 1, 2028.