California adopts first microplastics strategy in US

A California state agency has adopted what it says is the first-in-the-U.S. microplastics reduction strategy, a broad plan that mixes traditional plastic bans with a push on reusable packaging and efforts to tackle other sources like synthetic fibers.

The detailed plan passed Feb. 23 by the California Ocean Protection Council calls for things that will be felt immediately by plastics companies, like a ban on expanded polystyrene foodware and packaging, as well as tougher enforcement of resin pellet discharge from factories.

But it also wants the state to pursue broader research and source reduction initiatives, including supporting reusable and refillable packaging and targeting other common sources of microplastics pollution like cigarette filters, tires and synthetic polymers from clothing.

OPC does not have any regulatory power — that rests with other state agencies — but the council members include heads of state agencies and lawmakers active on plastics issues. A 2018 state law directed the agency to develop the strategy.

"This is the first ever microplastics strategy in the country, if not the world," said Wade Crowfoot, California's natural resources secretary and OPC chairman. "We must take action and this strategy shows us how."

OPC Executive Director Michael Gold said the strategy included actions that could be taken quickly, but he also called on more work with the clothing and tire industries.

"Some solutions, like stormwater infiltration projects and better compliance with nurdle discharge prohibitions, can reduce microplastics immediately," Gold said. "But we cannot dramatically reduce microplastic pollution without leadership from the textile industry and tire manufacturers to produce consumer products that don't add to the growing problem."

OPC's full report recommended banning the sale and distribution of EPS packaging by 2023.

"A statewide prohibition of expanded polystyrene in foodware and packaging can prevent the persistence of expanded polystyrene in the environment, as it easily breaks apart, mixes with coastal sand and sediment, and is often unable to be recycled due to food contamination," the report said.

The agency defines microplastics as particles less than 5 millimeters in size, and said it's important to take action because the tiny materials are becoming widespread in the environment, showing up in human stool and lung samples as well as within soils and plants.

OPC said it wants to the state to adopt "precautionary management of microplastic pollution and upstream source reduction."

Speakers at a public hearing before the vote pushed for more attention on textiles as a microplastics source, and urged the state to consider setting standards around fabric shedding and mandate extended producer responsibility systems for clothing companies.

Council member and State Sen. Ben Allen, D-Redondo Beach, called the report a "step in the right direction" and urged more reusable packaging as a way to cut back on single-use items that can become pollution.

"Just in general, I would say we need to focus on source reduction," he said. "I would also say we need state funding to jump-start a reuse system, funding new reuse infrastructure."

State Assembly Member Mark Stone, D-Santa Cruz, said the report will help build support in the legislature for microplastics policy initiatives.

He linked reducing microplastics in stormwater runoff with providing clean water for Californians, saying that in the future capturing that runoff will provide a "crucial supply" of water for the state's residents.

"This [report] is a very critical step," said Stone, who is also an OPC member. "It is good for California to be one of the first jurisdictions willing to take this step."

The report includes 22 shorter-term policy actions along with a 13-point research agenda. OPC said it was working with other California agencies, including the State Water Board, which in 2020 launched a multiyear project to examine microplastics in drinking water.