California remains a bellwether on plastics policy, with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision Sept. 24 to sign an ambitious recycled content law for plastic bottles.

The law sets what could become the world’s toughest mandate for recycled content, beginning at 15 percent in 2022 and rising to 50 percent by 2030. The European Union, by contrast, tops out at 30 percent recycled content.

California’s size — one of every eight Americans lives there and it has an economy larger than that of France — gives it a lot of market power. For some companies, the Golden State’s new recycled content law could become a de facto national standard.

But supporters of the new law, like Alex Delnik, president of South Gate, Calif.-based PET reclaimer Verdeco Recycling Inc., see it as only a first step.

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