Passed

California passed in 2005 AB 1125 (the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act of 2006), which banned all household batteries from solid waste landfill disposal and requried retailers to take back rechargeable batteries for recycling at no cost to consumers.

Strategic Directive 5, adopted by the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) on February 13, 2007, outlines the Board's commitment to producer responsibility. The directive states that it is a core value of the CIWMB that producers assume the responsibility for the safe stewardship of their materials in order to promote environmental sustainability.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Framework Policy was adopted by the CIWMB on January 23, 2008. The new EPR Framework Policy shifts the responsibility for managing products at the end-of-life from local governments to producers who can internalize the costs of product collection, transportation, and recycling/disposal.

California’s Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, states that the State of California must maintain a list of toxic materials that can cause cancer, birth defects, or cause reproductive harm. Companies selling products in California containing one of these chemicals must place the Prop 65 warning on the product’s label that the product contains one of the Prop 65 chemicals.

The California Toxic Toys Bill (AB 1108) was signed into law on October 14, 2007 as Chaptered 672 (PDF file, 74KB). The law will ban six types of phthalates from children's toys sold in California starting on January 1, 2009.

SB 509 (PDF file, 79KB) signed into law on September 29, 2008, requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to establish a Toxics Information Clearinghouse for the collection, maintenance, and distribution of specific chemical hazard traits and environmental and toxicological end-point data.