California

In July 2012, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance, the Alameda County Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance(PDF), requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to create and fund a program to collect and properly dispose of leftover drugs they manufacture. This ordinance is the first of its kind in the nation.

SB 966 was signed into law in October 2007 as Chapter 542, Statutes of 2007.

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.

AB 218, introduced on January 29, 2008, would amend Chapter 526 by re-defining the European Union’s RoHS Directive 2002/95/EC(PDF file, 114KB) term electronic equipment to mean a device that is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields. Current California law defines electronic equipment only as video display devices.

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 Green Chemistry Initiative was launched in April 2007 by California's Secretary for Environmental Protection. The Secretary requested that the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) lead a broad public process to generate ideas that could fill information and safety gaps about chemicals, develop overall policy goals, and identify and recommend policy options. The Initiative is divided into two phases.

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 1713, introduced February 22, 2008, would require manufacturers to use the least toxic alternative when replacing phthalates in their products and apply the prohibition and least toxic alternative requirements to certain toys and child care articles that contain bisphenol A or lead in detectable levels.