A group of 17 states, led by Nebraska, along with a national trade association representing wholesalers and distributors, have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block California from enforcing a tough new law aimed at reducing plastic packaging waste.
The suit was filed Monday in federal court and targets California’s recently finalized rules, which would gradually require businesses to cut back on single-use plastics and ensure that all packaging is either recyclable or compostable. The plaintiffs described the regulations as “onerous mandates” that would lead to significant price hikes on everyday necessities — costs they say would ultimately be passed along to consumers.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, who spearheaded the coalition, criticized California’s reach in a news release. “Once again, California is trying to enact a policy that negatively impacts the rest of the country. If California goes unchecked, consumers will be forced to pay more for basic necessities,” he said.
The law at the center of the dispute — the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act — was signed into law in 2022. According to the lawsuit, it has an extraordinarily broad reach: “Virtually every product packaged or shipped in plastic containers, as well as a significant number of other types of packaging materials that merely incorporate plastics, fall into the Act’s remarkable sweep.”
The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, which represents businesses that import and distribute goods in California, is also a plaintiff in the case. The group’s president and CEO, Eric Hoplin, argued that California is overstepping its authority. “California is not entitled to pronounce nationwide policies,” Hoplin said. “Because the Act extends California’s regulatory reach far beyond its borders and brings within its sweep conduct wholly unconnected to California, the Act violates principles of federalism, the horizontal separation of powers, and due process.”
The lawsuit contends the law runs afoul of both the U.S. Constitution and California’s own constitution. The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the law invalid and unenforceable and to stop it from being put into effect.
Named as defendants in the suit are Zoe Heller, the director of California’s recycling agency CalRecycle, and the Circular Action Alliance, a nonprofit organization involved in carrying out the law.
A CalRecycle spokesperson, Melanie Turner, said in an emailed statement that the agency does not comment on active litigation and that it remains focused on moving forward with the law’s implementation.
The Circular Action Alliance said it is aware of the lawsuit and is keeping a close watch on how things develop, while continuing its work to achieve the law’s “ambitious goals.”
California officials have defended the law, saying it shifts the responsibility for managing single-use plastic and packaging waste away from taxpayers and local governments and onto the companies that produce it. Environmental Protection Secretary Yana Garcia said in a statement issued in May: “California is shifting the responsibility of managing single-use plastic and packaging onto the producers. New packaging reforms lower waste costs for communities and decrease garbage and pollution across the state. This approach pushes producers to innovate and design packaging that truly supports a circular economy.”
Joining Nebraska in the lawsuit are 16 other states whose attorneys general are Republican: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
Notably, environmental advocates have also taken legal action over the same law, but from the opposite direction. A coalition that included the Natural Resources Defense Council recently filed its own complaint, arguing that the final regulations were “weakened” versions of what the “landmark” law was intended to achieve.
