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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 6229
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5334
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING A REDUCTION OF SINGLE -USE PLASTICS
AND POLYSTYRENE WASTE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2026) (a) For purposes of this 1
section: 2
(1) "Polystyrene" means any synthetic polymer material commonly 3
used to manufacture disposable food containers, beverage cups, trays, 4
packaging materials, and other single-use products; 5
(2) "Single-use plastic" means any disposable plastic product 6
intended for one-time use, including plastic cutlery, straws, stirrers, 7
splash sticks and food ware accessories; and 8
(3) "Food vendor" means any facility licensed as a food vendor 9
pursuant to chapter 417 of the general statutes, including, but not 10
limited to, restaurants, food trucks, cafeterias, and other establishments 11
engaged in the sale or distribution of prepared food and beverages. 12
(b) On and after January 1, 2026, no state or municipal agency, vendor 13
with a government contract, school, business or food vendor shall sell, 14
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use, purchase or provide: 15
(1) Any food ware or beverage product composed in whole or in part 16
of polystyrene, including, but not limited to, takeout containers, trays 17
and cups; 18
(2) Any packaging product composed of polystyrene, including, but 19
not limited to, packaging peanuts; or 20
(3) Any single-use plastic cutlery, straw, plastic stirrer, splash stick or 21
food ware accessory, except that a single-use plastic straw may be 22
provided, upon request, to persons with disabilities and shall be made 23
available at pharmacies and medical facilities. 24
(b) The Departments of Consumer Protection and Energy and 25
Environmental Protection shall develop and implement an enforcement 26
plan for the provisions of subsection (a) of this section that includes: (1) 27
Educational outreach to provide guidance and resources to help 28
businesses and institutions transition to sustainable alternatives; and (2) 29
a penalty for any first violation of a written warning and an attendant 30
assistance period of time to facilitate compliance with such subsection, 31
and for any second or subsequent violation, a penalty of not more than 32
two-hundred fifty dollars. 33
(c) On or before January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the 34
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, in accordance 35
with section 11-4a of the general statutes, shall submit a report to the 36
joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 37
matters relating to the environment that evaluates: (1) The effectiveness 38
of single-use plastic and polystyrene reduction measures; (2) the 39
economic impact of such measures on businesses and consumers; (3) the 40
adoption and development of circular economy initiatives in the state; 41
and (4) additional recommendations to further reduce plastic waste and 42
improve sustainability efforts in the state. 43
(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit any municipality from 44
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adopting and enforcing ordinances that impose stricter restrictions on 45
single-use plastics and polystyrene than those set forth in this section. 46
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2027) (a) On and after January 1, 47
2027, all state and municipal buildings, including schools that are 48
required to contain drinking fountains, shall: (1) Install and maintain an 49
equivalent number of bottle-filling stations to promote the use of 50
reusable water bottles; and (2) ensure that such bottle-filling stations 51
remain operational and accessible to the public. 52
(b) The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection shall 53
develop guidelines for compliance with the provisions of subsection (a) 54
of this section. 55
Sec. 3. (Effective from passage) Not later than December 31, 2026, the 56
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection shall conduct a 57
study and submit a report, in accordance with section 11-4a of the 58
general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General 59
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the environment 60
assessing strategies for implementing a circular economy in the state, 61
with a focus on: (1) Sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic 62
packaging and food service products, including compostable, 63
biodegradable and reusable options; (2) local and regional processing 64
infrastructure for recycling, composting and reusing materials to 65
support a closed-loop system; (3) the economic and environmental 66
benefits of transitioning to circular economy models in food service, 67
retail, and packaging sectors; (4) incentives, group purchasing contracts 68
or grant programs to support businesses, schools and municipal 69
agencies in adopting such sustainable alternatives; and (5) best practices 70
from other states and countries that have successfully implemented 71
circular economy principles to reduce waste and enhance resource 72
efficiency. 73
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
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Section 1 January 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 2 January 1, 2027 New section
Sec. 3 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To reduce the production of single-use plastics and polystyrene waste
in the state.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. BUMGARDNER, 41st Dist.; REP. PARKER, 101st Dist.
SEN. HOCHADEL, 13th Dist.; SEN. COHEN, 12th Dist.
REP. ARZENO, 151st Dist.; SEN. CABRERA, 17th Dist.
REP. JOHNSON, 143rd Dist.; REP. REYES, 75th Dist.
REP. MCCARTHY VAHEY, 133rd Dist.; REP. LEEPER, 132nd
Dist.
REP. KEITT, 134th Dist.; REP. DATHAN, 142nd Dist.
REP. ROBERTS, 137th Dist.; REP. JACOBSON, 148th Dist.
SEN. ANWAR, 3rd Dist.; REP. MUSHINSKY, 85th Dist.
REP. HUGHES, 135th Dist.; REP. SWEET, 91st Dist.
REP. NOLAN, 39th Dist.; REP. MCGEE T., 116th Dist.
REP. CHAFEE, 33rd Dist.; REP. BERGER-GIRVALO, 111th Dist.
REP. SANCHEZ J., 6th Dist.; REP. BELTON, 100th Dist.
REP. MENAPACE, 37th Dist.; REP. GAUTHIER, 38th Dist.
REP. FARRAR, 20th Dist.; REP. TURCO, 27th Dist.
SEN. MARONEY, 14th Dist.; REP. SHANNON, 117th Dist.
REP. SMITH F., 118th Dist.
H.B. 6229