Hawaii HB 644: RELATING TO SINGLE-USE PLASTICS.

Bill Text

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII ‘ ‘ a
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO SINGLE—USE PLASTICS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
1 SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the local and global
2 impact of the world’s increasing waste stream is unsustainable
3 and detrimental to the future of Hawaii’s economy, the
4 environmental integrity of our islands, and the health of the
5 people. There has been an exponential rise in single—use food
6 ware items over the past few decades globally, with particularly
7 high increases in plastics and bioplastics. Single—use
8 disposable food ware items, including cups, lids, and single—use
9 food containers, are major contributors to street and beach
10 litter, ocean pollution, and marine and other wildlife harm.
11 A significant portion of marine debris, estimated to be
12 eighty per cent, originates on land, primarily as escaped refuse
13 and litter, much of it plastic, via urban runoff. It is now
14 estimated that 8.75 million metric tons of plastic enter our
15 ocean each year from land-based sources.
16 These land—based plastics degrade into pieces and particles
17 of all sizes, including microplastics, and are present in the
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1 world’s oceans at all trophic levels. Among other hazards,
2 plastic debris attract and concentrate ambient pollutants like
3 heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants in seawater and
4 freshwater, which can transfer to fish and other seafood that
5 are eventually caught and sold for human consumption.
6 The need for significant change in Hawaii was underscored
7 in 2020, when the United States Environmental Protection Agency
8 found that several of the State’s beaches are impaired by trash,
9 with the majority of the pollutants composed of single-use
10 plastics. Although countries, states, and cities around the
11 world have banned some single-use plastics, the plastic
12 pollution problem persists with the rise of certain bioplastics.
13 Not all bioplastics are designed to degrade completely or
14 quickly in the natural environment. Only fifty per cent of
15 bioplastics are in fact biodegradable, and many biodegradable
16 options are fossil—fuel-based. While bio—based plastics like
17 polylactic acid and conventional plastics with enhanced
18 degradation are commonly touted as sustainable alternatives to
19 conventional plastics, these products will often only break down
20 and meet compostable requirements when sent to an industrial
21 composting facility. Outside of the controlled conditions of a
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1 waste management facility, biodegradable plastics can have some
2 of the same impacts as conventional plastics, including breaking
3 down into small, problematic pieces while also releasing
4 greenhouse gases.
5 Like conventional plastics, bioplastics are produced in
6 facilities that drive pollution and are likely to end up in
7 landfills and incinerators. Industrial facilities, including
8 those producing bioplastics, are likely to be developed in
9 underserved communities, as are most forms of waste
10 infrastructure. These sites emit dangerous pollutants, reduce
11 overall quality of life, and pose a heightened risk of
12 industrial accidents like fires and explosions.
13 The legislature also finds that cleaning up plastic
14 presents a significant cost to Hawaii taxpayers. The cost of
15 increasing cleanups by government agencies, businesses, and the
16 general public is rising to account for expensive management and
17 mitigation practices. A study of over ninety counties in
18 California concluded that taxpayers are paying $428,000,000 per
19 year to clean up plastic through storm drain management, street
20 sweeping, and marine cleanups. San Diego county, which has an
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1 equivalent population to Hawaii at 1,300,000 people, spends
2 $14,000,000 annually cleaning up plastic.
3 Alternatives to bioplastics already exist for many take—out
4 items. Zero waste plastic reduction plans are moving forward
5 all over the world, including within the European Union, Canada,
6 the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Costa Rica, and municipalities
7 across the United States.
8 Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PEAS) are highly toxic
9 chemicals that are sometimes used in food packaging to make it
10 waterproof and greaseproof. PEAS are highly persistent and are
11 sometimes called “forever chemicals,” are highly mobile and can
12 migrate into food, are water soluble, and can contaminate
13 groundwater and the environment. People can be exposed to PEAS
14 by consuming contaminated food or water, using products that
15 contain PEAS, or breathing air that contains PEAS. PEAS have
16 been linked to higher cancer risk, including kidney and
17 testicular cancer, weaker immune response, lower birth weight,
18 hormone disruption, liver and kidney toxicity, and reproductive
19 and de