17 states sue to block California plastic packaging law

A coalition of 17 states led by Nebraska went to federal court in Sacramento, arguing that California’s new packaging law is not just environmental policy but an attempt to steer the rest of the country from the statehouse. The lawsuit says the measure violates the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause by burdening interstate commerce and forcing companies that sell into California to absorb expensive redesigns that will ripple through prices nationwide.

At the center of the fight is Senate Bill 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022 and brought fully into force after California’s Office of Administrative Law approved the final regulations on May 1, 2026. CalRecycle says the program makes producers primarily responsible for packaging and single-use plastic food-service ware after use, with California setting a 25% reduction target for single-use plastic packaging and foodware by 2032, a requirement that covered materials be recyclable or compostable by 2032, and a recycling-rate target of at least 65% for covered plastic material by January 1, 2032.

The states cast that framework as a national economic issue. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers said in a statement that if California goes unchecked, consumers across the country will be forced to pay more for basic necessities. The complaint argues that the cost of compliance will not stay in California, because companies will pass along redesign, reporting and production expenses to shoppers, with lower-income households likely to feel the squeeze first.

The case also shows how broad the resistance has become. The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors joined as the sole business plaintiff, underscoring industry fears about compliance costs and the practical reach of California’s rules. The filing identified the case as State of Nebraska et al. v. Heller et al., No. 2:26-at-01045, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, naming Zoe Heller, who heads CalRecycle, and the Circular Action Alliance, the producer-responsibility organization charged with carrying out the program.

California’s plastics regime is being attacked from the other side, too. On June 2, Oceana, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Californians Against Waste Foundation sued CalRecycle in San Francisco Superior Court, saying the regulations contain loopholes that weaken the law’s core mandates. That split-screen battle leaves California’s packaging policy under pressure from both critics who say it goes too far and environmental groups who say it does not go far enough, while the larger question remains whether one state can set the terms for commerce across all 50.