SuStainability
PS Curbside Recycling
at Work
long term Markets for
Recycled EPS
4-5
ISSUE 7 | fall 2015
advance innovative EPS product solutions that contribute to a sustainable future
1298 Cronson blvd. • Suite 201 • Crofton, MD 21114 • (800) 607-3772 • www.epsindustry.org • info@epsindustry.org
W
hether Californian's are pumping gas or buying a
fillet of salmon, their eyes have no doubt landed
on an ominous sign documenting the presence of
"chemicals known to the State of California to cause
cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm." These
alarming notices began appearing in the state in 1986 thanks to
Proposition 65, otherwise known as the Safe Drinking Water and
Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, which prohibits businesses from
discharging potentially harmful chemicals in drinking water and
requires them to disclose the presence of such chemicals.
Prop 65 is administered by the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), part of the California
Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA). Originally intended
to protect citizens and the environment from the dangers posed by
hazardous substances in consumer products, it has morphed into
an ambiguous and vague law that draws controversy over whether
or not it actually benefits consumers and businesses in California.
Prop. 65 supporters say the law is crucial to ensure accountability
among manufacturers and retailers whose products contain
chemicals that are harmful. Although the law relies on citizen
enforcement – anyone can bring a suit – the California attorney
general has taken the lead on significant cases. Opponents say
the law has been a boon not only to environmental and public
health advocates but to plaintiff lawyers, who have reaped
significant settlements on chemicals that have never been proven
to cause any harm. The California Attorney General's Office
2013 Report on Proposition 65 Settlements confirms what
most businesses already know: Proposition 65 continues to be a
thriving business for self-appointed plaintiffs and their lawyers,
who make millions of dollars in the name of the "public interest."
The report shows that only one-tenth of all the money collected
by self-appointed enforcers went to the State of California. The
rest of the money went to the bounty hunters and their lawyers.
As it stands the law allows anybody to bring a case by finding
a listed chemical in a product even if it is present in an amount
1,000 times below the 'no observable effect' level. Although
PROP 65
WARNINGS -
HELPFUL OR
HURTFUL?
builDing &
ConStRuCtion
EPS High
Performance
growth Projections
6
tECH talk
new insulation
guide for thick
Wall assemblies
9
PaCkaging &
innovation
a new generation of
insulated Pallet Shipper
EPS-you're so Classic
EPS Helps Farm a better Fish
7-8
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