New York Senator submits Cannabis Container Bill of Rights to dispose of 150 million tons of plastic waste

Through Nina Zdinjak

New York Senator Michelle Hinchey introduced legislation called the “Cannabis Container Bill of Rights,” urging recycling throughout the cannabis industry once retail sales officially begin, Marijuana Moment reported.

The measure requires marijuana stores to place a $1 deposit on every cannabis product sold in single-use plastic containers and to compensate customers upon return of the containers. The proposed legislation would also require all cannabis products to use packaging made from at least 50% recycled materials.

Photo by Jilbert Ebrahimi via Unsplash

RELATED: New York will generate over $1 billion in marijuana taxes, government officials predict

Last year, Hinchey sponsored another measure that would prioritize hemp-based packaging over synthetic plastics for cannabis products.

The rationale section of the bill notes that the New York Recreational Cannabis Act includes important packaging requirements such as child-resistant sealing that have resulted in the industry leaving a huge plastic footprint.

“The legal cannabis industry in the United States produces approximately 150 million tons of waste each year. Even when marijuana packaging is recycled at home, recyclers often sort it out and send it to landfills. “While no industry is blameless in the plastic pollution crisis, New York has a unique opportunity to prevent a new source of plastic pollution as we consider legalizing recreational marijuana.”

This bill is the same as that tabled by Assembly Member Patricia Fahy (D) last year, but this new Senate version has been presented to the Senate Environmental Protection Committee.

Overview of the New York cannabis program

Among other policy changes and updates endorsed since New York State’s legalization went into effect in March last year, one of the most significant was the update to the employee cannabis testing policy. In October, New York became the first state in the Union to ban employers from testing most employees for cannabis.

RELATED: New York doctors can now recommend medical marijuana to all patients who may benefit from it

More recently, the state cannabis regulator made the gift of marijuana illegal and banned delta-8 THC products while allowing the sale of hemp flower.

Additionally, New York Senator Jeremy Cooney (D) proposed a bill that would allow transgender and non-binary people to qualify as social justice claimants under the state’s cannabis law.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.