(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) “Certified entity” means a recycling center, processor, or dropoff or collection program certified pursuant to this division.

(2) “Plastic product” means a finished plastic product that requires no further thermoforming, shaping, or processing before being sold for its specified use. “Plastic product” does not include plastic flake, pellet, sheet, or any other form that is an output from a reclaimer’s processing of empty plastic beverage containers.

(3) “Product manufacturer” means a person who manufactures a plastic product in this state.

(4) “Reclaimer” means a certified entity that purchases empty plastic beverage containers that have been collected for recycling in the state, and that washes and processes, in the state, those empty plastic beverage containers into flake, pellet, sheet, or any other form that is then usable as input for the manufacture of new plastic products by product manufacturers in the state.

(b) In order to develop California markets for empty plastic beverage containers collected for recycling in the state, the department may, consistent with Section 14581 and subject to the availability of funds, pay a market development payment to a reclaimer for empty plastic beverage containers collected and managed pursuant to this section and to a product manufacturer for plastic flake, pellet, sheet, or any other form of plastic purchased from a reclaimer pursuant to this section.

(c) The department shall make a market development payment to a reclaimer or product manufacturer in accordance with this section only if the plastic beverage container is collected, washed, and processed into flake, pellet, sheet, or any other form, and is used in manufacturing, in the state, as follows:

(1) The department shall make a market development payment to a reclaimer for empty plastic beverage containers that are collected, washed, and processed as specified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a), including to a reclaimer that uses the services of a third party to process the empty plastic beverage containers into a form usable for the manufacture of new plastic products.

(2) The department shall make a market development payment to a product manufacturer for plastic flake, pellet, sheet, or any other form of plastic purchased from a reclaimer and used by that product manufacturer to manufacture a plastic product in the state, including to a product manufacturer that uses the services of a third party to process the plastic purchased from a reclaimer in manufacturing the plastic product.

(3) The department shall determine the amount of the market development payment, which may be set at a different level for a reclaimer and a product manufacturer, but shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per ton. In setting the amount of the market development payment for both reclaimers and product manufacturers, the department shall consider all of the following:

(A) The minimum funding level needed to encourage in-state washing and processing of empty plastic beverage containers collected for recycling in this state.

(B) The minimum funding level needed to encourage in-state manufacturing that utilizes flake, pellet, sheet, or any other form processed from empty plastic beverage containers collected for recycling in this state.

(C) The total amount of funds projected to be available for plastic market development payments, and the desire to maintain the minimum funding level needed throughout the year.

(4) The department may make a market development payment to both a reclaimer and a product manufacturer for both the empty plastic beverage container and for the flake, pellet, sheet, or any other form processed by the reclaimer from that same empty plastic beverage container.

(d) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2022, and, as of January 1, 2023, is repealed.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 453, Sec. 2. (SB 875) Effective September 17, 2018. Inoperative July 1, 2022. Repealed as of January 1, 2023, by its own provisions.)