The issue of truth in advertising when it comes to recycled plastic is getting more attention at the state and federal levels.

Assembly Bill 2253, now before the state Senate, would ban certain accounting methods used to establish what counts as recycled content in plastic consumer goods.

Kayla Robinson, legislative director for the nonprofit Californians Against Waste, said right now, products are claiming a certain percentage of recycled content, even if the final product is 100% virgin plastic.

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"AB 2253 will ensure that consumers can trust the product labels and actually bring back legitimacy to recycled content claims, so that they mean what consumers think that they mean," Robinson explained.

Robinson noted petrochemical companies use a method called “mass balance,” which counts recycled materials used at all stages of complex manufacturing, even if the final product contains no recycled plastic. In a letter of opposition, a coalition including chemical and manufacturing groups argued the methods are well-established and necessary to track recycled content.

Kirstie Pecci, executive director of the nonprofit Just Zero, which works on solid waste issues, said companies also break down used plastic into its constituent parts and call it “chemical recycling."

"It is counting — breaking down plastic and burning it towards recycling numbers — counting it as recycling even though no plastic is actually being recycled into new plastic packaging," Pecci pointed out.

Congress is also looking into the issue. A recent hearing in the U.S. House looked at the Recycled Materials Attribution Act, which would broaden the definition of “recycling” to include chemical recycling. Alternatively, Senator Adam Schiff, D-Calif., just introduced the Tracking Plastic Act to address mislabeling and verify the origins of recycled plastic content.

Pecci argued society needs to move beyond plastic altogether.

"We have to stop pretending or even have our goal (be) to recycle plastic. We have to abandon plastic recycling entirely and move towards reusable materials instead that we can refill and actually recycle," Pecci contended.