Ben Allen

Nov 09, 2026State Senator, CaliforniaMandel is a senior editor at TIME.Colin Young-WolffIn 2024, Californians threw away some 8.5 million tons of single-use packaging and food ware, according to a study last year; 40 million tons of material was sent to landfill. Under the state’s new Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, roughly 21% of that waste will be avoided. The new law was spearheaded by State Senator Ben Allen and came into effect this May. It will require 100% of single-use packaging and plastic food-service ware to be recycled or compostable by 2032. Also by that date, there must be a 25% overall reduction in the use of plastic packaging. The plastics and packaging industry will also pay $500 million each year for the next decade—for a total $5 billion—to help mitigate pollution in disadvantaged communities. What is the single most important action you think the public, or a specific company or government, needs to take in the next year to advance the climate agenda?The single most important action the United States could take in the next year is to launch a Marshall Plan for electrification — a coordinated, national effort that harnesses...