Federal Preemption Enables Greenwashing

Two bipartisan bills in Congress would set national recycling and recycled‑content rules while barring states from imposing tougher labeling or recyclability standards. One measure explicitly endorses 'mass balance' accounting, letting companies claim recycled content without commensurate recycled feedstock, and industry lobbying has driven the bills through committee. — If enacted, the laws would institutionalize misleading environmental claims, weaken state consumer‑protection experiments, and likely accelerate plastic production and waste under the guise of 'recycling.'