California lawmakers just passed a recycling law so burdensome that American manufacturers are fleeing the state rather than comply.
SB 707, the Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2024, forces every textile manufacturer selling products in California to join a state-approved “producer responsibility organization” that develops recycling plans for discarded socks, shirts, and fabrics.
The penalties are stunning: $50,000 per day for intentional noncompliance. Lying to state regulators about textile recycling? That’s perjury — a felony.
“My number one concern is making sure that we keep making textiles in the US. California is making that goal as hard as possible.”
The bill was authored by former state Sen. Josh Newman, who now teaches as an unpaid senior fellow in the School of Social Ecology at UC Irvine.
California picked a single NGO — Landbell USA — to run the entire statewide program. Landbell USA became a nonprofit in February 2026 and is part of an international compliance network operating in Canada, Germany, and other countries.
The cost? Still unknown. Companies face a flat $1,000 annual fee for 2026-2027, with future costs shifting to an “eco-modulated model” targeted for 2030. Actual numbers? Not yet determined.
The $2 billion-a-year California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery is still writing the regulations. Final implementation of the statewide plan isn’t expected until July 1, 2030.
It takes time to figure out how to discard a sock, apparently.
Ron Miskin runs the Buffalo Wool Company in Texas, a family-owned business making textile products from American plains bison. He told The Federalist his products are built to last — not end up in landfills.
“Our stuff doesn’t end up in landfills,” Miskin said. “We’re not high volume. Our stuff is stupidly expensive, but it works. It lasts.”
Buffalo Wool Company has now turned off its California shipping options. The compliance costs are undetermined, the regulatory timeline stretches years into the future, and the company is already drowning in California payroll taxes despite having zero staff in the state.
The Federalist asked Miskin what it would cost him to comply with SB 707.
His answer: “I don’t have a flippin’ clue.”
Compliance firms are already springing up around the new law. Producers with aggregate global turnover under $1 million are exempt, but wholesalers, retailers, distributors, and importers may also be forced into the program depending on their role in the supply chain.
The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery is holding a “Textile Stewardship Informal Regulatory Concepts Workshop” next month to solicit feedback on regulation concepts. The agency has not yet responded to The Federalist’s request for an estimate of enforcement costs and staffing.
California is making it as hard as possible to manufacture textiles in America.
