California to Abolish Single-Use Plastic Tags on Marijuana Plants

The governor of California, USA, has approved a law to eliminate single-use plastic RFID tags for tracking and tracing marijuana plants.

While the text of the measure doesn’t explicitly discuss the current use of plastic tags under California’s track-and-trace rules, cannabis businesses and industry groups say the transition away from that practice will prevent waste, while saving the state millions of dollars.

‘Existing law requires a unique identifier to be issued for each cannabis plant and to be attached at the base of each plant or as otherwise required by law or regulation,’ the legislative summary says. ‘This bill would instead require the unique identifier to be recorded in a manner as determined by’ the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC).

The legislation doesn’t provide specific examples of alternatives to the plastic identifiers that are currently used to track marijuana plants. Instead, regulators will have discretion to implement ecologically sound policies such as digital tags.

Or, they could implement the sustainable, paper-based tags developed by the providers of the plastic tags, Metrc, as a potential replacement of the plastic tag – couldn’t they?

The paper-based tags contain 30% post-consumer waste, 10% hemp, and 60% responsibly sourced Forest Stewardship Council certified virgin paper fibre. They also use one-third less material than the current tags, given that Metrc’s engineers have developed a production system requiring just two layers of material, rather than the current three, while maintaining the safe housing and protection of the tamperproof inlay.

Metrc advised that the tags would have, on average, a shelf-life of nine months and could perform in the field for the duration of the plant’s standard growth-to-harvest cycle. Furthermore, based on initial testing, the tag read range was shown to be 17% more effective than the current tags.

To ensure the success and adoption of the tags, Metrc initiated a pilot test programme for select state agencies and licensees to provide feedback on the tag’s design and performance.

Licensee participants received pilot test instructions, together with plant tags and straps shipped directly to their facility, free of charge, along with dedicated support to track feedback throughout the testing process, including completion of the programme.

Following the pilot programme, the company was expecting to officially launch the tag solution in 2023, with a complete transition planned for 2024. However, since the initial announcement of this project, in October 2022, nothing further has been heard on its progress.