Environmentalists Push for Packaging Reform in New York Ahead of Earth Day
Environmentalists have been sounding the alarm about plastic pollution in the environment for years and in New York, they are pushing for legislation on the issue. Judith Enck, the former EPA regional administrator who currently serves as president of the group Beyond Plastics, joined Capital Tonight on Friday to push for a packaging reduction bill.
Environmental Groups Eye a Potential Win with New York Packaging Bill
New York lawmakers appear poised to pass a new packaging reduction and recycling bill that would fundamentally reshape how single-use plastic waste is managed in the state. It’s meant to take a big bite out of 20 million New Yorkers’ contributions to the global plight of pollution from single-use plastics, which constitute about 40 percent of all plastic waste.
Reduce Packaging That Contains Toxins
One thing that environmentalists and industry agree on is that bottled water is merely one packaging product in an ever-expanding ambition to package food and beverage products in plastic containers “ ‘Nanoplastics’ and health: What to know,” News, Jan. 14]. More than half of all plastics ever produced have been made since 2000.
Environmentalists say cutting the amount of plastic packaging in products by half is a top goal
Environmental groups in New York say a top priority in 2024 will be getting a law approved that would cut the amount of plastic packaging in consumer products in half over the 12 years and help combat climate change. It faces fierce opposition from the plastics industry.
Opinion: Can Recycling’s Problems Be Fixed?
Americans are increasingly aware that over 94 percent of the plastics they use are not recycled, because they’re not recyclable. There are too many different colors and different polymers, and thousands of different chemical additives that make it very difficult to recycle plastics. The plastics industry has known this for years, but it has plowed millions of dollars into advertising designed to deceive consumers.
Opinion: Recycling Bill Will Address New York's Plastics Pollution Problem
Opinion: Recycling Bill Will Address New York's Plastics Pollution Problem
To Turn Off the Plastics Tap, We Must Grow the Grassroots Movement
Each year 11 million tons of plastics enter the ocean primarily from land-based sources. If we don’t work to curb plastics production, that amount will triple by 2060. At that point there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. There will be so many dreadful statistics in our future if we allow the plastics industry to conduct business as usual, and this is what drove me to start a new organization with the central mission to end plastic pollution everywhere.
New York Packaging Reduction Bill Faces Ticking Clock
New York’s long-debated and many-times-revised Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act is the center focus again, with days left to move to the Senate and Assembly before the legislative session ends. Proponents say the legislation would address an out-of-control waste problem while providing economic payoffs.
13,000 Petition Signatures Delivered to New York Capitol Urging Passage of Packaging Reduction Bill
In her post-EPA life, Judith Enck has made limiting the production and use of a plastic her life’s work. Her mission before the end of Albany’s legislative session is passage of an extended producer recycling bill, the “Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act," sponsored by the chairs of the Environmental Conservation Committees in both houses — state Assemblymember Deborah Glick and Sen. Pete Harckham.
Sick of All the Plastic in Your Life? A Proposed New York Bill Would Reduce It — And It Has a Shot
Advocates say polls show that the public is on their side. They delivered a petition including 13,000 e-signatures to the Assembly and Senate leadership offices. Lawmakers were off for the long holiday weekend before resuming session Tuesday for a two-week sprint to adjournment. With just seven working days left of the official 2023 legislative session, advocates for a measure that would reduce plastic packaging by half say their bill is gaining momentum.
Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act Proposed to NYS Legislature
The current New York State legislative session is scheduled to adjourn around June 9. A proposed Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (assembly bill 5322 and senate bill 4246) may be voted on before the close of the session. The act would require plastic packaging to be reduced by half, reduce toxics in packaging and prohibit plastic burning.