Environmental Groups Eye a Potential Win with New York Packaging Bill
James Bruggers | February 20, 2024 | Inside Climate News
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. The bill, with provisions that also cover paper and glass, is also designed to complement the state’s obligations under its landmark 2019 climate law that requires a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 40 percent by 2030.
Several years in the making, the proposed Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act follows a “polluter pays” philosophy, putting the financial burden for managing packaging waste on the companies that generate it. The legislation would require a 50 percent reduction in plastic packaging waste in 12 years.
Four other states have passed similar laws, often called extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws. With several others now considering them, environmental and consumer advocates see the New York bill, sponsored jointly New York state Sen. Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick, both Democrats, as potentially the most comprehensive, addressing not only recycling but waste reduction while also banning some of the most toxic chemicals found in plastic packaging.
Advocates hope it becomes the new model for state action to curb single-use plastics, including snack wrappers, food containers, bottles and caps, which are often used for just a few minutes then tossed.
“That’s the goal—that we get it right in New York and then other states could follow the lead of New York,” said Jennifer Congdon, the Albany-based deputy director of Beyond Plastics, a national environmental group working to get the bill passed.
“Right now, we have a system where companies create products, they put it in packaging, the products are sold to people and then municipalities and taxpayers have to deal with the waste that is created,” Congdon said. “This (bill) would force companies to be a part of the solution instead of just the problem.”
The Senate version has half of its members signed on as co-sponsors, and the Assembly is two short of a majority, Congdon said. The Assembly version is making its way through committees and the Senate version could get a vote on the Senate floor soon.
