Environmental groups outline $1.3B worth of federal plastics reduction, recycling recommendations
By Cole Rosengren | 2/5/21 | Waste Dive
Dive Brief:
More than 250 groups in the Break Free From Plastic movement are recommending 13 actions — worth a collective $1.3 billion in annual federal funding — they believe the Biden administration and Congress should prioritize in any future stimulus legislation.
Top suggestions include $500 million for new or improved MRF infrastructure and $250 million for organics recycling infrastructure. Another $150 million is suggested to establish reusable foodware systems, water refill stations and other updates at government buildings, publicly funded educational institutions and other sites.
The report also urges against funding or supporting areas such as plastic exports, plastic carbon sequestration, and chemical recycling, or any other processes converting material into fuel and uses that are "of lower quality and functionality than the original material."
Dive Insight:
Groups from all corners of the national recycling dialogue see the potential to advocate for their agendas under the Biden administration and a Democrat-controlled Congress, amid a period of heightened interest in recycling issues throughout the country. This latest report builds on the Presidential Plastics Action Plan released in December, with support from the Plastic Pollution Coalition, Beyond Plastic, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Surfrider Foundation, Greenpeace and numerous other groups focused on climate, environmental justice and local sustainability issues.
As momentum builds toward another pandemic relief package, and talk percolates about future infrastructure or climate change-related packages, these groups saw an opening to build on their initial message.
“This is not the entire federal plastic pollution agenda, we crafted this very narrowly to deal with stimulus funding," said Judith Enck, executive director of Beyond Plastics and a former U.S. EPA regional administrator, noting this could also apply to other funding legislation. “This is relevant for all federal budget decisions."