Lawsuits Targeting Plastic Pollution Pile Up as Frustrated Citizens and States Seek Accountability
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Lawsuits Targeting Plastic Pollution Pile Up as Frustrated Citizens and States Seek Accountability

So Charleston Waterkeeper joined with the Southern Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit law firm, and the Charleston-based Coastal Conservation League, to identify what they believed to be the source of the nurdles and then to take that company, Frontier Logistics, L.P., to federal court, in March 2020. A year later, the environmental advocates and Frontier reached a settlement that included $1 million to improve water quality in the Charleston Harbor watershed.

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The Push to Control Plastic Waste in New York: What to Know
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

The Push to Control Plastic Waste in New York: What to Know

In 2020, the plastic supermarket bag was banned in New York. It is a member of the single-use-plastic family — items that release greenhouse gases when manufactured and, once used, can take years to break down in landfills. Many more single-use plastic products could go the way of the supermarket bag should state lawmakers approve the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act in early June.

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Environmentalists Push for Packaging Reform in New York Ahead of Earth Day
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

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.

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Environmental Groups Eye a Potential Win with New York Packaging Bill
Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

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.

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Reduce Packaging That Contains Toxins
Eve Fox Eve Fox

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.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Environmental Groups Oppose Tax Breaks for Proposed Lockport Plastic Factory

More than 60 organizations signed onto a letter this week urging the Lockport Industrial Development Agency not to give SRI CV Plastics $500,000 in tax abatements. Among them are the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York, the New York Public Interest Research Group and Beyond Plastic, a nationwide organization with the goal of ending plastic pollution.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

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.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

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.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

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.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

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.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

3M, Green Groups Push Back on Hochul’s NY Waste Reduction Bill

New York business groups and environmental advocates are pushing back on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to require businesses like Amazon.com Inc., 3M Co., and Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. to reduce and pay for the disposal of paper and packaging products. Environmentalists say the plan doesn’t go far enough, and the complex issue should be handled outside of the state budget process.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

Advocates Call for a 50% Reduction in Excess Packaging

Advocates for plastic waste reduction and an expanded bottle bill rallied at the Capitol Wednesday for the state to reduce excess packaging on retail items by 50% by 2033. They say a plan by Governor Kathy Hochul to reduce packaging falls short.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

IC Says Thanks, Others No Thanks for New Turf Field

Ever since Ithaca College’s football field was first installed in 1958, it has been home to many games full of excited football fans. After being named the Jim Butterfield Stadium in 1992, the field has since undergone many renovations and changes over the years. The most recent decision to replace the field’s natural grass with artificial turf has led to many environmental concerns from local activist groups.

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Andrew Craigie Andrew Craigie

New York Banned Plastic Bags Two Years Ago. Why Are They Still Everywhere?

Once ubiquitous, they’re now nowhere to be seen. Or at least, that’s what was supposed to happen when New York banned plastic bags for most uses in 2020. Yet two years later, many New York City supermarkets — not to mention smaller markets and bodegas — continue to distribute plastic bags as they always have.

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