New York Is Not Disposable: 300+ Advocates, Environmental Leaders, and Lawmakers Rally at New York State Capitol to Fight Plastic Pollution
For Immediate Release: February 27, 2024
Contact: Marissa Solomon, marissa@pythiapublic.com, 734-330-0807
ALBANY, NY; 2/27/24 — 300+ advocates joined with with elected officials, environmental leaders, and “The Sopranos” star Robert Funaro at the New York State Capitol to call on Albany leadership to pass the Bigger Better Bottle Bill (A6353 Glick / S237B May) and Packaging Reduction and Recycling Act (A5322B Glick / S4246B Harckham). The out-of-control expansion of single-use plastic is a serious issue for the climate, environment, and New Yorkers’ health and wallets, with disproportionate impacts for marginalized communities. Together, these bills will bring in money for localities, reduce harmful plastic packaging, and improve recyclability.
Prior to the news conference, the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee voted 10-1 to pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Act. The bill is now before the Senate Finance Committee. The Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee already passed the bill, and it’s now with the Assembly Codes Committee.
Watch the news conference here.
“We need to reduce our reliance on single use plastics and incentivize smarter packaging and reuse in order to make real positive impacts on the climate,” said Assemblymember Deborah Glick, Chair of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee, “the Bigger Better Bottle Bill will expand New York’s container deposit program, ensuring more beverage containers are recycled, and the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act will incentivize sustainable packaging and shift the burden of waste away from taxpayers and municipalities who have shouldered the cost of packaging waste for too long. This legislation needs to pass this session, our environment needs action now.”
"Waste reduction is one of the critical areas we need to address to reach our climate goals, and the legislative Dynamic Duo of EPR, sponsored by my colleague Senator Harckham, and the Expanded Bottle Bill which I carry will be the two-pronged approach to curb the solid waste crisis facing New York,” said Senator Rachel May.“Today's event is a time to renew and recharge our sense of purpose, to dedicate ourselves toward an improved version of the original Bottle Bill (S237B), and to offer a much-needed handling fee increase to centers that process and sort all the containers returned for deposit (S6869A). Thank you to the advocates and sponsors of today's event. Your efforts keep this movement strong and focused, and I look forward to working with all of you to get this suite of bills passed this year.”
"As we navigate the challenges of waste management and environmental sustainability, it is imperative that we enact proactive measures to reduce packaging waste and enhance recycling infrastructure. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act embodies our commitment to fostering a greener, more sustainable future for New York State. By requiring companies to register with packaging reduction organizations and develop comprehensive recycling plans, we take significant strides towards minimizing environmental impact and preserving our planet for generations to come," said Senator Luis Sepúlveda.
"These twin bills are as effective as they are practical." said Senator Julia Salazar, District 18. "We have never faced greater urgency to protect our climate, conserve our life sustaining natural resources, and safeguard our public health. The Bigger Better Bottle Bill and the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act will help us meet these pressing needs, while also raising revenues for local government and reducing pressure on taxpayers statewide. New York has passed bold, common-sense environmental legislation before, and we can do it again."
“We can no longer ignore the climate crisis as it continues to transform the way we live. New York City is experiencing devastating weather changes and communities of color and low-income residents suffer the most from our neglect. Everything we do must move the needle closer to a sustainable future.
Everyone must do their part, especially large corporations. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act reinforces the accountability of companies profiting most from harming the environment to create more sustainable business practices.
Further, passing the Bigger Better Bottle Bill will not only reduce solid waste in our landfills, but it will also reinforce our partnership with our canner community,” said Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas.
"We're drowning in ever more plastic pollution, endangering our health and the planet. Corporations won't address this crisis on their own. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act will cut plastic packaging, ban toxic chemicals and raise revenue for local governments who have to deal with growing waste. It's common sense and needs to get done now," said Assemblymember Emily Gallagher.
“Reducing single-use plastics is critical to mitigating the climate crisis,” said Assembly Member Harvey Epstein. “I am co-sponsoring the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act which if passed will massively decrease plastic packaging by making polluters pay. I am also proud to co-sponsor the Bigger Better Bottle Deposit bill to increase the bottle deposit and expand the variety of beverage containers eligible. This will incentivize and expand the recycling of single-use plastics.
“As renewable energy and electric vehicles become more popular, wealthy fossil fuel companies are rapidly increasing plastic production — and plastic pollution — to pad their bottom lines. But plastics are also warming the planet, and it costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year just to get rid of it. We need to do something about our growing plastic pollution problem, and these pieces of legislation will do just that. Albany leadership must put the Bigger Better Bottle Bill in the budget, and after that, they should pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act,” said Alexis Goldsmith from Beyond Plastics.
Josefa Marín (canner, President of AIR-NYC) - As a canner, I am part of the circular economy. Our work keeps the streets clean and our families fed. We keep waste out landfills and the waterways. Prices are rising everywhere and we can't afford to buy our necessities. We need the deposit to be raised in order to continue our important work. Our work is essential to the community and if it stops, we'll all be buried in trash.
Rex Allen Williams Jr. (canner, Treasurer of AIR-NYC) - Recycling cans and bottles helps me support my family, including my grandkids, and pay my bills. It also helps me keep the streets clean and participate in the economy. This work is difficult and demanding. If the deposit was raised, and the system recognized the needs of canners, I wouldn't have to struggle so hard to meet my basic daily expenses. 10 cents should be only the beginning!
Ryan Castalia (Executive Director, Sure We Can) - The Bottle Bill, in addition to being New York's most effective recycling system by a huge margin, is also an important mechanism to create environmental justice. Canners, who collect the material discarded by others, do essential work cleaning our communities in the face of intense stigma, marginalization, and decades of institutional neglect. We can recognize their contributions, increase recycling and diversion across New York, and gain revenue for the state with one move. It's long past time for action--the Bigger, Better Bottle Bill must be included in this year's budget!
BACKGROUND
About the Bigger Better Bottle Bill
The Bigger Better Bottle Bill will modernize New York’s returnable container law. Advocates are calling for the FY2024 final budget to include measures that track Senate bill S.237-B and Assembly bill A.6353, which would:
Expand the beverage containers covered under the law to include containers for sports drinks, non-carbonated drinks, wine, and spirits;
Raise the deposit fee to a dime (it has been a nickel since 1983) to motivate more people to redeem their containers, and give a much-deserved raise to more than 10,000 vulnerable workers in NYS who earn their income by collecting and redeeming containers; and
Raise the handling fee for those who handle redeemed beverage containers (it has been stagnant at $0.035 since 2009).
When adopted, the new law will create 4,145 new jobs and increase the redemption rate in New York from 64% to 90%. The legislation could bring in $40 million to $200 million in additional revenues by acting on the bill.
About the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act
According to polling from Oceana, nearly nine in 10 New Yorkers support policies that reduce single-use plastic. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (S4246B Harckham/A5322AB Glick) will do just that by transforming the way our goods are packaged. It will dramatically reduce waste and ease the burden on taxpayers by making companies, not consumers, cover the cost of managing packaging. The bill will:
Reduce plastic packaging by 50% incrementally over 12 years;
After 12 years, all packaging including plastic, glass, cardboard, paper, and metal must meet a recyucling rate of 70% ;
Prohibit the 15 worst toxic chemicals in packaging, including vinyl chloride, PFAS, and heavy metals;
Not allow polluting so-called chemical recycling to be considered real recycling;
Establish a modest fee on packaging paid by product producers, with new revenue going to local taxpayers; and Establish a new Office of Inspector General to ensure proper compliance.
The legislation has serious momentum, with a majority of members of the assembly (76 cosponsors) and the Senate (34 cosponsors) already signed on as co-sponsors of the bill. The City of New York has officially backed the bill (see attached), and more than 200 organizations and businesses — including Beyond Plastics, Environmental Advocates, NYPIRG, Earthjustice, Blueland, and DeliverZero Inc. — issued a memo of support (see attached). They write, “This bill would save tax dollars and position New York as a global leader in reducing plastic pollution.”
Under the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, not only would it cost less for taxpayers to get rid of waste, but local governments would also receive new revenue from packaging fees paid by producers. This would provide substantial revenue — New York City alone would receive at least $150 million to support recycling and waste disposal costs.
Plastics and Climate
Plastic production is already out of control and is expected to double in the next 20 years. As more of our energy comes from renewable sources, fossil fuel companies like Shell and Exxon are seeking to recoup falling profits by increasing plastics production and canceling out greenhouse gas reductions. In fact, half of all plastic in Earth’s history was produced in the last 20 years — the plastic we’re seeing now in our air, water, food, and bodies didn’t even exist before 2000.
Plastic is made from fossil fuels and toxic chemicals. Most plastics are made out of “ethane,” a byproduct of fracking. In 2020, plastic’s climate impacts amounted to the equivalent of nearly 49 million cars on the road, according to a conservative estimate by Material Research. And that’s not including the carbon footprint associated with disposing of plastic.
Plastics and Health
Only about 6% of plastic in the United States actually gets recycled, and only 9% of all the plastic waste ever generated, globally, has been recycled. The rest ends up burned at incinerators, buried in landfills, or polluting rivers and the ocean — an estimated 33 billion pounds of plastic enter the ocean every year, where it builds up in the marine environment.
Plastic is being measured everywhere, and microplastics are entering our soil, food, water, and air. Scientists estimate people consume, on average, hundreds of thousands of microplastics per year, and these particles have been found in human placenta, breast milk, stools, blood, and lungs. Scientists are still researching how exactly this is affecting our health, but chemicals found in plastics have been associated with cancer, nervous system damage, hormone disruption and fertility issues.
In fact, new research continues to find that the microplastics problem is worse than previously thought: A new study from Columbia University found that plastic bottled water can contain hundreds of thousands of plastic fragments.
Why Chemical Recycling Isn’t A Solution
Because our recycling system is so flawed, the plastic industry is now arming itself with a pseudo-solution: “chemical recycling,” or “advanced recycling.” This is a polluting process that uses high heat or chemicals to turn plastic waste into fossil fuels or feedstocks to produce new plastic products. It’s a dangerous distraction that’s allowing companies to exponentially increase the amount of plastic — and greenhouse gasses — they put into the world. Learn more from Beyond Plastics’s recent report, “Chemical Recycling: A Dangerous Deception.”
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