Beyond Plastics Makes 27 Policy Recommendations for the Next U.S. President to Address Plastic’s Growing Environmental, Health, and Climate Impacts
Group Calls for National Packaging Reduction Bill, Environmental Justice Protections, Ban on Vinyl Chloride and Plastic Exports, Global Treaty Leadership, Moratorium on Plastics and Chemical Recycling Facilities, and More
For Immediate Release: August 28, 2024
Contacts:
Melissa Valliant, Beyond Plastics — melissavalliant@bennington.edu, (410) 829-0726
Judith Enck, Beyond Plastics — judithenck@bennington.edu, (518) 605-1770
With a new U.S. president taking office in January, Beyond Plastics has released 27 recommendations to significantly reduce plastic pollution, protect environmental justice communities, and ensure safe products for Americans.
The group calls for a strong national packaging reduction bill that gradually reduces packaging by 50% over 10 years; prohibits the most toxic chemicals from being used in packaging; funds the development of reuse and refill infrastructure; and prohibits “chemical recycling.” Additionally, it recommends stronger leadership in the international plastics treaty negotiations, investigations into deceptive advertising of plastic products, and a federal deposit-return law, or “bottle bill,” to increase recycling rates.
Beyond Plastics’ “Proposed Priorities for the New President to Reduce Plastic Pollution” can be viewed here.
“The new president has an opportunity — and a responsibility — to prioritize people and the planet over industry profits, and finally require companies to kick their toxic plastic habit,” said Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and former EPA regional administrator. “The United States generates more plastic waste than any other country and is doing little to change that. When the new president takes office in January, we urge them to transition America from a leader in creating plastic pollution to a leader in combating it.”
Beyond Plastics’ recommendations include (but are not limited to):
Adopting a national packaging reduction bill that would transfer the cost of collecting, recycling, and disposing of plastic from local taxpayers to the producers of packaged products;
Adopting a national beverage container deposit law, known as a bottle bill.
Issuing a moratorium on new plastics facilities and new chemical recycling facilities;
Increased testing, monitoring, and cleaning up the air, water, and soil in environmental justice communities where petrochemical facilities are operating;
Banning the export of plastic waste to other countries;
Joining the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution as part of the United Nations’ global plastics treaty negotiations;
Banning vinyl chloride, the carcinogenic chemical used to make polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, plastic;
Investigating potential lawsuits against the plastics industry for damages caused by their products;
Developing a “just transition” for plastic production workers;
Prohibiting the federal government from purchasing single-use plastics;
Supporting research on the human health impacts of microplastics and nanoplastics;
Prohibiting deceptive advertising of plastic products;
Strengthening the Federal Trade Commission Green Guides; and
Encouraging waste reduction, reuse, and refill through new federal grants.
About Beyond Plastics
Launched in 2019, Beyond Plastics is a nationwide project that pairs the wisdom and experience of environmental policy experts with the energy and creativity of grassroots advocates to build a vibrant and effective movement to end plastic pollution. Using deep policy and advocacy expertise, Beyond Plastics is building a well-informed, effective movement seeking to achieve the institutional, economic, and societal changes needed to save our planet and ourselves, from the negative health, climate, and environmental impacts for the production, usage, and disposal of plastics.
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