As Vice President Vance Tours Michigan Plastics Plant, Beyond Plastics Offers Additional Destinations to Add to His Visit
For Immediate Release: March 14, 2025
Contact:
Melissa Valliant, Beyond Plastics — melissavalliant@bennington.edu, (410) 829-0726
Judith Enck, Beyond Plastics — judithenck@bennington.edu, (518) 605-1770
Today, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Small Business Administration administrator Kelly Loeffler are touring plastics manufacturer Vantage Plastics in Bangor Township, Michigan. The White House announced that, following the tour, Vance and Loeffler will deliver remarks “highlighting America’s industrial resurgence.”
In response to the announcement, Beyond Plastics released the following statement from president and former EPA regional administrator Judith Enck:
"It's unfortunate that Vice President Vance is using a plastic polluter as a symbol of success. While he's in Michigan, I hope he'll also visit the Great Lakes, where 86% of the trash found on beaches is plastic. Lake Erie's plastic problem is so bad that it rivals that of the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch. He may also want to meet with cardiologists, who can explain the link between plastic and the risk of heart attack, stroke, and premature death in humans. Plastic is not the future — it's a threat to our future that America desperately needs to shift away from before it's too late."
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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