Historic ‘Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act’ to Address the Plastic Pollution Crisis

4 responses to “Historic ‘Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act’ to Address the Plastic Pollution Crisis”

1. danaisenberg@yahoo.com says:

   February 12, 2020 at 5:13 pm

   What are next steps? What can we do now to help raise awareness and encourage passing of this legislation?

2. paulaa.jones@verizon.net says:

   February 21, 2020 at 6:46 pm

   Here is the article I wrote for my local newspaper in Ipswich MA…

    While Massachusetts legislators have struggled unsuccessfully to pass any kind of statewide single-use plastic ban each year since 2013, other states have moved ahead with statewide controls on plastic pollution. Eight states--California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon and Vermont--have all banned single-use plastic bags as well as other single-use plastics like straws and Styrofoam. Now, a group of U.S. Senators and Representatives have proposed a federal bill to take unified steps toward making the plastics industry responsible for the nation’s plastic pollution. California Rep. Alan Lowenthal  and Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico have co-authored a bill titled the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020. It was filed in both houses of the Congress and Massachusetts Reps. Seth Moulton and Katherine Clark have co-signed the bill along with many other representatives and senators.
   The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act will shift the responsibility for recycling and cleanup to the companies that produce the products in the first place. This change will incentivize big companies to think outside the box and innovate new plastic alternatives, and encourage vast investments in the recycling and composting infrastructure. This approach, known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), includes management of the possible impacts of a product in all stages of production, distribution, use, collection, re-use, recycling, reprocessing and disposal.
   The bill would also reduce and ban certain single-use plastic products that are not recyclable, establish minimum recycled content requirements for beverage containers, packaging, and food-service products, while standardizing recycling and composting labeling (don’t we all want this?) as well as encouraging massive investments in American recycling and composting infrastructure.
   Does a nation-wide plastic pollution bill go too far? As our planet drowns in trash, the United Nations has identified single-use plastics as one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges. According to the U.N., 127 countries have effectively reduced the use of plastic bags through policy efforts and measures. About 27 nations have active laws to either ban or significantly restrict single-use plastics, namely bags, straws and dinnerware. In 2019, the European Union’s parliament voted to ban the top 10 single-use plastic items found on European beaches by 2021. The EU measure also calls for 90 percent of plastic bottles to be recycled by 2025. In Canada, a national ban on many single-use plastics is on track for 2021. In January, China announced that plastic bags will be banned in all of China’s major cities by the end of 2020 and banned in all cities and towns in 2022. By end of 2020, the Chinese restaurant industry will be banned from using single-use straws. By 2025, towns and cities across China must reduce the consumption of single-use plastic items in the restaurant industry by 30%. This proactive approach by countries around the world can help limit the amount of waste that finds its way into our oceans, but substantial change will rely on governments' ability to coordinate with business on related policies such as EPR to further limit the mass production and use of unsustainable products.
   Rep. Lowenthal, author of the Break Free from Plastic Act has stated “Recent scientific studies show that plastic waste particles are now found everywhere we look—in the soil, in the rainwater, in the food chain, and even inside our own bodies. Our legislation applies one of the core principles of environmental law: ‘the polluter pays.’ It is time for multi-billion-dollar companies to step up and cover the costs of cleaning up the waste from their products.”
   Sources familiar with the bill’s progress said that while it was introduced in both bodies of Congress, it will likely be taken up by the House of Representatives first. However, it is “not very likely” that the bill will advance past the Senate because of the pushback expected from the oil industry. But this bill could serve as a starting point for future legislation as it’s not likely to be adopted by the current administration.
   

   Send questions you have to ipswichrecycles@gmail.com. Don’t forget to bring your reusable bags when shopping. And please, visit our Facebook page at Ipswich Recycles and Composts.

3. sachinrsgu@gmail.com says:

   February 22, 2020 at 5:18 am

   Hello, my name is Sachin Singh, I am from India and I am a student, I know today if plastic pollution is not stopped then we will lose our nature and meaning after a lot of years, slowly air, water, animals, trees, plants are all getting lost. I am very upset that this nature gave us everything but I am unable to do anything for it, I want to do something for the environment but I do not understand how. I can recycle plastic with new technology, I know I cannot do world level work because I do not have the source and support, but I can definitely start this work from India. So that I can also give work to people, man power is very important for this work, so that people can also be awakened and our organization can work on war level and plastic I can get my nature out of the problem
   If you have any suggestion, please tell or there is some organization with which I can work by joining.
   Thank you

4. jackie@plasticpollutioncoalition.org says:

   November 18, 2020 at 10:45 pm

   https://actionnetwork.org/letters/support-the-break-free-from-plastic-pollution-act