Radoszewski also issued the following statement about a plan from non-governmental organisations to ban plastics materials and products, as well as to halt investment in new manufacturing facilities, among other efforts to eliminate the important US industry: “While we’re focused on working together toward bipartisan solutions, activists are determined to destroy an American industry that employs more than one million workers in the US.
“The plan proposed by The Center for Biological Diversity and partner organisations is misguided and aims to eliminate all plastics without taking into consideration the many benefits that plastics provide. That’s shocking, as we are right now witnessing the vital role of plastics in combatting the pandemic. People around the world depend on plastics for fresh food, water, and medicine, and other necessities anti-plastics crusaders take for granted.
“Modern infrastructure is the solution to all kinds of waste, not just plastics. Our industry is investing in new technologies to build better recycling infrastructure and working with leaders of both parties to develop workable solutions. Plastics were created for a reason and lifecycle analyses consistently show that, on the whole, plastics are more environmentally beneficial than alternative materials—and even more so when they are successfully recycled into new materials.”
In his letter, Radoszewski outlines a number of important proposals in the Congress that will move the country in the right direction. The RECOVER Act, H.R. 5115, would allocate federal grants to states and municipalities to invest in improving their recycling programmes and infrastructure, including upgrading plants that receive and process recyclables and enhancing the recovery and collection of materials. The RECYCLE Act (S 2942/ H.R. 5906) would boost consumer education so that the quality of the material that individuals place in their bins improves and can actually be recycled and not contaminated by waste.
The Plastics Waste Reduction and Recycling Act, H.R. 7228 would go a long way in directing the focus of relevant federal agencies towards finding solutions. This measure would establish an interagency committee to coordinate federal programmes and activities in support of plastics waste reduction and recycling and plastics waste remediation research and development.
