Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) President & CEO Tony Radoszewski:
“Yesterday, the House Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change held a hearing to focus on issues related to recycling and waste management. Some of the solutions considered during the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reform: Addressing American’s Plastic Waste Crisis meeting, were restrictions, new taxes, and bans of materials. But there was also support for our stand that not enough is being done to collect plastic waste, and that there needs to be an increase in investment for recycling programs and also to promote more American innovation. To that end, the RECOVER Act, bill H.R. 5115, would provide federal grants to states and municipalities to invest in improving their recycling programs. The plastics industry continues its decades-long history of innovation, not only in material development and package design, but also in creating post-recovery technologies to improve recycling. One example is the Pacific Northwest Secondary Sorting Demonstration Project which showed how we could increase material recovery and landfill diversion in an impactful way.
The RECOVER Act, in addition to the RECYCLE Act and Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, are all positive steps forward to resolving the plastic waste problem. During the session, the RECOVER Act’s lead sponsor, Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) had good advice for the sometimes combative opinions surrounding the plastics situation, “Calm down and get things done.” We couldn’t agree more.”
About Plastics Industry Association
The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), formerly SPI, is the only organization that supports the entire plastics supply chain, representing nearly one million workers in the $451 billion U.S. industry. Since 1937, PLASTICS has been working to make its members and the industry more globally competitive while advancing recycling and sustainability. To learn more about PLASTICS’ education initiatives, industry-leading insights and events, networking opportunities and policy advocacy, and North America’s largest plastics trade show, NPE: The Plastics Show, visit plasticsindustry.org. Connect with PLASTICS on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.