Biden must confront plastic pollution in a serious way
President- elect Joe Biden’s win must mean that the United States joins the rest of the world in confronting the issue of plastic pollution in a serious way. It is time to fight for a binding global treaty that reduces global plastic production and enacts strong legislation in the U. S. to tackle the issue. The plastic pollution crisis has worsened under President Donald Trump. The current administration has put industry before the well-being of our oceans, communities and health.
Recent research revealed that the United States generates more plastic waste than any other country on earth and that a large amount of it ends up in the environment. Plastic production has grown 26% from 2010 to 2016, and the pollution crisis has become worse due to the pandemic. The same fossil fuel companies that have destroyed our climate realize the oil age is coming to an end and hope to salvage their future through the expanded production of plastics.
Black and Brown communities already suffering at higher rates from COVID-19 also disproportionately face health impacts from increasing plastic production and disposal. Many communities of color live on the front lines of refineries — next to incinerators or in highly polluted regions that serve as the world’s dumping grounds. Yet Trump and other government officials have continued to regurgitate industry talking points around the need for better recycling efforts to solve this problem. This is the same guilt trip corporations have placed on their customers since the 1970s when they coined the term “litterbugs.”
Previous industry-backed legislative efforts have failed to tackle the root of the problem and allow corporations to continue producing endless amounts of plastic. Plastic recycling is largely a ruse to keep industry profits flowing. While many Americans have curbside recycling programs, much of that plastic is not being reprocessed into new materials. The United States is the second-largest exporter of plastic waste globally. We ship our problem off to other countries who cannot manage it, and it often ends up as pollution in the environment, a landfill or incinerator.
We simply cannot continue to ignore the inadequacies of our current recycling system and the United States’ role in furthering plastic pollution around the world. Only PET #1 and HDPE #2 bottles and jugs can legitimately be labeled “recyclable” according to Federal Trade Commission guidelines. Corporations know that their throwaway packaging is responsible for a worsening pollution crisis, but they have been unwilling to take the necessary action to reverse it.
We urgently need a bold and binding global treaty on plastics. The Biden administration can be a leader in ensuring it happens. Countries all over the world have started weighing a treaty on plastics akin to the Paris climate agreement. Unsurprisingly, the United States has voiced opposition under the Trump administration, but that can change quickly when Biden becomes president. Any global treaty on plastics must center reduction strategies to slow production.
The Biden administration should also voice its strong support for the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act in the United States. This bill would be a game changer in the fight against single-use plastic pollution. It reduces unnecessary plastic, shifts the cost burden for waste management to the corporations that produce plastic, and places a temporary moratorium on new plastic facilities.
On the campaign trail, Biden voiced support for phasing out single-use plastic bags, and Vice President- elect Kamala Harris voiced support for banning plastic straws. But these throwaway plastics are just the tip of the iceberg. To make meaningful progress against a pollution crisis that hurts our environment, people’s health and communities around the world, we must address plastic production. To tackle climate change, the Biden administration must be willing to take on the fossil fuel companies relying on plastics for profits.
Recent research revealed that the United States generates more plastic waste than any other country on earth and that a large amount of it ends up in the environment.