‘Essential plastics’ should be focus of environmental policy

Unnecessary plastic waste is a problem Florida should address. Littering the state with a hodgepodge of random product bans in various municipalities is not the solution.

State Sen. Linda Stewart and Rep. Mike Grieco recently introduced legislation to allow local governments to regulate single-use plastic products. Currently, there is a state law forbidding city and county governments from issuing their own plastic regulations. Stewart and Grieco want to erase that law so local governments can place their own bans to help reduce waste, such as banning plastic straws, bags and potentially a host of other consumer products.

This policy will open the door to a matrix of regulations where different products are banned in different cities. A ZIP code will make the difference in available packaging. For distributors, business becomes a logistical nightmare.

Leaving these policies to local governments is not the right move for Florida — but neither is failing to address the problem of plastic waste, either.

The state government has been in control of which products can be used, but they have largely ignored the issue as plastic continues to fill landfills or, worse, beaches.

A better solution is for lawmakers to create a new framework that exempts “essential plastics” from the one-size-fitsall mentality of “single-use.” We can reduce our use of non-essential, hard-to-recycle plastic while preserving those products that significantly benefit the health and safety of society.

Some plastic products are not essential. Plastic straws are too small to recycle, and they’re fairly frivolous. If you want a straw, there are paper biodegradable alternatives.

Styrofoam takeout containers are made from polystyrene, the plastic resin identified by a number 6 in the recycling logo. Styrofoam is theoretically recyclable, but it typically winds up in landfills where it can take hundreds of years to decompose.

There are dozens of forms of takeout containers that are more eco-friendly than styrofoam. Cardboard boxes are recyclable and compose within weeks, not centuries. PET, HDPE, and polypropylene plastics, identified by the numbers 1, 2, and 5, respectively, can be made into takeout containers that are fully recyclable in most curbside programs.

These are several examples of other low-value plastics with easy alternatives. Plastic bags. while convenient, do not represent the high-value category products that are necessary to keep people safe and healthy.

Essential products include facemasks, gloves, and syringes that have been used to keep people safe from the COVID-19 pandemic. All of these products are single-use, but it is obvious that they are needed.

Water bottles are also essential products. FEMA maintains a stockpile of millions of bottles of water and they recommend that families make their own stockpile for natural disasters, including hurricanes.

Plastic wrap is similarly high-value. It extends the shelf life of fresh meat and produce. Currently, the Department of Agriculture estimates that roughly a third of food is wasted. That food ends up in landfills emitting potent greenhouse gases. Plastic wrap reduces both waste and emissions.

There is no need to attack all single-use plastics, but there is also no reason to bury our heads in the sand about the problem of waste. The Florida Legislature should start taking action on the non-essential plastics we can easily replace while also protecting the essential single-use plastic products that we need.

This issue deserves a nuanced review at the state level, not a rushed handoff to local governments.