09/28/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/28/2021 11:12
Washington, DC - Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) heralded support from a wide array of environmental groups for his bill with Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-NY) to create a powerful new incentive to recycle plastic, and to help end the flood of plastic waste that is overwhelming vital ecosystems and threatening public health. Whitehouse and Suozzi's Rewarding Efforts to Decrease Unrecycled Contaminants in Ecosystems (REDUCE) Act would impose a 20-cent per pound fee on the sale of new, or "virgin", plastic used for single-use products. The fee would help recycled plastics compete with virgin plastics on more equal footing and ensure that the plastics industry is accountable for its harms to the climate, oceans, and minority and low-income communities.
"Support is growing for our plastic polluter fee bill," said Whitehouse. "We need to end the cascade of plastic pollution into our environment. That pollution chokes our oceans, hastens climate change, and threatens Americans' well-being, and it's the plastics industry that should cover the cost of the damage. I'm glad to partner with Congressman Suozzi to send a strong market signal to reduce plastic waste and boost recycled plastic. I'm also glad to earn the support of leading ocean and environmental advocates."
Signatories to a letter signaling strong support for the bill include the Ocean Conservancy, U.S. PIRG, the World Wildlife Fund, the American Sustainable Business Council, Barrel Bag, Californians Against Waste, the Clean Air Council, Environment America, Fenceline Watch, GAIA, Greenpeace, Inland Ocean Coalition, Lonely Whale, Oceana, Oceanic Global, Our Climate, the Plastic Pollution Coalition, Social Venture Circle, Surfrider Foundation, and the Turtle Island Restoration Network.
"A virgin plastic fee, such as the REDUCE Act, as introduced by Senator Whitehouse and Representative Suozzi, will level the economic playing field between virgin and recycled plastic, incentivize reuse and recycling of plastic, and will raise revenue to invest in needed recycling and waste management infrastructure," the groups write. "In our current political moment, we cannot afford to pass on the opportunity to create change in upcoming legislative packages, including reconciliation."
Read the full letter here.
A fee on the production of virgin plastic would give the market a stronger incentive to use recycled plastics. It would also ensure the plastics industry bears some of the burden for the environmental damage it causes. The top 100 virgin plastic producers accounted for 90 percent of the global single-use plastic waste.
The REDUCE Act would:
More information on the bill is available here.
Press Contact
Rich Davidson (202) 228-6291 (press office)