Communities across the region are struggling to deal with ever-increasing amounts of waste—and plastic packaging makes up a huge and growing portion of what we toss. 

That’s why activists all over New York are trying to shift the focus from managing waste to reducing it by passing the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, and why some of them travelled to Albany on January 28 to pitch the bill. The bill would reduce plastic packaging by 30% incrementally over the next 12 years, and require 70% of the remaining plastic packaging materials to be reused or recycled. 

To encourage producers to design for reuse and recyclability, the bill would set a modest “eco-modulated” fee on packaging. The new revenues would go to cover municipalities’ waste management and recycling costs and to support reuse-and-refill projects.

The bill would prevent the ineffective technology known as “chemical” or 

“advanced recycling”—which requires vast amounts of energy to create a small quantity of toxic, low-grade fuel—from counting toward recycling targets.

Today it is perfectly legal for chemicals known to harm human health to be in the packaging that touches our food. The packaging reduction bill would eliminate the most toxic chemicals currently found in packaging, including PFAS “forever chemicals,” bisphenols and heavy metals, among others. 

Last year the bill gained momentum, passing in the Senate by a wide margin. But the legislative session ended before the Assembly had a chance to weigh in. 

A recent Siena Poll found that 67% of Democrats, 44% of Republicans, and 54% of independents agree the bill should become law. 

—Submitted by Rebekah Creshkoff

For more, read this week's My View.