Consumers are increasingly seeking out sustainable, yet high-quality, options when traveling. Many companies, such as Solgaard, meet this demand by providing sustainable packing options, including suitcases made from recycled plastics. Since 2017, Solgaard has incorporated plastics recovered from beaches and waterways into its supply chain, using up to 60 percent recycled polycarbonate in its luggage products and diverting nearly 1 million pounds of plastic from landfills to date. Recycled polycarbonate’s strength and durability allow suitcase shells to endure wear and tear that can occur while traveling without compromising product quality. Inside suitcases, companies like personal bag manufacturer Matt and Nat also leverage the power of plastics to produce sustainable toiletry cases with interior liners made out of 100 percent recycled plastic bottles—an effort with recycling capabilities of up to nearly 10 million plastic bottles every year. These innovators demonstrate plastics’ endless potential and underscore the need for a circular economy that prioritizes material recovery, not waste.
Plastics also help promote safety across multiple modes of travel. At all U.S. airports, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) requires that travelers place their toiletries in clear plastic bags for security, a lightweight and low-cost travel solution for consumers that allows TSA agents to easily flag any hazardous substances. As an alternative to the traditional TSA security process, the increasingly popular CLEAR security system also uses plastics to securely verify travelers’ identities through biometric scanning. Fingerprint scanners often rely on silicon-based technology, a cost-effective and high-performing plastic, to create compact and flexible fingerprint sensors. Plastic applications in fingerprint scanners also provide a wide, flexible surface that can collect reliable fingerprint information and ensure tighter airport security.
Beyond airports, plastics advance safety in trains and cars. To meet strict fire safety standards, European railway companies use flame-resistant thermoplastics on the exterior and interior of trains to protect passengers from potential fires while on board. Plastic railway brake shoes, which ensure trains maintain safe speeds and facilitate proper brake system function, have become more popular than steel or iron options, as they are more durable and produce less noise when engaged. On the road, car seatbelts are often made of 100 percent polyester, a durable material that can handle tension force of up to 6,000 pounds. Airbags, which reduce the risk of injury in the event of an accident, are made from lightweight nylon, a durable but flexible plastic polymer that allows them to neatly fold into tight vehicle compartments. No matter the transportation method, plastics are an important part of keeping travelers safe.
Plastics enable a comfortable, sustainable travel experience. Airlines have developed essentials made from recycled plastics, such as LATAM Airlines’ socks and sleep masks, American Airlines’ pajama sets and Delta Airlines’ pillow and duvet sets. Amtrak now covers trains’ interior cushions with synthetic leather made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and polyurethane (PU) plastic, a sustainable alternative to cow-skin leather that cuts production emissions by nearly seven times. Beyond this benefit, People for Urban Progress (PUP), an Indianapolis-based nonprofit, uses repurposed Amtrak seat covers to create stylish bags, promoting the circular plastics economy. In cars, polyurethane interior seating and polypropylene carpets—among many other applications—lessen vehicles’ weight, helping reduce transportation emissions and fuel consumption while providing sleek, comfortable auto designs.
From sustainable packing solutions to safe and comfortable transit, plastics play a key role in each step of a traveler’s journey this holiday season. Across countless transportation applications, plastics enable companies to achieve goals that ensure environmental benefits and uncompromising sustainability simultaneously, all without compromising high performance.
]]>Plastics are hygienic and safe, especially for applications that require contact with food. In fact, plastic food-grade packaging can prevent cross contamination and bacterial growth by protecting food from the external environment. Ultimately, plastic packaging makes it easier for people around the world to have access to fresh food and can help decrease foodborne related diseases, especially in developing nations.
In the global food supply chain, plastic packaging extends the shelf-life of foods for consumers. At the grocery store, plastic packaging preserves food freshness, which reduces food waste by nearly tripling the amount time a fruit or vegetable remains suitable for consumption. Even at home, plastic packaging reduces food spillage and waste by maintaining perishables and ensuring families get their money’s worth by keeping groceries fresher for longer periods of time.
Plastic food packaging is more affordable than glass or aluminum alternatives, translating into cost savings for consumers. Plastic packaging for food and water is especially critical for consumers living in rural areas and food deserts. Populations living in rural or remote areas are more prone to food insecurity because the transport of food supplies and water can be costly and time intensive. Thanks to plastic packaging, vulnerable populations can gain access to essential food supplies at an affordable price point.
Plastic food packaging is more affordable than glass or aluminum alternatives, translating into cost savings for consumers. Considering the average U.S. meal travels about 1,500 miles from farm to plate, efficient and sustainable transportation is a key component of modern food systems. Plastic packaging is lighter, easier to transport, less energy-intensive to produce and less likely to break during transportation than alternatives like glass and aluminum. Since plastics are also lightweight, they result in fewer emissions than alternative materials. Lighter shipments increase fuel efficiency for trucks and aircrafts delivering products to far-off destinations. In fact, up to 40 percent less fuel is used to transport drinks packaged in plastic bottles compared to glass bottles.
Plastics are essential in many utensils, tools and kitchen appliances, enabling affordable access to critical food preparation tools for a broad customer base. Plastics are also found in the kitchen because they do not conduct electricity and are heat-resistant, allowing the material to provide safety across a variety of preparation and cooking applications.
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]]>Modern refrigeration technology has enabled the development of global food production chains, increasing access to critical foods that were historically inaccessible to certain regions. Household and commercial refrigerators are the most familiar component of the cold food production chain to the majority of consumers, and plastics are critical to the efficiency and effectiveness of these essential appliances, comprising up to 40 percent of a refrigerator’s total weight. Insulation, which allows modern refrigerators to keep food products fresh and reduces food waste due to spoilage, is now more effective with the use of plastic polymers. Modern refrigerators use thin strips of polyurethane, a plastic polymer, around refrigerator doors to seal air between layers of harder plastics and ensure that internal temperatures remain constant, preserving food products. In the past, refrigerators relied on less-effective fiberglass for insulation, which caused air leaks that led to condensation buildup, food spoilage and damaging water leakages.
Aside from insulation, manufacturers are able to leverage the versatility of plastics to form the exteriors and interiors of refrigerators. A strong and rigid plastic called polycarbonate is commonly used to form refrigerator doors, handles and body panels, while more flexible, affordable plastics—like acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)—are used to make interior shelves, drawers and walls. Plastic refrigerator components are not only easy to clean but also remain durable when exposed to moisture and temperature fluctuations as refrigerator doors are opened and closed throughout the day. Overall, a variety of plastic applications ensure refrigerators can sustain their performance for over a decade on average, minimizing unnecessary appliance purchases.
Beyond performance, plastics make residential and commercial refrigerators more affordable and sustainable, too. New appliances that rely on plastics can be 50 percent less expensive than more commonly used stainless steel-based appliances. These cost savings on vital appliances are especially pertinent for consumers who are facing record-high inflation and increased product prices. Furthermore, refrigerators that rely on plastics instead of traditionally used metals and glass are more lightweight, reducing transportation emissions as they travel from manufacturer to retailer to consumer. Additionally, refrigerators made with plastics are often smaller, reducing energy consumption. In fact, the energy consumption of a household refrigerator has dropped by 65 percent over the last 15 years, in large part thanks to plastics.
Plastic HVAC systems are a smart investment; systems made from plastics like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) have an average lifespan of 50 years, as they are less susceptible to corrosion, whereas traditional metal-based systems would require a mechanical overhaul two or three times during the same period. Replacing a traditional HVAC system for a small space can cost upwards of $10,000, and this price rises steeply when specialty settings are considered, such as scientific laboratories. Plastic helps to reduce the cost of HVAC overhaul and maintenance, lowering overhead costs for innovative research facilities.
In addition to increasing affordability, plastics’ unique chemical resistance, durability and improved insulating abilities make them an ideal group of materials for HVAC systems in highly technical industries like chemical engineering. Research laboratories require consistent and effective ventilation to filter strong and potentially harmful chemicals from the air to protect scientists. Ducts and vents made from plastics, which resist chemical-induced corrosion, are more durable and require less maintenance than alternatives, leading to improved performance and long-term cost benefits. Comparatively, HVAC systems that use metals like galvanized steel and aluminum are highly susceptible to chemical corrosion, impacting system performance and posing potential risks to laboratory researchers. In addition, PVC and CPVC-based systems are more energy efficient, because plastics are better insulators than metals and are able to better maintain desired air temperature before it exits an air vent, avoiding unnecessary system reheating or cooling.
By keeping food fresh and ensuring air purity, plastics provide consumers, businesses and researchers alike with affordable, sustainable and high-performance refrigeration and HVAC systems—just one of the many innovations made possible with plastics.
]]>Houston, Texas aims to increase their rate of plastics recycling and improve both traditional and advanced recycling capabilities through a revolutionary new partnership between industry leaders and the city government. The Houston Recycling Collaboration is working to decrease the amount of plastic waste sent to landfills by expanding access to recycling infrastructure, improving collection and sorting capabilities and collaborating with other organizations to provide community-focused solutions. The initiative will also support educational campaigns to better equip residents with the information they need to improve recycling in all types of households and businesses.
The Houston Recycling Collaboration is made up of plastics industry leaders, such as ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Cyclyx and FCC Environmental Services. Each company brings a unique perspective and set of resources to improve traditional and advanced recycling systems and sorting capabilities in Houston. To complement the Houston Recycling Collaboration, ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell and Cyclyx recently announced their commitment to invest $100 million into a new plastic scrap sorting and processing facility in Houston, a groundbreaking investment for the city. The new Houston Recycling Collaboration and recent industry investment will help elevate Houston as a leader in plastics recycling.
Seattle, Washington has become an innovative leader in plastics recycling by providing accessible information and unique waste collection services for all residents. In 2018, Seattle launched the “Recycle It” smartphone app to help residents learn the days on which recycling will be collected and what kinds of products are eligible for collection. By equipping consumers with the information necessary for effective participation, Seattle residents can ensure that a variety of plastics are properly disposed. Seattle’s recycling bins are also significantly larger than their waste bins, a strategic decision to help promote residential recycling. Additionally, households are charged for waste collection while recycling services are free, creating a financial incentive for proper waste management. Seattle’s innovations have kept recyclable materials, like plastic bottles and household items, out of landfills. The city now recycles 60 percent of all waste, which includes plastics, and aims to recycle 72 percent of all waste by 2025.
Boise, Idaho has transformed the city’s plastics recycling landscape and encouraged more residents to be conscious of their waste disposal through a partnership with Hefty, a plastic bag and household goods manufacturer. As an innovative way to separate materials and promote recycling, the Hefty EnergyBag program provides Boise residents with specialized bags to collect plastics that are not accepted in traditional curbside recycling, such as plastic bags, food coverings and wrappers. These more complex plastics are then transformed into energy and fuel, rather than sent to a landfill. Since implementing this program, Boise has collected more than 1,000 tons of Hefty EnergyBags, equivalent to recycling more than 32 million candy wrappers. Boise not only promotes plastics recycling through this innovative program but also provides educational videos and informational resources to help residents learn how to properly sort all types of plastics and other materials.
The innovative educational programs and financial incentives for recycling in Portland, Oregon encourage residents to be more conscious of their waste disposal, enabling the city to increase recycling by more than 80 percent of all waste in 2018. Portland offers resource conservation and recycling education programs for children in elementary school through high school. Through educational guides, community events and internships, children in Portland learn about the importance of recycling and how to recycle materials like plastics from a young age, encouraging a lifelong commitment to recycling. Portland also offers low-cost curbside recycling through a public-private partnership. The state of Oregon also incentivizes residents to recycle plastic bottles by offering collection refunds that can be linked to college savings accounts. Efforts are clearly paying off: in 2021, Oregon successfully recycled 773 million plastic, glass and metal containers.
Through a comprehensive program to improve the city’s recycling capabilities, Phoenix, Arizona has invested significant funds in educational programs, waste recovery facilities and public-private partnerships, encouraging sustainable waste management and effective recycling methods. In 2019, Arizona State University launched the Resource Innovation and Solutions Network (RISN) business incubator with support from the city, providing support and funding to 19 companies working to promote new advances in recycling. Recyclops, a participating business, expanded its efforts with state support and recycled more than 6 million pounds of plastic, cardboard, aluminum and glass in 2021.
Additionally, Phoenix offers a soft plastics recycling program in grocery stores throughout the city that provides an easily accessible way for residents to recycle plastics that can be transformed into new bags, lumber and furniture. Six grocery store chains in the city collect more than 1,300 tons of plastic bags annually, equivalent to keeping nearly 200 million plastic bags out of landfills each year.
While the United States still lacks a federal recycling standard, metropolitan leaders in cities across the country are working to invest in plastics recycling and waste management to ensure consumers are equipped with the tools necessary to help divert municipal waste from landfills. Continued investment in unique incentives, and advanced and traditional recycling infrastructure at both state and federal levels, can ensure that the United States continues building a circular economy and maximizing the potential of plastics.
]]>Plastics are helping to make technology previously available exclusively to those in healthcare settings more accessible through wearable devices. For example, chest-strap heart rate monitors are widely considered to be as accurate as electrocardiograms (EKGs), which were only made accessible in hospitals or doctor’s offices. Heart rate monitors often use straps made from plastics, such as elastic or nylon, to provide comfort while carefully monitoring heart rate. These devices are affordable and can detect heart and other health conditions before an emergency occurs, advancing health equity by enabling more people to personally take control of their health.
One great example of this kind of technological breakthrough has been exhibited by start-up fitness company Whoop. They are revolutionizing the wearable tech industry by making comprehensive health trackers for both apparel and accessories. Whoop devices monitor blood oxygen, skin temperature, heart rate and sleep patterns to promote a healthy lifestyle for users and can potentially prevent future health problems by alerting users to seek medical help if necessary. The Whoop 4.0 is a small fitness tracker that can be used with clothing or a watch band to provide health and fitness tracking while maintaining comfort. Whoop uses Poly Lycra, a stretchy plastic textile, in its specially designed apparel to hold the small fitness tracker in place without sacrificing comfort. In addition, Whoop uses lightweight and durable plastic clips to keep the tracker secure on a watch band. As wearable technology continues to become more accessible, experts estimate that, globally, individuals will likely save up to $200 billion in healthcare costs as people increasingly monitor health conditions at home.
In addition to health monitoring, plastics are essential in wearable technologies that monitor fitness for many different levels of skilled athletes. Garmin, a technology company that specializes in fitness tracking devices, manufactures cutting-edge gear that utilizes plastics because of their durability against the elements. Designed for hiking, trail-running and extreme sports, the Enduro 2 watch is encased in a fiber-reinforced polymer, while the strap is designed with lightweight nylon and elastic. Plastics ensure that the gadget is waterproof and durable enough to withstand water, sweat and high altitudes, making it a smart choice for athletes and adventurers.
Even if a gadget isn’t manufactured completely with plastics, plastic accessories are essential to wearable technology to help devices withstand daily wear and tear. More than 100 million people across the globe use an Apple Watch to track health and fitness. The gadget itself is made from aluminum and glass, fragile materials that can easily crack or break, but plastics help cover and protect watches while also allowing for personalization with different colors and styles. Durable polycarbonate plastic cases prevent the watch from getting scratched or dented, prolonging its lifespan at an affordable price point. Smartwatches from Apple, Garmin and Fitbit use silicone watch bands to provide a comfortable, flexible and lightweight way to monitor fitness without interfering with activity. Plastic bands and cases are also easy to remove and clean, making them a hygienic choice for fitness trackers that would otherwise trap dirt and debris from sweat and the outdoors.
As the wearable technology industry continues to grow, scientists are finding new ways to use plastics to create innovative wearable health and fitness trackers. At Stanford University, researchers have been experimenting with stretchy “skin-like” wearable monitors for health and fitness use. Using a flexible plastic polymer and LED light to monitor vital signs, these bandage-like electronics have the potential to revolutionize the medical industry.
In a move towards sustainability for fitness trackers, scientists at the University of Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute discovered a way to make a wearable device by transforming discarded paper wipes and plastic cups into wearable materials. The device is self-powered through materials that become electrically charged through friction when they come into contact with each other, saving energy by not requiring electricity. Scientists are hoping to include these new technologies in future smart watches to provide an energy-saving and sustainable option for health and fitness tracking. These one-of-a-kind discoveries are using plastics in new ways to revolutionize health and fitness.
Plastics are providing the health and fitness industries with new ways to track activity, monitor heart rate and chart exercise through wearable technology. From affordable health tracking devices to revolutionary fitness monitors, plastics ensure that wearable technology is durable yet comfortable enough for daily wear, increasing access to lifesaving data and creating a healthier future for everyone.
]]>The unique needs of animal care require veterinary offices to leverage the power of durable, hygienic plastics. Vet offices use single-use plastics to deliver safe, sanitary care through applications like syringes, face masks and gowns for vet health professionals. Additionally, tools made from plastics allow veterinarians to safely trim animals’ fur to conduct proper medical exams. Electric razors and hair trimmers use plastics to encase electrical components to provide a safe and quiet way to trim an animal’s fur without injuring or startling them. Plastics also make these trimmers easy to clean after use, preventing the spread of bacteria and disease.
Similarly, veterinary offices often use ‘puppy pads’ on floors or in crates with animals to quickly soak up fluids and prevent the spread of germs. Puppy pads are made with layers of gauze and absorbent hydrogels, finished with a plastic layer to properly seal the bottom of the pad. These pads are especially helpful for pets recovering from surgery and provide effective cleanup for messes from sick pets of all ages waiting in veterinary offices. The durable plastic layer helps protect the pads from destruction by the animals while remaining lightweight and easy to use. Puppy pads helpful for younger or sick dogs and can be made with recycled materials, promoting sustainability alongside hygiene.
In addition to regular veterinary checkups, pets also need proper dental care. Veterinarians use ultrasonic or hand scalers to clean a pet’s teeth safely and efficiently. These tools are often equipped with handles made from plastics, ensuring that the tool is lightweight and easy to maneuver, providing a safe dental cleaning for pets of all sizes. In between professional teeth cleanings, pet owners can use gentle toothbrushes with plastic handles or silicone finger brushes to easily remove bacteria from a pet’s teeth, ensuring their mouth and gums stay healthy.
In addition to supporting hygiene and promoting sustainability at veterinary offices, plastics allow older and injured animals with disabilities to continue to live fully through mobility aids such as slings, boots or wheelchairs. Slings and harnesses use durable plastic fabrics, such as nylon, to help older or injured animals walk and move around. Plastics ensure that slings are lightweight and comfortable for dogs while providing the durability to withstand daily wear and tear. For pets with injured paws, boots made from nylon or thermoplastics are an effective way to protect paws while remaining easy to clean and offering comfort for walking. Finally, for pets that have lost control of their back legs from disability, injury or older age, wheelchairs help pets regain their mobility. Some animal wheelchairs can promote sustainability in veterinary care even further: an innovative dog-lover in Taiwan now designs wheelchairs for shelter dogs using repurposed PVC water pipes. Repurposing plastic pipes helps promote a circular economy and keep waste out of landfills, providing a convenient, durable, hygienic and sustainable way to keep dogs and cats running and playing.
In veterinary medicine and day-to-day care, plastics are utilized to create strong yet lightweight mobility aids and medical tools, providing the best treatment possible for animals. From electric razors and puppy pads to wheelchairs and boots, plastics support animals through every stage of life.
]]>In 2015, scientists at Stanford University found that Tenebrio molitor, the larvae of the yellow darkling beetle also known as the “mealworm,” can survive on a diet solely of polystyrene, the type of plastic most commonly known as Styrofoam. Microorganisms and enzymes in the mealworms’ intestines biodegrade plastics during digestion, converting half of the material into carbon dioxide and the other half into organic waste, just as they would with other food sources. Specifically, the researchers found that the diet was just as healthy as the worms’ standard diet of various grains and flour—and that their waste could be safe for further use, such as composting or soil for crops.
A separate team of researchers from Australia’s University of Queensland had similar a breakthrough in 2022 when they discovered that the larvae of another species of darkling beetle—Zophobas morio, also known as the “superworm”—could also survive solely on a polystyrene diet. This particular wormwas found to have gut enzymes that digest polystyrene and produce only organic waste as a result. Like the Stanford research, the plastic diet proved to be healthy for the worms, and lead researcher Christian Rinke calls it “a new, arguably, better, environmentally friendly way” to break down the plastics.
Researchers around the world view these worms as a unique organic end-of-life opportunity for polystyrene. Because the material is frequently used for food and drink containers, it is often unable to be recycled with current technology due to food contamination. However, food contamination is not a problem for the “worm solution,” which presents an ideal disposal method. Identifying recycling processes for this popular plastic has the potential to divert a third of global waste from landfills, while contributing to local ecosystems through the feeding and waste products of these worms.
Currently, scientific focus is on identifying the specific enzyme that allow these darkling beetle larvae to effectively break down the polystyrene, so the process can be recreated in an industrial setting and deployed at scale. Researchers hope to isolate the enzyme for use in liquid solutions at recycling centers, so plastics can be digested into inputs for new product creation without the need for live worms. While this research is still in its infancy, the technology could be commercially viable in the next five to ten years. In the meantime, there is also a focus on creating “do-it-yourself” composting kits for consumers to break down the material at home in a backyard worm farm, making this environmentally friendly recycling process accessible regardless of recycling center proximity.
The ongoing worm and enzyme research adds to a growing list of breakthroughs that are improving and increasing circular opportunities for plastics. From interventions at the molecular level to federal policies promoting recycling solutions, the plastics industry is continuously innovating end-of-life options for plastics to ensure the material continues to benefit consumers in new uses and products.
]]>The Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) acknowledges that recycling rates for plastic are low and need to be improved, but low rates don’t mean recycling is impossible. Low recycling rates can, in part, be attributed to patchwork legislation and definitions of what constitutes “recycling” and “recyclable materials.” Differing state policies can create obstacles for effective recycling systems, and this is not unique to plastic products; it is also true for cardboard and glass, materials that have higher emissions and greater environmental impacts than plastics. Rather than an argument for less action on plastic waste, setbacks in recycling progress should be an incentive to invest further in recycling technologies, consumer education and national infrastructure. The plastics industry is ready and willing to work with policymakers to continue making these investments and strengthen the circular plastics economy.
As a purported “solution” to plastic recycling’s alleged consequences, the report urges companies to substitute plastic packaging with alternative materials. However, life cycle analyses (LCAs) have consistently demonstrated that plastic packaging is more environmentally friendly than alternative materials like paper, glass or aluminum. Moreover, a comprehensive review of 73 LCAs found that alternative materials almost always had higher environmental impacts than plastics across a number of factors. Encouraging companies to substitute alternative materials for plastics will negatively affect the environment, not protect it.
To complement mechanical recycling, innovators have invested billions of dollars to develop advanced recycling technologies that are proving it possible transform all kinds of plastics. Further, the report asserts that mixed materials are “virtually impossible” to sort and recycle, an untruth that ignores technological advancements like cameras, sensors, robotics and even artificial intelligence that have optimized modern recycling systems and improved sorting capacity.
The report claims that plastic recycling facilities emit “toxic chemicals,” such as microplastics. However, a study published by SAPEA, a consortium of over 100 European science academies, found no evidence that microplastics pose widespread risks to human health. Further, the plastics industry is currently working to eliminate all forms of microplastics in the environment—a reality the report ignores.
The report claims that recycled plastics may absorb chemicals in the recycling process, requiring them to be “downcycled” into lower-value products. However, this take distorts the findings of the study Greenpeace cites. The actual basis of the December 2021 Stina Inc. report commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada was to evaluate the suitability of plastic products and packaging for upcycling into food grade post-consumer resin (PCR). Stina found that there are numerous barriers to using PCR in food-grade packaging, including limited source material, insufficient verification processes and economic costs for producers. To address these barriers, Stina calls for greater transparency from producers to verify product makeup and more investment in recycling to address the issue of resource availability. As for the issue of toxins, Stina points to advanced recycling technologies and noted that, when speaking with recyclers and producers, interviewees “acknowledged the need for chemical recycling to deal with contamination challenges to safely get more plastic back into the marketplace.”
Recycling drives local economic activity, revenue generation and job growth. According to a report from the Tellus Institute, recycling provides up to 30 times more jobs than traditional waste disposal methods. Recycling facilities alone create at least 90 jobs per 10,000 tons of waste due to more labor-intensive processes, compared to only one job per 10,000 tons of waste at waste disposal facilities, like landfills and incineration sites. In fact, 86 percent of total U.S. waste management jobs already come from recycling activities. Even the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) most recent Recycling Economic Information (REI) Report shows that, in 2020, recycling created 681,000 jobs and generated $5.5 billion dollars of tax revenue. Though recycling can have high input and operational costs due to the technologies required, increased government and industry cooperation can help lower associated costs while lessening waste.
Promoting falsehoods about plastics recycling creates dangerous misperceptions in the minds of consumers, business leaders and policymakers alike. Those seeking to advance sustainability should be advocating for increased investment in recycling infrastructure and technology, not discouraging it.
]]>Click below to read more on how plastic bottles supply a circular economy to consumer products.
Manufacturers of everyday consumer products like clothing and furniture utilize recycled plastic bottles to create more sustainable goods, furthering material circularity. Beyond providing consumers with more environmentally friendly options, this practice also supports the need for a better infrastructure in the United States as we work towards goals to increase recycling and reduce emissions, as recycling plastic requires 40 to 90 percent less energy than creating new plastic products.
Check out some innovative ways manufacturers use plastic bottles to fashion everyday consumer products:
Plastic-based materials like polyester are staples in the apparel industry and have allowed companies to produce stylish and environmentally friendly clothing and footwear. The Girlfriend Collective is a mission-driven company that transforms post-consumer plastic bottles into high-performance activewear, using 25 bottles per pair of leggings and 11 bottles per athletic crop top. The company’s ReGirlfriend program also encourages customers to return old or damaged clothing so they are upcycled into new items. Popular footwear brands like Adidas turn plastic bottles recovered from the ocean into sneakers, using about 11 bottles per pair and diverting over 330 million plastic bottles from the ocean as of December 2020.
The furniture industry is also realizing the potential of recycled plastics for manufacturing more environmentally friendly products. Innovative companies are both diverting and recovering large quantities of plastic waste from landfills to produce sustainable products for workplaces and homes. For example, office space innovator ROOM creates portable, soundproof private meeting spaces that incorporate over 1,000 plastic bottles per room. A lifecycle analysis from Columbia University estimated that these meeting spaces can reduce an organization’s cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 33 percent over 10 years, further demonstrating the sustainable benefits of recycled plastics beyond waste reduction.
Based on shifting consumer expectations for household needs, companies are responding with more sustainable products by incorporating recycled plastic materials. Mexican furniture manufacturer Luken, which exports its products to the United States, relies on recycled plastics to create side tables and children’s furniture, using over 600 recycled plastic bottles per item. The company has repurposed over 10.3 tons of plastic waste to date. Furniture retailer Lovesac crafts its stylish plastic-based sectionals from 113 recycled plastic bottles. The company also diverted 25 million plastic bottles from landfills in 2020 alone.
Moreover, popular furniture brands Pottery Barn and IKEA have fashioned entire product lines that rely on recycled plastic bottles. Pottery Barn launched a recycled plastics product line that includes stylish indoor and outdoor rugs that use up to 1,048 recycled plastic bottles per rug, and IKEA’s KUNGSBACKA line of kitchen cabinets and drawers uses about 25 recycled plastic bottles to craft the front doors. Innovative uses of recycled plastics like these are clear examples of the environmental benefits made possible when companies leverage the value of plastics throughout its lifecycle.
Communities can realize the full value of plastics by recovering and remanufacturing plastic products. To maximize recovery and minimize waste, it is critical that policymakers support investments in recycling infrastructure, both mechanical and advanced recycling technologies, like pyrolysis, that are capable of creating nearly 40,000 domestic jobs.
Plastics provide so much more value than just at their initial use and are proving to be ever more vital to circularity goals across the economy. Recycling plastic bottles ensures that these valuable materials remain in the economy, out of the environment, and find second lives as new products.
]]>While the use of protheses can be traced back to Ancient Egypt, modern innovations with plastics have made prosthetic limbs more durable, comfortable and lighter than before. Plastics are lightweight and flexible, allowing prosthetics to move more similarly to natural arms and legs. Prosthetics are custom made to fit comfortably using plastics like acrylic resins, carbon fibers, thermoplastics and silicone for comfort and “lifelike” feel. With innovative techniques like 3-D printing, plastics make for greater customization of prosthetic limbs created with hard plastics that can withstand strenuous activity and heavy weight.
Along with an improved quality of life, plastics in prostheses have allowed individuals to reach new milestones in sports. Veteran, amputee and Paralympian John Register used a flexible, strong and lightweight carbon-fiber prosthetic to break the American record and win a silver medal in the long jump in the 2000 Paralympic Games. In 2022, Jacky Hunt-Broersma set a Guinness World Record when she ran 104 marathons in 104 days while using a carbon fiber prosthesis, breaking the previous record of 102 consecutive marathons, which was set by a nondisabled runner in 2020. Prostheses are no longer limiting mobility and preventing athletes from competing. Instead, they are enhancing quality of life and enabling record-breaking achievements.
Wheelchairs, canes and even service dogs all use plastics to help people with disabilities move more comfortably and freely. The invention of the wheelchair dates back to Ancient China and Ancient Greece, but plastics have enabled modern advances that ensure wheelchairs promote a better quality of life for those who use them. For comfort and durability, the seat of the wheelchair is now often made with vinyl or nylon, making it comfortable to sit in for long periods of time. Plastics are also used in electric wheelchairs to provide durable and low-maintenance electric casings and bearings, ensuring safety while enhancing mobility for users. Innovations with plastics have also allowed for the growth of wheelchair basketball, a modified version of the sport for athletes who are otherwise not able to participate in a non-disabled sport. This requires special wheelchairs that are lightweight and aerodynamic that are often reinforced with straps made from Kevlar, a synthetic fiber that can withstand impacts in this fast-paced sport.
Plastics also help individuals maintain balance and increase mobility with canes and walkers. Canes are the most widely used mobility device and come in different variations to help people with disabilities walk comfortably and regain independence. Strong plastics, such as carbon fiber and polycarbonate, help withstand pressure and ensure that users can safely lean on them for support. Similarly, walkers use plastics in their soft foam handles for comfort. Walkers and canes use plastics to provide comfort and durability to mobility aids, ensuring all users can continue to maintain a high quality of life.
Additionally, service animals can enhance mobility for individuals with disabilities through accessories made from plastics. Harnesses are often made with durable nylon to be long-lasting and remain intact under tension. Plastics ensure that the harness is strong, lightweight and comfortable for the service animal, preventing injury while enabling mobility and independence for people with disabilities. As an added benefit, harnesses coated with plastic polymers like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are waterproof and non-porous, repelling bacteria and other germs to keep animals and owners safe. Mobility aids can range from wheelchairs to accessories for service animals and all use plastics to ensure that people with disabilities can continue doing what they enjoy and lead active lifestyles.
Along with mobility aids, people with disabilities rely on plastics to enhance safety and allow for independence through handrails or wheelchair ramps. Handrails help support individuals with disabilities as they climb stairs. Outdoors, these are often made from vinyl because it is five times stronger than wood and able to withstand weather damage and pressure from those using it to balance. In addition to handrails, plastics enhance autonomy for individuals in wheelchairs by providing an affordable and lightweight option for wheelchair ramps. These ramps can help those in wheelchairs get in and out of cars, over curbs or up and down stairs without needing additional help. With plastic safety modifications, individuals with disabilities can feel supported and safe, further increasing their mobility and autonomy.
Plastic mobility aids help make physical accommodations possible for individuals with disabilities. From innovations such as lightweight and durable wheelchairs and comfortable prostheses to safety enhancements for homes and cars, plastics are the ideal solution to increase individual autonomy and allow for new milestones in sports and other activities.
]]>Skincare companies are engaging in innovative ways to recycle plastics. Farmacy—a farm-to-face skin care brand—has set a goal of 100 percent waste-free packaging by 2022 and honors this pledge by recapturing the empty containers of customers with TerraCycle waste-free boxes to recycle packaging parts that are not recyclable through curbside programs. Farmacy has also launched a 10 percent Waterless Vitamin C Serum that is fully recyclable by using mono-material polypropylene, a type of plastic polymer. To reach sustainability goals, the beauty industry requires plastics, along with innovative ways to repurpose them, rather than switching to less sustainable alternatives.
Dermalogica, another skincare brand, is using plastics to increase its products’ recyclability. The company examined their best-selling facial cleanser containers and realized that metal springs originally included in their pumps made them more complex to recycle. In turn, Dermalogica partnered with packaging company Aptar to create a pump with a spring made out of polyethylene plastic instead of metal, allowing the entire pump to be recycled. Even further, plastics’ lightweight nature means Dermalogica can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with shipping and transportation, providing additional sustainability benefits.
While the beauty industry at large has acknowledged its waste challenges, hair care companies have also found ways to both reduce waste and transform their plastic waste into more valuable products, promoting circularity. Green Circle Salons, a hair salon chain based in Toronto, Ontario, partners with over 40 companies across North America to recycle and repurpose up to 95 percent of their beauty waste. In the past, Green Circle Salons handled hair waste by repurposing it into bioplastics, which have helped clean up oil spills. Green Circle Salons still turns hair follicles into bioplastic pellets, but they have since shifted towards using these bioplastic pellets to manufacture items like mirrors, shelves or brushes that can go right back into salons.
In addition to using bioplastic pellets, Green Circle Salons is also collaborating with a researcher at Virginia Tech to use both recycled plastic and collected hair fibers from haircuts to make a new and stronger type of plastic. This new plastic can then be converted into recycling bins specifically repurposed for hair salons. Instead of unnecessarily wasting useful materials, Green Circle Salons is leveraging the power of plastics to help the industry become more sustainable.
Beyond helping smaller brands promote sustainability, innovative initiatives like TerraCycle and its infinitive Loop are leveraging the power of plastics to promote sustainability and circularity among big-box brands. As evident in the name, Loop focuses on finding “closed-loop solutions” for a circular economy that creates additional applications for plastics beyond their initial use. By partnering with personal care companies like Gillette and Pantene, Loop offers consumers the chance to send in empty bottles, tubes and containers for proper sterilization. Once sterilized, these packaging containers can be sent back to their manufacturers to be refilled. Along with many big-box partners, TerraCycle and Loop have the ability to reach a wide consumer base and obtain sustainable solutions with plastics.
In addition to partnering with Loop, Pantene has been collaborating with the recycling industry to develop clear polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles that can be recycled more easily. PET plastics also tend to be lightweight yet durable, reducing GHG emissions. The company has recently launched its first line of PET plastics by switching the Costco Advanced Care shampoo and conditioner into these lighter and easily recyclable PET clear plastic bottles. Big-box personal care companies can unleash the power of plastics by partnering with initiatives like TerraCycle and Loop and by increasing collaboration with plastics industry leaders to develop sustainable plastic solutions.
]]>“Bioplastics” are plastics that are biobased, meaning they’re made from a renewable source and/or are biodegradable, giving them the ability to break down on their own. Generally, bioplastics are created through a chemical reaction that converts the sugar from plants or other organic materials into the base chemical compounds of plastics. The two most common bioplastics are PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), which is derived from sugars in algae, and PLA (polylactic acid), which is made from sugar found in crops like corn and sugarcane. Bioplastics can be used on their own or mixed with petroleum-based plastics to create everyday items such as cutlery, bottles or food packaging.
In a recent discovery, researchers from the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, were able to convert up to 25 percent of the weight of agricultural waste into a bioplastic that has the elasticity and durability of conventional plastic and is capable of breaking down naturally over time. They used inexpensive glyoxylic acid instead of formaldehyde to essentially “cook down” wood and other non-edible plant material to create a chemical reaction. While bioplastics have been studied for centuries, Jeremy Luterbacher, the primary researcher in this recent study, emphasizes that this new bioplastic is unique because it keeps the molecular sugar structure intact, allowing for a simpler process without changing “what nature gives you.” The researchers have used the new, strong bioplastic to create fibers that can be turned into textiles, filaments for 3D printing and even packaging film. This innovation has the potential to expand the use of bioplastics across all fields.
This recent scientific discovery will help expand the use of bioplastics for food packaging, medical products, consumer goods and more. In the food industry, this newly discovered bioplastic is slightly different than past applications and has properties similar to polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a plastic polymer that is regularly used in food packaging, plastic films and other applications. Because the bioplastic had similarly low oxygen transmission rates as PET, it could be an even better solution to ensure food stays fresh from grocery store shelves to home kitchens. Like PET, bioplastics are also non-toxic, making them a consistently safe choice for food storage and preservation.
Bioplastics are also increasingly being used in the medical field to produce common single-use plastics such as syringes, gloves, cups and trays. Additionally, bioplastics are often used to make medical implants, sutures and orthopedic devices. Because they are derived from organic material, they are compatible with the human body and break down easily over time, helping the healing process without further invasive procedures to remove sutures or devices when a patient has recovered. The new bioplastic discovery will further expand the use of bioplastics in the healthcare industry by making their production process easier and more affordable while ensuring medical products and devices remain safe for patient use.
Many consumer products and common household items also contain or are produced using bioplastics. Often, bioplastics are used to create electrical casing and circuit boards on electronic devices, which ensures the products are durable yet lightweight. Bioplastics are already being used by consumers in popular cellphone cases, such as Pela or Wave, or in shoes, such as Allbirds and Braskem’s SweetFoam flip-flops. By using bioplastics, consumer brands can maintain product quality while using a material that is resource-efficient and sustainable. Because this newly discovered bioplastic has several qualities in common with PET, it is an ideal candidate for producers looking for a sustainable plastic material in packaging for consumer products like cosmetics or household cleaners. As scientists discover new innovations in the bioplastic field, applications for bioplastics will continue to grow.
As with traditional plastics, bioplastics also provide a sustainable option for packaging and consumer products and outperform alternative materials like paper and glass. Life cycle assessments (LCAs) have consistently demonstrated that plastics are more environmentally friendly than alternative materials like paper, glass and aluminum, because they are more lightweight and more resource efficient during production and transportation. Analyses of bioplastics reaffirm these findings, and a recent study found that increasing the use of bioplastics in the plastics industry could further reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent. With multiple end-of-life options—such as advanced recycling, traditional recycling and composting—bioplastics and petroleum-based plastics are more likely to have a lesser impact on the environment. Further, in landfills, bioplastics release organic substances such as water and biomass when breaking down, returning those nutrients back to the environment.
Plastics are ubiquitous in our daily lives. Investing in sustainable solutions like bioplastics can mitigate plastic waste and climate change concerns while providing an additional sustainable plastics option for the various industries for which they can serve as a resource. New bioplastics discoveries represent a step forward towards a more climate-conscious future, and innovations only bring us that much closer to making it a reality.
]]>Plastics are an essential material for summer camping and hiking trips. Necessary equipment such as tents and sleeping bags made with polyester—the most common material for tent fabrics—are more lightweight and water-resistant than traditional cotton alternatives. They are also easier to maintain because they won’t shrink or expand in heavy rain. Moreover, many popular sleeping bag brands use a polyester-based material called Ripstop that is reinforced with heavier threads to prevent tears on outer layers from spreading, improving the lifespan of the sleeping bag and preventing punctures that can reduce the bag’s insulation and effectiveness.
Proper hiking shoes are critical for handling the natural elements like water, mud, rocks and rough surfaces that can cause serious injuries during a hike. Outdoor apparel and shoe companies are increasingly rolling out polyester-based hiking boots and sneakers, which provide a lightweight and more environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional leather hiking boots: cow-skin leather production emits nearly seven times more carbon emissions than polyester-based leather. Polyester-based hiking boots also offer better breathability than traditional leather hiking boots, which help to keep feet cool and socks dry during a hike.
Durable plastic equipment is not only necessary for water sports but also increases their affordability and accessibility. For example, plastics play a key role in the surfing industry: surfboards made with polyurethane-based foam can cost as much $700 less than boards made from wood or fiberglass. Unlike other boards, surfboards made from plastics are light and buoyant, making surfing more accessible to surfers at any skill level. Additionally, plastic boards are more durable than fiberglass boards that must be repaired regularly or replaced due to dings or pressure dents. Surfboard manufacturers are also working to make surfboards more sustainable. For instance, Skunkworks Surf Co. formed a partnership with carmaker Jaguar Land Rover to source recycled polyurethane materials from early-stage clay car design models to create hand-crafted surfboards.
In addition to surfing, water sports such as water skiing and motorboat tubing require equipment made from plastics. Inner tubes are often coated with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to strengthen polyester covers that glide easily on the water while remaining lightweight. Similarly, water skis are coated with polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) to create a smooth ski surface and allow for different colors and designs. Water skis are usually manufactured with a high-density polyurethane foam core that is easily molded into different shapes and creating a buoyant material that helps water skiers reach peak performance. For both tubing and water skiing, tow ropes made of either polypropylene or polyethylene provide a safe and strong connection to the boat while allowing for stretch of about two to three percent of their length. This elasticity helps prevent injury and absorb shock from waves, keeping water sports fun and accessible for all ages.
Plastics are essential for summertime pool swimming. First, plastics play a key role in pool design through plastic lane dividers and plastic hardware on pumps and filters, allowing multiple swimmers to swim safely minimize rust on critical pool components. Equipment like snorkels, kickboards and fins are all made from plastics to help swimmers train. Likewise, life jackets made from nylon and plastic foams provide a safer way to swim in a pool while staying comfortable.
In addition to providing safe and essential water equipment, plastics play a key role in swimwear. Swim goggles are made with durable polycarbonate lenses that are 10 times more impact resistant than glass or other materials. Swimmers also use silicone or latex swim caps to protect their hair from chlorine and reduce drag in the water. Swimsuits like Speedo’s LZR Racer suit use nylon and spandex to help swimmers increase their speed in the water, and new innovations, such as Zoggs EcoLast+ fabric, have introduced swimsuits made from recycled plastic bottles.
Summer sports and activities such as swimming, hiking, surfing and boating all rely on plastics to keep people safe while having fun. With plastics, summertime fun is accessible and enjoyable for all ages.
]]>Despite their reputation as being environmentally beneficial, “reusable” products are generally less sustainable than single-use plastics throughout their lifecycle and can have greater environmental consequences. Specifically, single-use plastic products often require less resources to produce and transport. Ultimately, replacing other materials with plastics can boost energy efficiency, streamline material sourcing and reduce emissions and resource waste.
Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs), which evaluate a given product’s environmental impact from its beginning, or ‘sourcing,’ to end-of-life, consistently find single-use plastic products produce less environmental impact than alternative materials. A 2021 study from the University of Michigan comparing specific everyday single-use items to their reusable counterparts found that plastic options outperformed reusable versions of single-use straws, sandwich bags, wraps and cutlery, in terms of energy use, global warming potential and water consumption. The same study also found that, over time, reusable alternatives require significantly more water due to continuous washing, while single-use plastic options use less water and energy during production. Single-use plastic products also reduce transportation emissions thanks to their lightweight nature; in fact, substituting all plastic bottles with glass would generate increased emissions equivalent to 22 coal power plants.
Another study compared single-use plastic bags to reusable bags. It found that the environmental impacts of reusable products are often contingent upon the number of times the product is used to offset the higher environmental costs of production. For example, an organic cotton tote must be reused over 20,000 times—or every day for 55 years—to offset its overall environmental production costs. Paper bags have to be reused eight times to offset their environmental footprint to equal that of plastic bags’, due to the significant environmental impacts of paper pulp used in their production. Similarly, a metal straw must be used over 150 times to equate the per-use emissions of a single-use plastic straw. The truth is, consumers rarely use “reusable” alternatives to single-use plastics enough times to overcome their higher environmental costs.
Despite being dubbed ”single-use,” plastic bags are frequently reused for other purposes, including pet waste pickup bags, trash can liners and lunch bags. Plastic products can also be recycled both through mechanical and advanced recycling methods, keeping waste out of the environment and contributing to an effective circular economy. Plastic bags can be recycled using less energy, too: it takes 91 percent less energy to recycle one pound of plastic versus one pound of paper. Paper straws cannot even be recycled and have a higher global warming potential than plastics.
Because they are capable of reducing emissions, both single-use and durable plastics are ideal for helping achieve sustainability goals, like the U.S. goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. As the federal government identifies strategies to meet its climate ambitions, it must consider the science demonstrating plastics’ viability as a tool for sustainability. Any move by the federal government to ban or restrict the use of plastic would only result in environmental harm and higher costs, ultimately creating unintended consequences and working against initial climate goals.
]]>The report details the substantial economic footprint generated by GSA’s plastic purchasing. Between federal FY 2019 and FY 2022, the GSA spent between $198 billion and $453 billion per year on procuring services and goods from the U.S. economy. During the same period, the GSA spent between $385 million and $749 million per year indirectly through vendors. Further, GSA’s plastic purchasing generates significant macroeconomic benefits, as demonstrated in the below table, that the U.S. stands to lose if the proposed rule is finalized.
All in all, GSA’s proposed rulemaking to limit single-use plastics would threaten between $1.15 billion and $2.23 billion in domestic economic activity.
The report finds that GSA’s proposed rule to limit single-use plastics would have significant consequences for consumers by raising prices, threatening jobs and risking their health and safety.
GSA’s ANPR would cause the federal government to replace plastics with expensive alternative materials, potentially raising costs by 75 percent. As higher government costs are eventually passed onto consumers via higher taxes, the proposed rule will likely reduce household spending. In fact, the report reviews one study that found that banning single-use plastics in New York City would require consumers and businesses to spend nearly 100 percent more on replacement materials—effectively representing an “environmental tax” greater than any other sales tax or import duty on consumer goods.
GSA’s direct and indirect expenditures on plastics packaging have a substantial impact on the employment and sales output of the sector itself, on its suppliers and from induced spending by employees. Direct and indirect GSA spending on plastic packaging supports over 3,000 jobs in the plastics packaging sector on average, and spending from employees in these jobs supports an additional 1,830 jobs on average. Overall, implementing the proposed rule would put almost 5,000 U.S. jobs “at risk,” as seen in the below table.
Separate from the above analysis, the report also calculates a “taxpayer impact” resulting from the ANPR. As the GSA proposal will raise federal government costs—costs that will ultimately be passed onto consumers via higher taxes—households will experience reduced income and purchasing power. All in all, consumers’ reduced spending due to higher taxes resulting from GSA’s proposal would threaten the security of nearly 4,000 additional U.S. jobs.
Plastics are safer and more hygienic than many would-be substitutions. The report details two studies that demonstrate the profound impact GSA’s proposed rule could have on consumer health and safety. A study from the University of Arizona found that over 60 percent of cloth shopping bags contained bacteria resulting from fecal matter and pathogens, while plastic shopping bags do not harbor bacteria. In a separate study, California health inspectors found higher-than-recommended microbial levels on more than one in three reusable plates and bowls, compared to less than one in ten single-use plastic products.
Plastics outperform alternative materials in sustainability and resource efficiency. The report finds that, if GSA’s proposed rulemaking is finalized, paper products would primarily replace single-use plastics, leading to greater land, energy and water use due to paper product manufacturing.
Additionally, the report indicates that replacing plastic packaging globally with alternative materials like aluminum and glass would increase environmental costs—including those associated with material production, transportation and end-of-life management—by nearly $400 billion.
To protect economic security, American consumers and the environment, GSA must reconsider its proposed rulemaking to limit single-use plastics. The public comment period for GSA’s proposal closed on September 27, 2022.
]]>Plastic dorm and classroom necessities are more accessible and more affordable and, thus, more accessible than those made with alternative materials—including metal, wood, cotton and glass. From storage bins to shower caddies and educational supplies, plastic-based products are widely available in a variety of designs for every student on a budget. Writing utensils, one of the most necessary products for school, are often made with a polypropylene, a dense and highly recyclable type of plastic. Though once a luxury item costing up to $180, modern pens are now one of the most affordable school supplies thanks to plastics. Dorm room reading lamps are another pricey item made more affordable with plastics. Lamps made with materials like steel, ceramic or wood can have an average price point of over $200. Plastic-made lamps are found for as little as $17, becoming an affordable alternative for college students.
Plastics’ affordability gains are particularly important for college students, considering a recent survey which found that nearly half of all college students worry about their finances. Increased affordability also offers relief amidst high educational costs, allowing students to reallocate funds to other essentials, like books and food, and focus more on learning.
Plastics’ durability also means that products bought specifically for college are investments that can last far beyond graduation, reducing the need for unnecessary consumption. High-performance, durable plastic products are less likely to break or deteriorate compared to those produced with alternative materials. Even after repeated use, plastic shower caddies resist rust and breakage, unlike their metal counterparts. Plastics are also more hygienic and easier to clean, harboring fewer bacteria and mildew than alternatives. Plastic shower shoes are a durable alternative that can last through many uses and prevent the spread of bacteria or germs, particularly in shared dormitory bathrooms.
In college classrooms, plastics are also essential to items like calculators, which are often required for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classes—especially at more advanced levels. The first handheld calculator, introduced in 1967 by Texas Instruments, was made possible with plastics. Today, nearly 90 percent of modern pocket calculators are made from plastic, including the display, buttons and microchips. Improving upon original designs, plastics have made modern calculators more portable, durable and affordable, ensuring all students are properly equipped for STEM courses.
Beyond relieving financial strain and increasing accessibility, plastic college essentials promote sustainability and circularity. Many school supplies made from plastics—like pens, storage bins and binders—can also be upcycled and transformed into new products, thanks to manufacturers that provide free recycling programs promoting product circularity. Many college essentials are also made with recycled plastics, including backpacks made from recycled polyester and pens made from recycled plastics. Recycling and repurposing these products diverts unnecessary waste from landfills, reduces resource consumption and helps craft a more circular economy. Plastics enable innovations that make traditional classroom supplies more sustainable. For example, solar-powered calculators are primarily made with plastics, reducing the need for lithium batteries. As an added bonus, solar-powered calculators can last for over 20 years, reducing the need for additional purchases.
Amidst rising inflation, students and families can look to plastics for affordable, long-lasting and environmentally friendly products that enable successful college living and learning. Thanks to the affordability of these plastic-based college must-haves, back-to-school season can be less of a financial burden on students and parents—all without compromising durability, portability and sustainability.
]]>The first step for any recipe is preparation, or mise en place. During mise en place, plastics are essential to helping professional chefs and home cooks organize and measure all ingredients prior to cooking to save time. For example, in a bustling restaurant kitchen, professional chefs often use plastic containers to safely prepare ingredients for each meal, ensuring they are able to quickly cook meals as they are ordered. In the home, kitchen chefs often use plastic measuring spoons and cups to prep and measure wet and dry ingredients. Once ingredients are measured, plastic bowls and containers of different colors and sizes can be a helpful way for chefs to organize each step of the recipe. In any kitchen used by cooks of all kinds, plastics are not only more affordable and practical but also more hygienic and durable than alternatives like wood, glass or metal, as they are easy to clean and non-porous, meaning the material discourages the growth of harmful bacteria.
Some highly organized home cooks take meal preparation to the next level, cooking entire meals in advance and using plastic storage containers to easily reheat at mealtime. This type of meal preparation, a long-time trend among millennials, can save busy adults roughly 6 hours per month by providing chefs with the extra time needed to be creative, rather than rushing to prepare a meal after a long day. Plastic storage containers help preserve the flavor of meals while providing a safe and sturdy alternative to glass or aluminum containers. Prepared meals can also be stored and reheated for up to a week, reducing food waste—a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Once meal preparation is complete, plastics allow professional chefs and home cooks to experiment and create exceptional meals and desserts by using silicone trays, molds and utensils. Silicone molds come in countless shapes and sizes, allowing professionals and at-home bakers to create sweets for every occasion. Silicone molds can be baked at high temperatures and then frozen to create all kinds of desserts and treats. Additionally, silicone is used to create nonstick cooking trays, which allow chefs to test out different cuisines with ease. Silicone tools are flexible, easy to clean and versatile, taking the mess and guesswork out of baking and cooking.
Along with silicone tools, plastics are essential in many electrical kitchen appliances used by both professional chefs and home cooks. Food mixers, blenders, toasters and other necessary tools are made with plastics because they are more durable and easier to clean than glass, wood or metal alternatives. Plastic does not conduct electricity, making it a safe choice for encasing electronic components in the kitchen. These kitchen appliances allow chefs to safely speed up the cooking and clean-up processes while creating unique meals and desserts.
Sous vide, or “under vacuum,” is an innovative cooking technique that uses safe, food-grade plastics to vacuum seal meat, fish, chicken or vegetables and cook them slowly in warm water. These plastics are FDA-approved for use in cooking and maintain their integrity throughout the heating and cooking processes. The technique started as an innovation for professional chefs, but modern technology has brought this to the kitchens of everyday home cooks. Sous vide also reduces food waste. Meat and fish typically lose around 25 percent of their volume as they dry out with traditional cooking methods, but sous vide seals in moisture and cooks food evenly, allowing consumers to enjoy every ounce of food, minimizing waste and maximizing value.
In addition to vacuum sealing, food-grade plastic steam bags allow home chefs to cook vegetables, rice and even whole turkeys. Steaming vegetables in plastics can be a healthier way to eat nutritious foods because the vegetables do not lose the amount of water or nutrients as they would in oven or stovetop cooking. Plastic oven bags, designed to cook turkeys or other tender meats, allow for easy clean-up and produce juicier, more flavorful dishes by locking in moisture. Techniques using plastics have made cooking faster and easier, allowing for innovative yet tasty dishes in a fraction of the typical time.
From preparation to creation, both professional and home chefs use plastics in bowls and tools and as part of innovative techniques to create unique and flavorful dishes with efficiency and easier clean-up. Plastics are safe, high-performing, durable and versatile, making them a smart choice for all types of kitchens.
]]>The world’s oceans have remained a mystery for much of human history. Since the first scientific exploration mission in 1872, explorers have been able to map just 5 percent of largely uncharted waters—and plastics have been critical to making it possible. American undersea explorer Victor Vescovo recently reached a new milestone in ocean exploration to become the first person to dive to the deepest points of the earth’s five oceans. Vescovo used a submersible, specially designed, small vehicle to explore the ocean through acrylic viewports, or rounded windows that provide a full view of the ocean. Plastics are flexible, durable and transparent, making them an ideal material to create the rounded window necessary, capable of withstanding oceanic pressure. Additionally, plastics play a key role in the cameras necessary to document exploration missions. Plastic casing around cameras and lenses makes cameras affordable and lightweight, providing a smart choice for both amateur and professional divers.
On land, plastics have helped more adventurers than ever reach the peak of Mount Everest, the highest point above sea level on the globe. New oxygen tanks made from Kevlar fibers, a type of plastic, weigh up to 60 percent less than a comparable traditional steel or aluminum alternative, allowing climbers to lighten their loads, increasing speed and endurance. Additionally, climbers depend on the strength and stretch of nylon fabrics and polyamides in climbing ropes to allow them to reach the highest peaks without compromising safety. Finally, crampons, or traction devices attached to mountaineering or other compatible boots, are equipped with plastic anti-balling plates that help keep snow from sticking to the bottom of the crampons, allowing hikers or mountaineers to maintain traction and avoid slipping. New advances in climbing gear leverage the durability and lightweight nature of plastics, enabling hikers to withstand the elements as they reach the summit.
With extreme sports like NASCAR, plastics allow racers to reach new speeds without worries of spinning off course. Tegris, a thermoplastic composite, rests on the bottom bumpers of racecars to increase friction between the tires and the track. This durable and lightweight material prevents the cars from slipping or spinning out of control during a race, increasing speed and allowing drivers to break records. Because this material is flexible and aerodynamic, it prevents accidents without limiting mobility.
In addition to enabling high-performance exploration, plastics help keep athletes and explorers safe. When diving into the depths of the ocean or climbing Mount Everest, oxygen masks are essential to providing much-needed fresh air to the lungs, aiding in survival and promoting health and safety. Oxygen masks are often made from silicone and plastic fibers to provide comfort and protection from water or weather. Plastics are impermeable to water, ensuring oxygen masks have a strong layer of protection from outside elements while maintaining constant oxygen flow.
In addition to explorers, extreme sport athletes such as racecar drivers and BMX bike riders rely on plastics to protect them in the event of an accident. Plastics have dramatically improved the safety of essential equipment in many extreme sports by adding qualities like versatility, durability and comfort. Helmets use plastics to provide a protective barrier on the outside while maintaining shock-absorbency on the inside, also offering lightweight and comfortable wear for long periods of time. The plastic compound Thermolast K TPE is a key component of essential safety items, including mouth guards, helmets and knee pads that are temperature resistant, flexible and water and weather resistant. Similar to helmets, NASCAR uses a technology called IMPAXX, a type of thermoplastic foam that is fitted over car doors to prevent injury during an accident. With the help of plastics, extreme athletes can compete safely knowing that their equipment is strong and able to prevent injury.
Plastics enable athletes and explorers to achieve new milestones that were previously humanly inconceivable. As plastic technology continues to advance, extreme sports enthusiasts of all levels will continue to have the ability to break new records—and do so safely. Because plastics are affordable, durable and lightweight, they are an ideal choice for extreme athletes to safely tackle any challenge ahead of them.
]]>Improving nationwide recycling by increasing investments in infrastructure will support a circular economy and benefit the environment. In fact, a recent study by the United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that, in addition to decreasing plastic waste, a fully circular plastics economy—one in which plastic products can be reused and transformed into new products—could save the United States up to $9.9 billion annually.
Recovering and recycling plastic product saves energy and valuable materials
Advanced and traditional recycling systems complement one another and are crucial for the recovery and reuse of materials. To further the circular economy and maximize the potential future use of plastic products, it is crucial that plastics are diverted from landfills and find second lives as new products. Recycling just one metric ton of redirected, post-consumer plastic can save 5,774 kilowatt hours (Kwh) of energy, enough to power 57 electric vehicles. Even manufacturing one metric ton of plastic containers with recycled PET saves 7,200 Kwh of energy, enough to power the average American home for over 8 months.
The U.S. government continues to depend on local and state governments to enact their own waste management and recycling definitions and strategies. However, without federal laws that clearly define recycling, states and counties are left with a patchwork of inconsistent definitions, and legislation. Oftentimes this creates policies, and eventually, infrastructure that negatively impact recycling rates, causing confusion among consumers.
For example, in Fairfax County, Virginia, 90 percent of residents use private recycling services, each with varying procedures and accepted material lists, creating confusion across recycling companies. The remaining 10 percent of residents have their recycling collected by the county, but only after having to petition for service and paying for it through county taxes. With limited funding, local governments are also forced to make tradeoffs in community recycling. In some cases, counties facing a lack of funding may have to personally bring their recyclables to local collection sites or material recovery facilities (MRFs), which could impact participation and public perception of the practice all together.
While having a variety of recycling program structures across the country poses its own challenges, the financial benefit of recycling itself is evident. From job creation and wages to revenue generation through the sale of recyclable waste, recycling plastic goods greatly benefits the economy. For example, in 2021, Emmet County, Michigan benefited from a recycling program first-hand when their revenue was boosted by over $1 million, thanks to recycling revenue generation. The recycling revenue was reinvested into local projects the county needed.
New Yorkers are also increasingly supportive of recycling programs, with 77 percent of those surveyed supporting potential legislation to adopt state advanced recycling practices, which could generate over $500 million in economic output for the state. As illustrated in Michigan, New York could reinvest monies generated from recycling into initiatives most needed by the state such as infrastructure, environmental projects and education.
If the United States were to recycle just 5 percent more of its plastic waste, over 13 million tons of plastics would be diverted from landfills—but making this a reality requires consistent policies and diligent investment in waste management provisions that enhance our nation’s recycling infrastructure and encourage consumer participation. Examples of recent federal action include the EPA’s release of a National Recycling Strategy to create more resilient and cost-effective municipal recycling systems and the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, which provides $55 million in annual funding to improve local recycling infrastructure and reduce plastic waste in waterways.
During a recent House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing, which offered solutions for a broken recycling system, Matt Seaholm, CEO of the Plastics Industry Association testified on the benefits of advanced recycling and the implications of banning single-use plastics. When asked what the federal government could do to encourage and facilitate advanced recycling, Seaholm emphasized the need to support the development and use of advanced recycling technologies. Advanced recycling is the best option for taking complex plastics, like multi-layer film, and keeping it in the circular economy rather than throwing it away. Seaholm also noted the billions of dollars in research and development that are devoted to methods of improving plastics recycling.
Two bills currently under review in the U.S. Congress are the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act (RCAA) and Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act (RIAA), both of which would improve data collection for composting and recycling infrastructure, particularly in underserved communities.
Improving national recycling infrastructure through federal and state regulation can strengthen the circular plastics economy and ensure communities and consumers reap the benefits.
]]>Life cycle analyses (LCAs) have repeatedly found that plastics outperform alternative materials on environmental impacts many times over, requiring less resources, energy and water and producing fewer emissions during production and transport than alternative materials like paper, glass and aluminum.
Plastics are a sustainable substitute for wood-derived products, like paper and timber, that are created by cutting down trees, driving carbon dioxide emissions. EcoPost, an alternative lumber manufacturing company, uses 100 percent recycled plastic to make aesthetically pleasing, high performing plastic lumber boards that can be used in a variety of construction products. POLYWOOD, a furniture manufacturing company, uses 100 percent recycled plastics instead of wood to build durable furniture, saving trees and reducing waste.
Innovative engineering has allowed companies to use plastics to clean up waterways. Clearbot Neo, an AI-enabled robotic boat, autonomously picks up floating garbage from Hong Kong’s busy harbor. The boat depends on plastics to store and haul trash to the shore and protect its camera. Separately, Plastic Fischer’s TrashBoom is a plastic barrier designed to prevent between 400 and 1,000 kilograms of waste per week from entering the ocean from rivers.
Single-use plastic bags are likely to be used for more than their single-use intention, such as liners for small trash cans or as pet waste bags, further reducing their carbon footprint compared to alternatives. Studies show that bans on plastic grocery bags lead consumers to purchase other types of heavier plastic bags, increasing overall emissions as demand shifts to products that require more energy and resources to produce.
Advanced recycling uses heat or chemicals to break down complex plastics into their original building blocks, preparing them for innovative new uses—like recycled content for automobile bumpers and other durable plastic goods. Purification, one type of advanced recycling, uses solvents to separate plastic polymers from additives, coloring, odor and other resins from mixed plastic waste to produce virgin-like recycled plastic content that can be used in durable plastic goods like automotive parts.
Advanced recycling allows companies to repurpose plastic bottles and other post-consumer products into new, fashionable and sustainable materials. High-fashion brands, such as Gucci and Prada, use Econyl fabrics made from recycled plastic polymers like nylon and polyester to minimize waste and boost circularity in textile production. Sportswear brand Adidas transforms plastic bottles recovered from the ocean into sneakers, using about 11 bottles per pair and diverting over hundreds of millions of plastic bottles from the ocean.
Farmers use hoop houses made from plastic polymers and reusable plastic netting to grow crops in all climates. These innovations enable more efficient growing processes without impacting the surrounding environment. Further, new initiatives are researching methods to turn plastic grain bags and other farming plastics into garbage bags and plastic lumber, providing additional sustainability gains.
Experts recommend PVC pipes that are more energy efficient than alternatives to replace corrosive lead pipes throughout the country. In the home, innovations like PEX piping water systems (cross-linked polyethylene) reduce warm-up wait times and water waste, increasing energy efficiency. Additionally, foam insulation made from plastic polymers is more energy efficient. According to a study by the Society of Plastics Engineers, for every 40 British thermal units (BTUs) of energy saved using plastic insulation, only one BTU of energy is consumed to produce the material, making it a highly efficient product.
Swapping metal or glass car parts with high-performance plastics allows automakers to decrease vehicles’ overall weight, increasing fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. In addition, electric vehicles (EVs) are heavily reliant on plastic polymers to reduce in-motion noise and vibration and protect battery packs, improving both rider experience and technical performance. Finally, innovative technologies help automakers improve circularity by recycling plastic car parts, like bumpers, to create new materials.
]]>The plastics industry creates essential products that are critical to everyday life through an industry that is one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the U.S. economy. In fact, a thriving, robust plastics industry provides vital job growth, economic revenue and the research, development and technological innovation that will get us closer to creating a completely circular plastics economy.
Plastics is the eighth-largest industry in the United States, supporting the manufacture of innumerous, affordable consumer goods and more advanced products for industrial applications. As a material input, plastics are a long-term, sustainable investment for companies, as the material is more durable, versatile and affordable than alternatives. Using plastic products and inputs, industries across the economy can pass along cost savings to consumers by offering quality goods at a lower price, which is particularly important with current record-high inflation.
Given the plastics industry’s massive reach, plastics are a key contributor to manufacturing in U.S. states with some of the largest economies in the world. Texas, California and Ohio—the former two outsizing whole countries as two economic powerhouses—have the top three highest concentrations of plastics industry employees; these states also have high concentrations of manufacturing activity, as most plastic products are inputs for manufactured goods.
Ultimately, the plastics industry is a significant job creator, directly and indirectly driving opportunity across the domestic economy. Altogether, the plastics industry supports the employment of over 1.55 million people in the United States. Beyond direct manufacturing, these employment figures include the industries providing plastics producers with fuel, spare parts, office supplies, accounting services, transportation and more.
Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) have consistently found that plastic products have significant environmental advantages, including emissions reductions, over alternative materials. Research indicates plastics are less resource-intensive to produce and transport than other materials and inherently conserve costs and resources throughout their lifecycle, from manufacture to transportation to end-of-life. As plastics are also lighter and produced with less material, studies have shown that replacing plastics with alternative materials would increase environmental costs fourfold. For example, glass bottles are five times more costly to transport than plastic bottles, as plastics are lightweight without sacrificing performance. Even further, plastic bottles expend 40 percent less energy in transportation than glass bottles.
Recycling post-consumer plastics is also environmentally beneficial. Advanced recycling, which processes plastics into recycled material for new products, can reduce CO2 emissions by up to fifty percent. The plastics industry has invested billions of dollars into these innovative solutions to tackle plastic waste and further economic circularity. A 2021 study by Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy found that “a suite of solutions must be deployed” to address plastic waste. The study also stated that advanced recycling technologies “have the potential to expand the scope of plastics we can recycle, help preserve the value of resources in our economy, and help meet the demand for high-quality, recycled plastics,” underscoring the crucial role of advanced recycling technologies in creating a circular economy.
From the beginning to the very end of the supply chain, the plastics industry is crucial to the success of the function and growth of the U.S. economy, driving job creation, and generating revenue and sustainability. Without the continued growth and expansion of the plastics industry, and investment in the necessary recycling infrastructure to process end-products, creating a fully circular economy will remain far from our reach.
]]>Plastics industry critics often demonize plastics in an attempt to promote “environmental friendliness,” yet these misguided attempts completely disregard common ground that must be leveraged to cultivate real progress towards a sustainable future. Despite these claims, the plastics industry and its should-be allies actually possess a shared vision for a more sustainable future.
Wasting usable plastics is a lose-lose scenario from every angle—a scenario that both the plastics industry and its critics alike agree shouldn’t exist. To resolve this problem, critics often advocate for bans on plastic products and production to lessen environmental degradation attributed to plastic waste in the environment and waterways. Meanwhile, the plastics industry has spent decades investing billions of dollars into minimizing the environmental impact of its products, developing innovative designs to make products more environmentally friendly and solutions to tackle plastic waste in the ocean, waterways and the environment. Clearly, both parties agree on the bottom line: plastics do not belong in the environment.
Recycling has long been central to sustainability. Nevertheless, critics note that too many useful materials unnecessarily end up in landfills, yet they often encourage use of alternative materials that produce more emissions and use more water and resources during manufacture than plastics. The plastics industry, on the other hand, understands the benefits that both recycled and virgin plastics bring to the circular economy. Innovative plastics industry actors are constantly investing in advanced recycling and other innovative technologies to complement existing recycling infrastructure, leveraging the power and opportunity of post-consumer plastic products. The takeaway? Both the plastics industry and its critics agree that useful materials should be recovered, reused and repurposed—not discarded.
As the global community seeks to promote sustainability throughout the economy, many point to increasing material circularity as key to unlocking a greener future. Indeed, critics recognize the benefits of increasing economic circularity to reduce waste, yet—counterintuitively—they often advocate for eliminating certain materials like single-use plastics from this process altogether. Conversely, the plastics industry leverages the informative power of life cycle analyses (LCAs) and supports initiatives that aim to ensure both commonly used and complex plastic products have healthy end markets beyond their original applications, creating an infinite life cycle for every type of plastic. Taken together, both support advancing a circular economy to reduce waste and promote sustainability—only alignment on the proper path forward needs to occur.
The plastics industry and its critics are clearly aligned on core ideals that aim to create a greener, more circular future. Where critics fall short, however, is by categorically condemning such a critical class of materials through proposed bans, fees and unnecessary restrictions, only pushing the U.S. economy towards less sustainable alternatives and raising costs for American consumers in the process. Real solutions to complex problems—like increasing material recovery by bolstering domestic recycling infrastructure—require multi-stakeholder engagement. If the U.S. is to advance sustainability for plastics, all parties must be at the table, not banned outright.
]]>However, the Center for Biological Diversity’s original petition is grounded in unfounded claims and uses studies that are neither peer-reviewed nor reflective of the breadth of evidence demonstrating plastic’s sustainability and critical uses across the economy. That the Center for Biological Diversity and other activist groups argue that a reduction in the use of plastics would service efforts to address climate change when plastics actually reduces emissions is only further indication of bad faith. The federal government cannot ignore clear facts and proven science demonstrating that single-use plastics can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, with proper investment in recycling infrastructure, can be appropriately managed when discarded.
At the core of Center for Biological Diversity’s argument against single-use plastics is the assertion that plastics cause environmental harm. While the plastics industry agrees that plastic waste belongs in the economy, not the environment, the Center for Biological Diversity’s petition fails to acknowledge that waste in the United States is already being managed responsibly with very little leak into the environment. One study found that only about 2% of all plastic waste is mismanaged in the United States. While there is always room for improvement, this is hardly a significant percentage. Furthermore, the Center for Biological Diversity’s petition also ignores the actual environmental benefits of plastics when compared to alternative materials. Reputable studies and Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) repeatedly demonstrate the sustainable properties of plastics and prove how the material outperforms would-be substitutions like wood, glass, paper and aluminum from production to transportation to end-use.
Especially for use in logistics, packaging and everyday single-use products, plastics are clearly superior. In food packaging, a recent study found that, throughout its lifecycle, plastic packaging has a lower environmental footprint than paperboard packaging. A different study evaluating similar properties found that plastic packaging has a lower environmental impact than substitute packaging, including metals, glass and paper-based options, for all impacts (global warming potential, emissions produced, etc.) evaluated in the United States and Canada. In general, heavier goods require more energy and result in higher emissions. Glass, for instance, can require 40% more energy for transportation than plastics. A study from the Imperial College of London found that if all plastic bottles were replaced with glass, the resulting CO2 emissions would be equivalent to 22 coal-fired power plants. Even cotton requires 80 times as much fuel, generating 80 times the emissions, to transport than plastic.
As critics of the plastics industry look to push brands, consumers and government bodies towards alternative materials, they would do well to recognize the environmental advantages plastics provide before they inadvertently upend the very climate and sustainability goals that plastics are, clearly, key to achieving.
Not only do plastics reduce emissions at every step of their life cycle, but they also have endless post-consumer opportunities for infinite lives through mechanical and advanced recycling processes as new products and consumer goods. The plastics industry has invested billions of dollars to improve and fortify recycling systems, including a recent announcement by ExxonMobil of the company’s intention to build one of the largest advanced recycling facilities in North America, which will have the capacity to recycle 500,000 metric tons of post-consumer material each year.
Industry initiatives like Operation Clean Sweep, the Microplastics Advanced Research and Innovation Initiative (MARII) and Zero Net Waste are also actively working to address waste in the environment and waterways and implement innovative new solutions and designs that make plastic products more circular. Consumer brands have also launched green packaging lines made with recycled plastic and leading beverage companies like Coca Cola are moving toward bottles made with 100% recycled content or more easily recycled plastic.
By seeking to restrict, if not outright eliminate, the use and purchase of single-use plastics by the federal government, the Center for Biological Diversity’s petition ignores the circularity of plastics and the potential of the material for endless reuse. Continued investment in education and recycling will support a more robust circular economy that will keep all materials out of the environment and create new opportunities for further innovation. Collaboration between government, the plastics industry and consumers can help these efforts and ensure that infrastructure is fortified and able to process more post-consumer plastic for new products.
The Center for Biological Diversity’s claim that the federal government can “harness the power of the federal pocketbook” to reduce plastic waste would only short-circuit the buying power that the federal government has. A move away from plastic and toward more environmentally degrative materials would significantly increase costs for the government, diverting valuable funding away from important social programs and infrastructure spending.
Plastic is by far the most affordable material when it comes to single-use products as well as reusable products or products for more advanced applications. Producing alternative materials like glass, aluminum and cotton is more expensive than producing plastic, not to mention more environmentally degrative. Aluminum mined from bauxite can poison water sources while cotton farming is extremely water intensive. In terms of transportation, switching to heavier packaging materials like aluminum or glass for beverages would increase transportation costs by up to five times per item.
Furthermore, any action to restrict or regulate the use of plastics would significantly impact the U.S. economy. Having a short comment period in particular could hamper efforts to provide a full economic accounting of just how much a move away from single-use plastics could cost taxpayers. For example, one study by the government of Pennsylvania found that banning expanded polystyrene foam foodservice products alone would cost local government, non-profits and other institutions about $40 million per year. Furthermore, the plastics industry currently supports over 1.55 million jobs, both directly and indirectly, and recently planned advanced recycling projects could create up to 40,000 more jobs, supporting local economies and communities. Plastics also contribute over $450 billion in shipments, with an annual expected growth rate of over 13% for the next five years. Keeping this value and supporting the millions of hard-working Americans in this industry is key to our future.
The science is clear, the Center for Biological Diversity petition’s claims are unfounded and allowing this to be the basis for an ANPR from the GSA would be an irresponsible mistake. Plastics are the best option for reducing emissions, protecting the environment and lowering costs for the government and consumers.
]]>In this application, nanotechnology breaks materials down into individual atoms and molecules to reinforce, improve or repurpose plastic polymers. By breaking plastics down to their core building blocks, and improving them at the “nanoscale layer,” nanotechnology improves plastics’ physical properties and expands the opportunities for recycling and reuse within the circular economy.
Maintaining the integrity of plastic polymers’ basic building blocks throughout the recycling process is essential when creating new products from post-consumer recycled plastics. Nanostructure technologies, a type of nanotechnology, do just that by modifying polymer substances of post-consumer plastics during the recycling process. By altering the structural makeup, these technologies can make plastics even more durable and crack resistant, increase thermal stability and make naturally insulating plastics electroconductive.
With improved physical qualities at the nano-level, new plastic products are less likely to break, can remain functional in high-heat environments and due to their unique properties, be used in highly technical fields like power transmission and other industries. Through these benefits, nanotechnology reinforces plastic to ensure it can be continually repurposed as new goods, and opens the door to even newer uses for recycled plastics.
Recent breakthroughs in nanotechnology provide a preview of future opportunities in material research. Ongoing efforts focused on improving recycling can also work in tandem with investments into recycling systems. Across the United States the plastics industry and government are currently investing in new technologies within recycling programs to streamline material collection, sorting and cleaning, as well as find circular markets for recycled content. Nanotechnologies are the perfect complement to these efforts.
In 2020, researchers at Rice University created a new nanotechnology process that converts plastic waste into two outputs: graphene, a molecular compound used to enhance electronics, composites and concrete; and hydrogen, a clean fuel. While this new discovery is still under development, graphene’s longstanding demand across industries would make it an economically beneficial output for state and local governments, as it can be sold to generate significant revenue. Additionally, the plastics-to-graphene conversion is more cost effective as the materials do not need to be cleaned or sorted prior to processing. This enables more products to be recycled by streamlining the collection and handling of recyclables.
In addition to supporting product circularity, nanotechnologies play a vital role in the plastics industry’s work to reduce microplastics and other plastic waste in the environment and waterways. Nanotechnologies operate at an even smaller scale than microplastics, allowing them to address the material differently, on the molecular level. Researchers in Australia have created nanocoils—reusable, nano-sized reactors made up of carbon nanotubes and metal half the width of a human hair—that when exposed to microplastics cause a chemical reaction that breaks microplastics down into molecular components. The resulting material no longer contains plastic, but rather, just carbon dioxide and water. The nano-scale carbon-based molecular components can be used as a food source for plant life like algae and have been found to improve plant growth in the observed environment during initial testing. This innovative approach converts microplastics into helpful nutrients by breaking them down to their core components before they reach the environment.
Czech researchers are also deploying nanotechnology to combat microplastics and are testing solar-powered microbots that use nanotechnology to capture and degrade the material. Polylactic acid and polycaprolactone reactants create a photocatalytic degradation procedure that breaks microplastics into their base components—carbon dioxide and water—to ensure they cannot harm marine life. These self-propelled microbots present a key avenue for addressing microplastics in hard-to-reach areas, and their use of solar energy requires minimal maintenance. Unlike larger technologies that cannot physically reach all microplastics, nanotechnologies’ small-scale enables them to replicate microplastic distribution patterns and target microplastics more effectively addressing waste concerns.
The plastics industry is constantly innovating and investing in opportunities to improve the circular economy and reduce plastic pollution through improved products, innovative collection and recycling processes and new markets for recycled content. Nanotechnologies assist in those efforts across the board. From improving the structure of plastic polymers during recycling, to efficient processes that create new products and markets, and even breaking microplastics down to beneficial molecules, nanotechnologies are tiny innovations that make a big impact.
]]>Though the technical name thermoplastics may not be familiar, materials like acrylic, nylon, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polypropylene are all types of thermoplastics that are used to make highly recyclable plastic bottles, food packaging and even athletic gear. In fact, thermoplastics make up 75% of plastic products worldwide, meaning the majority of global plastics are easily recyclable when provided with an appropriate disposal and processing infrastructure.
Thermoplastic products are made through extrusion—a process that melts plastic pellets into a liquid that is then passed through pipes into product molds, where it cools to take final shape. Post-consumer thermoplastics are easily recycled through the same process. In fact, they can even directly replace virgin plastics in production with little modification due to the simplicity of the process.
Unlike paper, which degrades during the recycling process and can only be recycled six times on average before the fibers are too short to bond into new paper, thermoplastics can be heated, reformed and reused countless times without quality degradation. The simple polymer bonds maintain structural integrity throughout processing, with no loss in quality or limit to reuse.
Additionally, thermoplastic extrusion recycling limits waste compared to metal recycling, which generates excess scrap. By piping liquid plastics into product-specific molds, there is minimal excess or waste, and scrap or pieces stuck in the extrusion tubes are easily processed into new products thanks to the material’s infinite recycling life.
In addition to their recyclability, thermoplastics are also a lightweight, durable material that is heat proof and impact-resistant, making it an ideal material across industries. On top of these benefits, the simplicity of thermoplastic production and ability to re-use product molds also means that thermoplastics are more affordable than alternatives like lumber or glass, and can be produced in higher volumes at a faster rate.
In the automotive industry, thermoplastic polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) has incredible dimensional stability, even compared to other plastics. As PPS retains its shape so well over time, the material is ideal for complex shapes like the components for automotive fuel systems and engine intake covers. Despite the complexity of different models, these parts are easily created in high volume set molds and can retain their shape for years, even in high-heat environments like car engines.
Within the medical industry, thermoplastics like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are also used in a variety of applications. Rigid PVC is ideal for the creation of custom prosthetic sockets due to their durability. PVC can ensure an exact fit from a limb mold, and the low cost of production means that multiple iterations can be created, tested and modified to ensure a correct and comfortable fit prior to product finalization and use. Another type of PVC, flexible PVC, is frequently used as a safe replacement for rubber in materials like blood donation bags and medical tubing because of its sterility and durability.
Thermoplastics play a crucial role within the clean energy industry. Specifically, critical technologies for the energy transition are being developed with thermoplastics. While wind turbine blades are commonly made from steel, thermoplastic foams and composites are now being used to make lighter, more efficient turbine blades. Not only do lighter blades save resources because they require less fuel to transport than their heavy steel counterparts, but the lower overall weight also reduces drag on the turbines, so less energy is expended when the blades are moving, and more energy is stored for future use.
In March 2022, a Spanish subsidiary of GE Renewable Energy, LM Wind Power, built the world’s largest fully recyclable wind turbine blade from thermoplastic resins. The over 200-foot long, fully recyclable blade is now undergoing testing in Denmark. At the end of its useful life, the blade’s components will be dismantled and recycled into new material compounds for use in future blades. Current wind turbine blades made from fiberglass are not recyclable, creating significant waste that the energy industry is working to address.
Thermoplastics are a critical material across industries. It’s no surprise why this widely adaptable class of plastics is used in so many popular products, and its fully recyclable properties underscore its importance in a circular future.
]]>The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced that it will review the use of plastic in shipping and packaging to inform new requirements aimed at reducing single-use plastic in the federal government. The GSA, which manages federal property and serves as the government’s purchasing authority, could significantly impact, for the worse, federal operations by pushing government to choose less environmentally responsible options that are also more expensive and less effective in their applications, all while failing to support robust end-of-life disposal mechanisms for products.
The Biden Administration and the plastics industry both understand that reducing emissions is a top priority. However, the approach to doing so must be collaborative, realistic and based on scientific facts to avoid pitfalls including rising consumer prices and environmental harm.
Congress is currently reviewing four bills specifically focused on plastics and recycling. Two of those, the Break Free from Plastic Pollution (Break Free) Act and the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s (CLEAN) Future Act, would ban single-use plastics and place moratoriums on the construction of new plastics production and advanced recycling facilities, impeding U.S. abilities to recycle valuable materials that consumers use every day.
Two alternate bills, the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act (RCAA) and the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act (RIAA), aim to support recycling by investing in new infrastructure and sustainability education to increase recycling rates. These bills offer effective action that can truly create change, instead of banning materials that are vital to increasing accessibility. The pathways laid out in these bills should be the framework for any new requirements set by the GSA.
Plastic has been proven to be a more environmentally friendly material. A recent report by environmental scientist Ken Green found that plastic outperforms alternative materials like glass, paperboard and metal in terms of emissions and water, energy and resource use. Despite this and other studies that continue to exhibit plastics as the more environmentally efficient choice, regulatory mandates including Canada banning single-use plastics by the end of 2022 at the federal level and the U.S. government banning single-use plastics in National Parks have offered redundantly ineffective solutions.
In addition to being more environmentally friendly during production, plastic is a more affordable, more durable option for many uses, from food and beverages to industrial applications like construction. In turn, plastics can increase access for consumers who may be feeling the financial squeeze of rising inflation and high prices. Lower prices also allow the federal government to reduce shipping and packaging costs without risking quality. Even in its end-of-life, plastic can be easily recycled into new plastic products, helping to meet the ever-increasing demand for recycled content. At every step of its life cycle, plastic is helping the environment and consumers. Efforts to remove or reduce its use will only be detrimental to all stakeholders and the global environment.
Increased investment into sustainable, post-consumer recycling systems to ensure that as much post-consumer plastic as possible can be responsibly disposed of should be the GSA’s focus. Banning and reducing the use of these materials will only hurt the environment while also tremendously increasing prices for the federal government, which means diverting valuable consumer tax dollars from social programs and infrastructure development. Instead, like the RCAA and RIAA, the GSA should support investment into recycling and infrastructure to create a more circular economy that can process more material and increase the supply of much-needed recycled content.
A 60-day comment period for the GSA’s proposed new requirements is upcoming, providing consumers, organizations, legislators, and companies with the opportunity to pushback on these harmful regulations. Collaboration to expand recycling systems, while increasing our use of plastic and plastic products, will support common goals to increase accessibility and affordability while also protecting our environment.
]]>To be effective, complex EPR programs must include input from the plastics industry—specifically those most impacted by the proposed policy—to ensure goals are achievable and outcomes are successful. Unfortunately, a few recent EPR policies have failed to consider such stakeholder input with negative results. For example, a recently passed Oregon EPR law requires producers to pay for improvements designated by a panel without any representatives from the plastics industry. While this policy is well-intentioned, by excluding insights from the plastics industry, it is not inclusive of existing industry investments and efforts to improve recycling. New and innovative technologies developed by plastic producers are already improving Oregon’s plastic collection and recycling and increasing overall product circularity—yet this new law overlooks the opportunities already being created.
Without collaboration, EPR policies can have unintended negative impacts or fail to make a dent in waste management. These include an increase in bureaucracy, significant spending on initiatives that hurt material circularity and the creation of roadblocks to reaching set goals. EPR legislation, such as Maine’s 2021 law, requires producers to pay extra fees to recycle their products and packaging, thereby increasing the cost of choosing recyclable materials. The goal of EPR is not to impose fees on producers, and policy models focused more on punitive measures that drive up prices tend to have unintended consequences for consumers—all while failing to reduce waste and raise recycling rates.
As states continue to adopt EPR policies, programs could begin to catch on at the federal level. However, federally mandating this type of program could create conflicts with ongoing state and local recycling efforts across the country while restricting competition at the expense of small businesses. Right now, local businesses with small margins have opportunities to collaborate with state and local lawmakers to develop tailored programs that fit their business needs and the region’s existing infrastructure. A federal “one-size-fits-all” model would undermine these ongoing efforts. Furthermore, mandated changes at the federal level would be challenging to implement when considering the extreme variety of geographies, topographies and urban-rural localities in the United States. Thus far, federal action has funded and otherwise supported state-level policymakers without creating a separate, national recycling program, and changing that system could undermine local programs.
A federal EPR policy could also require recycling infrastructure that does not yet exist, putting additional strain on localities and companies. For example, a new EPR law in Washington state requires that 90% of packaging materials be reused or recycled. Yet, the bill ignores the root of the problem: insufficient recycling infrastructure, would need to be addressed for this goal to become a reality. Even worse, the law does not allocate significant funding to improve state waste management. Setting a 90% recycled content requirement also creates an unrealistic standard for product producers. Rather than implementing policies with near-unachievable goals and punitive measures for industry, legislation at the federal level should focus on improving infrastructure, including curbside recycling, and investing in the best circular solutions for unique communities that will increase the supply of recycled plastics.
While implementing a nationwide EPR program would welcome unique challenges, this is not the only possible solution to effectively reduce plastic waste. Policymakers are increasingly finding new methods of collaboration with the plastics industry to build a more robust and effective circular economy. In November 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act (BIA) was signed into law and allocated $375 million to fund U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recycling, reuse and waste prevention grant programs and initiatives. The BIA enabled EPA’s largest recycling investment in 30 years, intended to fortify state and local recycling, reuse and waste prevention programs and builds on the agency’s November 2021 National Recycling Strategy that recognizes the need to reinforce recycling and waste management infrastructure to solve the issue of plastic waste.
These very encouraging solution-oriented investments are critical elements of the new circular economy. Similarly, EPR policies that focus on mechanisms to increase funding for traditional and innovative recycling systems are vital to reducing plastic waste without placing an undue burden on producers, consumers and municipalities.
]]>Industries more than ever are focused on increasing #recycled #plastics to meet the high demand for a #circulareconomy. twitter.com/agilyx/status/…
In May 2021, the Canadian government usurped the authority of provinces and added plastic manufactured items to their Environmental Protection Act’s Schedule 1 “toxic” list. In mid-June 2022, the Canadian government announced that it would use that newly created authority to ban the import and manufacture of some single-use plastics, including takeout bags, cutlery, straws and food-service ware made from or containing plastics. The policy will come into effect in December 2022, and the sale of those plastic items will be prohibited in December 2023.
Again, while the intention of these policies is forthright—reducing plastic waste and addressing climate change—these actions will likely worsen waste problems and carbon emissions. With this new ban in Canada, not only will consumers believe that they are doing the “right” thing by purchasing a repeat-use plastic bag, but in turn, consumers are then causing the actual production of plastic to increase, and not in the form of a reusable plastic bag. In fact, a study from Texas A&M University and the University of Georgia recently found that banning single-use plastic items, like plastic carryout bags, forces consumers to use alternatives that aren’t necessarily better for the environment.
Multiple independent studies have shown that most plastic bags are used multiple times as trash can liners, pet cleanup bags or lunch bags. This reduces their environmental impact, especially compared to alternatives like paper or cloth bags, or even heavier-duty trash bags. By reducing access to these single-use bags, consumers are forced to rely on products that generate more emissions, use more resources to produce and are infrequently used more than once. The study also found that this transition increases the amount of plastic in waste streams, creating negative and unintended externalities that could worsen existing waste challenges.
Another recent study by environmental scientist Ken Green found that Canada’s announced ban will not only push consumer preference toward more environmentally harmful products but also harm the Canadian and U.S. economies. The United States and Canada are inextricably linked, especially in the trade of industrial products, plastics and packaging. Canada’s ban will likely have a negative impact on jobs in both countries, pushing smaller companies out of business and hurting the bottom lines of many others. Green’s study also takes on another key reason for the Canadian government’s actions: keeping plastics out of waterways. Yet, according to Green, the United States and Canada have a minuscule impact on waterway contamination, accounting for only 0.003% of the global plastic waste in waterways.
Through these studies and many more, it’s clear that increasing regulatory measures on producers, like banning certain products, is unlikely to have the intended positive environmental outcomes. Instead, such policies will be detrimental to the environment while also hurting the economy, including endangering job and revenue creation, especially at local levels.
Post-consumer plastics should never end up in the ocean and our waterways, but banning products that are vital to consumers’ lives is not a viable solution. Governments, including Canada, should instead focus on policies that incorporate insights from industry and invest in real solutions to address and repurpose plastic waste. Across the country, various Canadian provinces have proposed new programs and policies aimed at promoting product stewardship and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), with the goal of building the necessary infrastructure to increase recycling rates. With many of these policies slated to take effect in the coming years, it remains to be seen why Canada would move forward with banning products before the ink could dry on other policies that would build the necessary infrastructure to mitigate plastic waste without imposing undue burden on consumers and producers alike.
To craft a robust circular economy and minimize waste, policymakers must center their focus on bolstering recycling infrastructure and creating healthy end markets for post-consumer plastics—not creating new regulations that could ultimately do more harm than good.
]]>Local governments, businesses, and nonprofit organizations will benefit from the $2.1M grant from Ohio EPA. This will help to improve #recyling programs, provide further education on waste management, and support waste prevention. twitter.com/WasteAdvantage…
While we continue to see investments in #recycling technologies, it’s important to consider rational pathways to progress our recycling systems to make positive impacts. See which bills serve to help and which ones will only end up hurting our ongoing efforts. https://bit.ly/3AlmxjM
thisisplastics.com
America’s recycling system is not broken, but needs more investment, support – This Is Plastics
Committee hearing reviews recycling bills that ignore ongoing recycling efforts and would hurt environment, jobs and access to basic goods.Committee hearing reviews recycling bills that ignore ongoing recycling efforts and would hurt environment, jobs and access to basic goods.
]]>We’re pleased to announce that Ashley Hood-Morley has returned to PLASTICS in the role of VP, Industry Engagement. Read all about it here: https://hubs.la/Q01ghXVc0
]]>We must consider rational pathways to continue improving #recycling systems to make a positive impact. Read more about the bills that help and those that hurt ongoing efforts. bit.ly/3AlmxjM
The nomination period for the 2022 Innovation in Bioplastics Award has been extended to July 22! Enter and highlight your company’s novel advances in the bioplastics industry. A new material or product? New production process or technology? We want to know about it. Learn more and enter here:
https://hubs.la/Q01fW4B40
Quantix, Formosa Plastics Corporation, USA, PSC Group, and Sunrise Plastic Enterprise recently joined the Operation Clean Sweep blue ranks due to their rigorous efforts to prevent plastic resin loss. Read about them on the Plastics Industry Association blog. https://hubs.la/Q01gchzW0
plasticsindustry.org
Four More Companies Achieve OCS Blue Status
Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) is an industry-led campaign, dedicated to helping every plastic resin handling operation prevent plastic resin loss. It is co-managed in the U.S. by the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC).Recently, four companies have joined….Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) is an industry-led campaign, dedicated to helping every plastic resin handling operation prevent plastic resin loss. It is co-managed in the U.S. by the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC).Recently, four companies have joined….
]]>Earlier in June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $375 million in funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to transform #recycling and waste management across the nation. We’re grateful to see the support and actions being taken to address this issue. https://bit.ly/3OGA5L4
thisisplastics.com
Environmental Protection Agency Announces “Unprecedented” Investment to Improve Community Recycling – This Is Plastics
Investment by EPA will be the largest recycling investment in three decades and looks to improve community recycling nationwide.Investment by EPA will be the largest recycling investment in three decades and looks to improve community recycling nationwide.
]]>#DYK the @EPA announced $375M in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for new #recycling, reuse, and waste prevention programs? Learn more on how this will help to address waste management and pollution across state and local levels. bit.ly/3OGA5L4
@ger_trends shows how Germany is setting an example globally, by prioritizing a #circulareconomy through waste #recycling. Learn what the recycling guidelines are in your community. twitter.com/ger_trends/sta…
PLASTICS President and CEO, Matt Seaholm, testified today before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on behalf of the entire supply chain and nearly one million Americans employed by the plastics industry. Matt shared our desire for continued investments in recycling technologies and increases in innovation and infrastructure to secure a circular, responsible economy. @plasticsindustryassoc #peopleofPlastics #LovePlasticHateWaste
]]>We couldn’t agree more, @UBQ_Materials! The solution is how can we increase recycling to reduce waste and build a #circulareconomy that’s efficient and sustainable. twitter.com/UBQ_Materials/…
Does your company believe in mentorship? It’s a great way to nurture talent. Get a look at an incredible and rewarding mentor/mentee relationship on Page 16 of the latest PLASTICS Magazine. Printpack https://hubs.la/Q01fWdln0
]]>Our recycling system is not broken. In fact, recycling rates for all post-consumer waste stand at about 25%, with some materials reaching recycling rates of nearly 70%. While this is reassuring, there is of course always more the government, industry and consumers can do to further support and increase U.S. recycling rates. But this must be approached in the right way.
Today’s hearing will review the following bills, which approach the fortification of recycling systems in different ways, some more helpful than others:
The Recycling and Composting Accountability Act and the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act focus on increasing funding, reporting and transparency and collaboration with state and local governments to reach real solutions to improve recycling systems. These provide a realistic approach to plastic, and other material waste challenges. By investing in recycling systems so they are able to handle ever-increasing levels of post-consumer materials, more material can be recycled more efficiently.
Contrarily, bills like the Break Free and CLEAN Future Acts, which aim to reduce waste by banning certain materials, will only hurt our recycling systems and accessibility. They are bad policies peddling false solutions.
Both bills would place a moratorium on new plastics manufacturing and ban single use plastics, reducing access to affordable products that we use every day and increasing already-high prices for individuals and small businesses while doing nothing to support the improvement or fortification of recycling systems.
The plastics industry is investing billions of dollars in recycling technologies, but more investment is needed. The Recycling and Composting Accountability Act and the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act take the right approach by allocating funding and supporting collaborative approaches. Clean Future and Break Free will push manufacturing overseas to less environmentally responsible nations or bans the most promising solutions to plastic waste and pursuing these policies will unfortunately be a waste of valuable time and resources.
]]>Learn more about misconceptions of #plasticwaste in oceans: bit.ly/3NaUE0A
4% of oceanic #plastic pollution is mismanaged in the US. #DYK the US has created a domestic waste management system to route waste to proper disposal without polluting the environment, but there’s more to be done!
This Is Plastics is your source for the truth about plastics and their contributions to making life better for all of us. https://hubs.la/Q01fSTT40
thisisplastics.com
Plastics are Critical to the Development of Smart Materials – This Is Plastics
Plastics are key to the development of smart materials—an emerging technology vital to industries including healthcare and construction.Plastics are key to the development of smart materials—an emerging technology vital to industries including healthcare and construction.
]]>#Plastics play a role in the advancement of material science, especially within the healthcare and civil engineering fields. Having #plastics support smart materials help transform the application needs and enhance these industries’ efficiency. https://bit.ly/3OBnnMT
thisisplastics.com
Plastics are Critical to the Development of Smart Materials – This Is Plastics
Plastics are key to the development of smart materials—an emerging technology vital to industries including healthcare and construction.Plastics are key to the development of smart materials—an emerging technology vital to industries including healthcare and construction.
]]>#Plastic polymers known as smart materials play an important role in healthcare clinical applications, as well as providing efficiency to buildings in the construction industry. bit.ly/3OBnnMT
U.S. recycling structures and guidelines have been largely left to state and local governments, which has led to an inconsistent patchwork of state and local programs that are either noncomplementary or limited due to limited funding. For example, when changes in the global scrap market increased the cost of recycling in 2019, many communities were forced to cancel or suspend their recycling programs because they couldn’t afford the new prices for processing recyclable waste – some were four times that of the previous year. Unfortunately, when recycling programs are cancelled, plastic waste ends up in landfills instead of back in the economy, and the benefits of the material are not fully realized.
The EPA’s investment will help state and local governments address funding concerns with a $275 million investment in the new Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant Program. The program will provide grants to state and local governments to implement new strategies that “improve post-consumer materials management and infrastructure; support improvements to local post-consumer materials management and recycling programs; and assist local waste management authorities in making improvements to local waste management systems.” With additional federal funding, community leaders will have more opportunities to expand recycling programs to better address consumer needs and keep plastics out of landfills so products can be recycled into new goods.
Patchwork recycling can also cause confusion around what can and can’t be recycled and where; what’s recyclable via curbside collection in one community may not be in another, and general recycling misconceptions can deter consumers from recycling at all. This reality makes the EPA’s investment of $75 million to establish the Recycling Education and Outreach Grant Program all the more crucial. The program will fund state and local projects that “inform the public about residential or community waste prevention or recycling programs; provide information about the recycled materials that are accepted; and increase collection rates and decrease contamination across the nation.” Heightened consumer education will ensure that the public is aware of the plastic recycling options at their disposal, and can prevent accidental landfilling due to lack of awareness.
To further support public education and community recycling resources, the EPA is also consulting with stakeholders to develop a Model Recycling Program Toolkit containing standard terminology, training modules, and recycling best practices. The toolkit will include a community self-assessment to determine existing recycling program gaps, and a guide to measure grant effectiveness through recycling rates and contamination levels. These investments are incredible resources to help community leaders work with policymakers and industry to create unique recycling solutions and increase program participation.
While the EPA’s recent recycling investment is historic, reducing plastic waste in the environment and improving recycling systems nationwide will require even more innovation and investment. With the plastics industry and government working together on legislative solutions, like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act enabling the EPA’s investment, the opportunities to create a circular plastic economy can be endless.
Other notable legislation currently under debate in Congress include S. 3743 The Recycling and Composting Accountability Act (RCAA) and S. 3742 The Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act (RIAA), which would improve recycling data collection and infrastructure, especially in underserved communities.
As the first step in implementing these programs, the EPA published several Requests for Information (RFIs) for wide stakeholder input on the initiatives’ design. Continued federal action that serves to complement ongoing industry efforts and commitments, are crucial to creating comprehensive recycling systems across the United States. The EPA’s investments showcase bipartisan support for more widespread, effective recycling programs that keep plastics in the circular economy as new goods, and the collaboration with stakeholders through the RFI process will further inform the agency’s actions to ensure funding is deployed effectively.
]]>#Plastics create a more circular future. That means reusing them beyond their single-use lifecycle. See what everyday consumer products you use that may have been created from #recycled #plastic bottles! #circulareconomy #circularfuture https://bit.ly/39MJ3af
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