From MASSPIRG: What do Chinese tariffs have to do with recycling? Actually — everything!
China’s new rules mean most plastic recycling can no longer be sent there — and now, vast amounts of plastics that should’ve been recycled are getting thrown away.
In fact, 111 million tons of plastic recycling will end up in U.S. landfills and incinerators between now and 2030 — but not if we can help it.1
It’s time to change the throwaway mindset — and change the rules around single-use plastics.
Tell Gov. Charlie Baker: It’s time to ban the worst single-use plastics, starting with polystyrene foam.
Reducing our dependence on plastic won’t be easy — but it’s possible, especially at the state level. There are two main reasons why the planet is starting to drown in plastic:
1. We just use a lot of it — even when we don’t need to. (Like bananas wrapped in plastic!)2
2. Of the plastic we use, very little actually gets recycled. Only 10 percent is put in recycling bins. Of that, municipal recycling programs have to throw away roughly half because it’s too contaminated. Now, they’re struggling to find buyers for even the cleanest, best-sorted plastics. And since China’s new policies went into effect last month, the place that used to take half our plastic waste is largely shut off.
MASSPIRG and our national network have been working for decades to address both root causes by reducing plastic consumption and improving recycling laws so that more of what we do use at least doesn’t end up in our oceans. The stakes are even higher now as plastic continues to pile up — that’s why we need you to take action today.
Tell Gov. Baker: Let’s ban single-use polystyrene foam.
We led the campaign to require bottle and can deposits, which is now the law in 10 states, even when that meant fending off well-funded opposition from manufacturers who didn’t want to be responsible for the environmental impacts of their products.
We’ve been working on this problem for a LONG time — from stopping the repeal of Oregon’s first-in-the-nation Bottle Bill in the early 1970s to overhauling Connecticut’s waste and recycling programs in 2014.
We know how to get results — and it has to start with a state-by-state, city-by-city approach. That’s why we’re asking you to send a message to Gov. Baker, asking him to ban the worst single-use plastics in Massachusetts.
Thank you for making it all possible,
Janet Domenitz
Executive Director
1. Jo Ling Kent, Jim Seida and James Rainey, “With China saying no to plastic waste, the world needs a new plan,” NBC News, June 25, 2018.
2. Kate O’Neill, “The plastic waste crisis is an opportunity for the US to get serious about recycling at home,” The Conversation, August 17, 2018.