The war on plastics has gone from banning plastic grocery bags to removing tiny hotel shampoo bottles, and now the Biden-Harris administration is entering the fray.
The administration is pushing an ambitious plan to phase out single-use plastics from food service operations, events and packaging by 2027 and all federal operations by 2035.
The federal government is considered the world’s largest consumer of goods, so the administration is setting down an aggressive marker.
“I think it is an important step. Federal procurement is just a huge part of our economy,” said Michelle Nowlin, a clinical professor at Duke Law School and co-director of its Environmental Law and Policy Clinic. “I think it’s important for the government to be a leader.”
Although the medical field still uses some single-use plastics, experts say the main waste culprits derive from the retail and food industries with single-use containers, cutlery and cups. Installing refillable water stations to replace single-use bottles is easy, though finding replacements for dry cleaning bags, packaging and other materials might take time.
Plastic waste more than doubled from 156 million tons in 2000 to 353 million tons in 2019, and only 9% is ultimately recycled, said a 2022 report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
About 8 million tons of plastic waste enter the oceans every year, the equivalent of dumping a full garbage truck of plastic waste into the waters every minute, according to a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report. Plastic waste is found in every form of marine habitat.
Another mounting fear is health damage from microplastics, or debris less than 5 millimeters in length. Some are derived from larger plastics that have degraded, and others are microbeads used in certain cosmetics and cleansers. Microplastics are showing up in the stomachs of birds and marine life and have been found in human tissue.
Eliminating single-use plastics is part of Mr. Biden’s broader green agenda. He also has issued tailpipe emissions rules to ensure that most new cars and light trucks run on electric or hybrid power by 2032.
The administration says the life cycle of plastics is a concern. It pointed to the use of fossil fuels and carcinogenic chemicals in plastics production and worries about waste and degradation that pollute ecosystems on the back end of the cycle.
The World Wildlife Fund, a leading wildness preservation group, saw the executive order as a positive step.
“As the single largest consumer in the world, the U.S. federal government has an outsized role to play in curbing the use of problematic and unnecessary plastic products,” said Erin Simon, a WWF vice president and head of its plastic waste and business segment. “The administration’s commitment to removing single-use plastic products across an entity this large goes beyond the positive environmental effects, sending a message to the public and private sector across the world: If we can make change happen at scale, so can you.”
The administration’s plan could face roadblocks within months.
Vice President Kamala Harris is locked in a fierce election contest with former President Donald Trump. If Mr. Trump wins back the White House, he could repeal federal regulations and environmental rules as he did with ruthless efficiency while president from 2017 to 2021.
Republican operatives pointed to old video clips showing Ms. Harris endorsing a ban on plastic straws. Mr. Trump’s last campaign sold plastic straws to raise funds in 2019.
The Trump campaign responded to Mr. Biden’s executive order by saying it would take a balanced approach.
“President Trump advanced conservation and environmental stewardship while promoting economic growth for families across the country,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “Kamala Harris’ radical energy policies, such as her EV mandate and the ‘Green New Scam’ will hurt American workers, help China, and do virtually nothing to help the environment.”
A plastics industry group is striking a collaborative tone with the current administration.
Ross Eisenberg, president of America’s Plastic Makers, a division of the American Chemistry Council, said manufacturers want to create plastics that can be used repeatedly instead of polluting the environment.
“We agree with the White House’s ambitions to make plastic production a more circular process,” he said. “A collaborative public-private approach that includes all technologies as possible solutions as well as clear federal standards and definitions can help make the United States a leader in this field.”
At the global level, negotiators are trying to land a multinational plastic waste treaty as part of an effort known as the INC-5. The meetings will conclude in Busan, South Korea, in December.
“I think there is widespread recognition this is a global problem, so it’s going to take a global approach to solve it,” Ms. Nowlin said.
Some nations are resisting production caps on plastic because of the economic impacts.
The International Council of Chemical Associations commissioned an April report from Oxford Economics that said production caps would require more expensive alternative materials that disproportionately impact low-income people. It also said the use of alternatives, such as metals, glass and paper, could result in even more waste or higher carbon emissions.
While negotiators work out the details, some U.S. states are banning grocery bags and other plastic materials.
Beyond the 12 states that have banned disposable bags, individual towns in states such as Maryland and Virginia have imposed nominal fees on plastic bags to make them less attractive at the checkout counter.
A January study from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group found that bans in five states and cities — New Jersey, Vermont, Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon, and Santa Barbara, California — with a combined population of more than 12 million cut single-use plastic bag consumption by about 6 billion per year.
“People realize quickly it’s easy to live without plastic bags and get used to bringing a bag from home or skipping a bag when they can,” said U.S. PIRG Education Fund President Faye Park. “That means less waste and less litter. For our children to inherit a less polluted earth, that’s exactly what we need.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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