Introduction of the Plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. STEVENS. Madam Speaker, I am proud to introduce the Plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Act with my colleague Representative Gonzalez, as well as Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson and Ranking Member Frank Lucas, who have joined us as leading cosponsors of this bipartisan bill.

Plastic is invaluable in many applications. It's used as a high- performance material for medical devices and in safety components for automobiles. Plastic is also convenient. It's a mainstay in American households from our toothbrushes to food storage to shampoo and detergent bottles. Global plastic production increased from 2 million tons per year in 1950 to 400 million tons annually in recent years. What happens to all of the discarded plastic is why I am introducing this legislation today.

We can no longer deny that we face a plastic waste crisis. In 2018, the U.S. woke up to the fragile predicament of our plastic waste management system. No longer able to ship our plastic waste to international markets, U.S. cities were forced to cut longstanding recycling programs. Instead, they had to resort to incinerating recyclables or tossing them in landfills. There are plenty of reasons for why and how we got here; however, a major factor is because we failed as a nation to invest in domestic recycling infrastructure and policies to account for the growing demand for plastic. As a result, today, the U.S. recycles just 9 percent of its plastic waste.

The Plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Act directs the establishment of a plastic waste reduction and recycling research and development program to develop a world-leading U.S. industry in advanced plastics recycling technologies, and unleash the innovative potential of our nation to address our plastic waste crisis and generate greater value from the plastics we do produce.

This approach has the potential to create jobs, develop supply chains, and meet environmental needs.

Most notably, this legislation authorizes research and development across several agencies and a range of topics, including plastics that are recyclable by design, next generation recycling technologies, upcycling into high-value products, and environmental impacts of plastic waste. This bill also calls on the Federal government to develop a strategic plan for plastic waste reduction and recycling and plastic waste remediation and to develop partnerships with States, local governments, academia, industry, and international partners to achieve those goals.

Finally, this legislation would help ensure U.S. leadership in national and international research and standards development for plastics recycling technologies. Advanced sorting technologies and updated standards are urgently needed for characterizing the multilayered plastic packaging materials used today. Most consumers are not even aware that many of these materials are not easily recycled by most local materials recovery facilities, which just exacerbates the challenges for the facilities, even as consumers are trying to do their part.

This bill alone will not solve the plastic waste crisis in this country, but it is an essential and important step. Supporting this bill is an investment in our recycling industry and a demonstration of our recommitment to American manufacturing jobs and the ingenuity so very much needed at this time in our nation's history. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill and see it signed into law.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source