News & Insights: Plastics

Today, the US Plastic Pact released their list of “problematic and unnecessary” materials to be eliminated in plastic packaging. The pact includes PVC and polystyrene on the list and prompts voluntary elimination by 2025.

What a year! In 2021 states have once again stepped up and created incentives for safer chemistries, materials as well as protections from toxic chemicals. Using PFAS as a way to highlight the problem, states drove a big toxics agenda including pushing for a class-based restriction of toxic chemicals, transparency about what chemicals are in what products, and identification of safer materials and processes. 

A new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine details the serious impacts that plastic is having on the health of our oceans and communities. It underscores the interconnectivity between plastic pollution and toxic chemicals and reinforces the importance of tackling these challenges together. 

California today passed new precedent-setting laws that require accurate labeling for products and regulate toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” as a class. The three bills signed today by Governor Gavin Newsom ensure truth in advertising through labeling requirements in products claiming to be recyclable; in compostable products; and in cookware, respectively. A fourth bill was also signed that regulates toxic chemicals in juvenile products. All four bills notably address toxic PFAS chemicals as a class, a longstanding recommendation by science experts, health care professionals, and advocates alike.

As we move away from disposable products and focus on incentivizing reusables and creating systems for reuse, we need to make sure that those reusable products are non-toxic and sustainable too. 

Last Thursday’s introduction of the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act (BFFPPA) by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) represents an ambitious attempt to address our plastic pollution crisis. Since so many toxic chemicals are plastic additives, reducing plastics can also reduce toxic chemical use and exposure.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) will join environmental advocates to discuss the reintroduction of the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act (BFFPPA). The Act would reduce plastic production, increase recycling rates, ban the use of certain single use plastics, encourage greater reuse, and require stronger regulations to protect frontline […]