Environmental advocates in New York are doubling down on efforts to champion legislation aimed at significantly cutting down plastic packaging use within the state. The push is for the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, which, if passed, would mandate a 30% reduction in plastic packaging over a span of 12 years, as detailed in a report by the New York Public News Network. The same legislation would impose fees on excessive packaging with the revenue directed to municipalities.
A former EPA Regional Administrator and current president of Beyond Plastics, Judith Enck, has been particularly vocal about this cause. "It's just crystal clear that the only way we're going to see less single use plastic packaging is if a law is adopted to require just that," Enck told the New York Public News Network. Her organization's recent findings echo a 1990 analysis that highlighted the excessive plastic packaging that remains a lingering problem in New York, stressing the ongoing nature of this issue.
The Gothamist reported that the New York Senate had previously approved the bill, but it came to a halt in the Assembly without receiving a floor vote in the final session day. "There was the most obscene amount of lobbying. Every lobbying firm in this city was on the clock. We had Washington, D.C. lobbyists coming to Albany. That was unlike anything I have seen," said Assemblymember Deborah Glick, reflecting on the strong corporate opposition the bill faced.
Assemblymember and co-sponsor of the bill, Anna Kelles, lamented the powerful sway of major lobbyists, including national waste processing companies, who have profitably marketed biosolids to municipalities and farmers, directly impacting efforts to regulate the application of sewage sludge. Despite the extensive campaigning from large corporations, environmental advocates remain steadfast in their insistence for legislative intervention. According to analyses by Consumer Reports and Columbia University, cited by Glick and her colleagues, the proposed packaging system would not impose substantial costs on New York families, potentially costing them no more than $4 per month at the high end.
Support has been aggregating not only from environmentalists but also from over 30 localities across the state advocating for the bill, including heavyweights like Albany County, Rochester, and New York City. This consensus highlights a growing acknowledgment that curbing plastic waste is not only an environmental imperative but also a public health concern.
