Weisbrod, K. (2022, October 12). California passed a landmark law about plastic pollution. why are some environmentalists still concerned? Inside Climate News. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12102022/california-plastics-pollution-bill/
The new California law, Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, attempts to reduce waste by making producers of plastic directly responsible for it. The law is set to reduce plastic packaging by “25 percent in 10 years” and will require most of single-use plastic to be recycled because less than 6% of plastic waste actually gets recycled in the United States. These seemingly, solid provisions are also producing a lot of controversy. Some leaders argue that there are loopholes to get through recycling. Companies could use chemical recycling to abide by the law, but chemical recycling isn’t actually recycling according to environmentalists.
The law in this article aims to reduce the amount of plastic and to ensure it gets disposed of correctly, which is super crucial to environmental science. Environmental Science studies interactions within our environment, how they affect us, and how to keep our world safe. The law in this article, when implemented, will reduce plastic use which does hurt our environment significantly. I enjoyed reading this article because it promotes action regarding our environment, rather than just talking about it. This law won’t fix everything in our corrupt world, but it definitely is a big step to protecting our home.
Taylor- At first glance this law seems like exactly what we need. Producers taking responsibility for the plastic waste which is causing so many problems. Crazy to think only 6% of plastic gets recycled, right? How is that possible? The problem is plastic really can’t be truly recycled like aluminum and glass. I think this is where the hang up is. Not that we want to do away with plastic entirely, but single use plastic really has to go away entirely. Tell that to the packaging industry. So the law seems like a step forward for sure, but perhaps it evades the real issue… and maybe if there is the law with its loopholes it means more or less business as usual. So what do you think? Take what we can get with this law or push for a more effective solution?
Thank you Mr. Powell for reading my post! I didn’t think about how plastic is recycled differently than aluminum and glass. However, I think we should “take what we can get with this law” and strive for other, more effective solutions. In order to curb the global plastic problem, we have to use all of the solutions and resources we can get.
BTW- thanks for all your good reporting on this issue this year!
Thank you!