Yesterday, along with constituents of Virginia’s 10th congressional district, we met virtually with a staffer from Congresswoman Wexton’s office to discuss the problems we all face everyday with plastic waste and the importance of the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act (BFFPPA). Today we thought we’d share some more information about why this bill is so important.

One of the reasons so much new plastic is being produced is because it is cheaper to create new plastic than it is to use recycled plastic. It is about 90% more expensive to make a plastic bottle with recycled material. The corporations producing these bottles are going to use the cheapest method possible. The BFFPPA would mandate that plastic bottles are manufactured with an increasing percentage of recycled content. This bill would also require a nationwide $0.10 beverage container program. In Virginia we recycle about 20% of our plastic bottles, the most efficient beverage container programs have recycling rates over 90%.

(Plastic waste in a Fairfax County stream. Photo Credit: Clean Fairfax)

The three largest plastic polluters in the world, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and PepsiCo have committed to spend a total of $215 million over the next seven years on recycling and waste clean up. In fiscal year 2019, Coca-Cola profited over $20 billion. One material recovery facility (recycling center) costs a minimum of $20 million, their combined investment can build ten recycling centers. We can’t stress this enough, we can not recycle ourselves out of the plastic crisis. These brands have made commitments to reduce the plastic waste, but none of these companies have invested enough money to accomplish their goals. Even if they do, plastic in the ocean will rise from 11 million tons today to almost 30 million tons in the next twenty years. 

In the next five years, the fossil fuel industry is planning to spend $400 billion to build plastic production facilities. There are two plastic facilities scheduled to come online in Virginia next year. The BFFPPA would  place a temporary moratorium on new plastic facilities. This would give the EPA the opportunity to update regulations ensuring these facilities are using the most efficient pollution mitigation technology.As the fossil fuel industry is spending $400 billion in plastic expansion, they are only spending a combined $2 billion on plastic waste reduction. The BFFPPA would require that plastic producers would be responsible for collecting and recycling the material they generate. These corporations must play an active role in cleaning up the mess they have created.

Half of all the plastic that is produced is intended to be used once. Products that last for hundreds of years should not be used once. The BFFPPA would phase out the most common polluting single use products including, single use plastic bags, expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) food and beverage containers, plastic stirrers, and plastic utensils. 

This piece from Reuters, The Plastic Pandemic, offers a detailed explanation of how the plastic waste problem became a crisis decades ago.

If you want to learn more about the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act there are great resources from The Surfrider Foundation and Oceana.