What you need to know about America’s first strategy to reduce plastic pollution

Plastic waste is piling up at an alarming rate all over the world. The World Bank estimates that every person in the world produces an average of 1.6 kilograms (0.74 pounds) of plastic waste every day.

To stem this flow, 175 countries are negotiating a binding international agreement on plastic pollution, which aims to be finalized by the end of 2024. In July 2024, the Biden administration released the first US plan to deal with the problem.

The new US strategy covers five areas: plastic production, product design, waste generation, waste management, and plastic capture and removal. It also lists the actions that government agencies and departments are currently taking.

I study environmental law, including efforts to reduce plastic pollution. As the world’s largest economy, the US plays an important role in this effort. Based on my research, here are three proposals in the US system that I believe are important and one omission that I consider to be a major gap.

Federal standard for measuring microplastics

Research has found pieces of plastic, known as microplastics, in settings including the atmosphere, drinking water sources, wildlife, and human food chains.

Although scientists have found that wildlife, such as seabirds, can be harmed by eating plastic, the effects on human health are less clear. Unlike other pollutants, microplastics have different effects depending on their size, shape, and where they are found, such as in food, air, or water. And people can be exposed to them in many different ways, including inhalation, ingestion, and touch.

There is no organizational standard for measuring microplastics in various media, such as water and soil, so studies lack standard definitions, methods, and reporting techniques. By 2023, California is launching a microplastic monitoring program, which includes developing a standardized method for measuring microplastics in drinking water.

The Biden administration’s plan calls for establishing standardized methods for collecting, measuring, and separating microplastics and nanoplastics, which are much smaller. This will help scientists generate consistent data that regulators can use to limit microplastics in food, water, and air.

Extended manufacturer’s liability

All plastics contain chemicals that add properties such as strength, flexibility, color, and fire resistance. A subset of these chemicals, including bisphenols and phthalates, have been linked to adverse health effects including birth defects, reproductive health problems, and cancer.

Some scientists argue that certain types of plastic waste with particularly hazardous ingredients or properties, including PVC, polystyrene, polyurethane and polycarbonate, should be classified as hazardous waste. Currently, the US, Europe, Australia, and Japan consider items made from these plastics as solid waste and treat them in the same way as kitchen scraps or used office paper.

The fact that only about 5% of US plastic waste is recycled, while 9% is incinerated and 86% is landfilled, has sparked calls for some responsibility to be given to plastic producers.

Extended producer responsibility laws, which exist for other products such as paint and electronics, make manufacturers responsible for collecting and disposing of their products or paying part of the costs of managing this waste. Such requirements give manufacturers incentives to create more environmentally friendly products and support recycling.

As of mid-2024, California, Colorado, Maine and Oregon have adopted expanded producer responsibility laws for plastic waste, and about a dozen other states are considering similar measures. Studies show that when such policies are adopted, recycling rates increase.

The Biden administration’s plan calls for the introduction of an expanded national producer responsibility program that will allow state, local, and national governments to develop their own methods while providing a vision for a national plan that is consistent with the goals of plastic waste management. Support at the federal level would help many areas to make laws that require producers to help manage this waste.

Prohibit single use of plastic

Banning plastic items is a tool to reduce waste production. Most of these measures apply to single-use and disposable items, such as shopping bags, food containers, and plastic bottles. Things like these are the most common plastics in the environment.

The US plan calls for the development of strategies to “recover, reduce, and eliminate the unnecessary use and purchase of plastic products by the Federal Government,” including ending the purchase of single-use plastic products by 2035. Although this action only applies to government agencies, the US government is the single largest consumer of goods and services in the world, so this move could send a strong signal in favor of other products.

Shortage: Cap on plastic production

Current projections suggest that global plastic production will double by 2040, with a corresponding increase in plastic waste. In response, 66 countries have formed the High Ambition Coalition, led by Norway and Rwanda, to support stronger provisions in the global plastic agreement. One of their main goals is to limit the production of plastic around the world.

At the beginning of 2024, several nations participating in the proposed agreement negotiations to cut the world’s plastic production by 40% below the 2025 levels by 2040. This concept is still being debated.

Plastic manufacturers and companies that rely on plastics argue that a production cap would increase the cost of all plastics. Instead, groups like the World Plastics Council are calling for measures that will reduce the production of plastic waste, such as using resins with more recycled content and increasing recycling rates.

Given the size and economic impact of the US plastics industry, I believe it is unlikely that the US will join the High Ambition Coalition countries during the final session of the treaty negotiations. However, Congress may still consider domestic proposals, such as the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which would include a temporary freeze on permits for new plastic manufacturing facilities, as a means of production.

Sarah J. Morath is professor of law and director of international affairs at Wake Forest University.

This article has been republished from The conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the first article.