We don’t think this bill is a vehicle for creating more plastic that we don’t have an ability to dispose of, or to increase toxic waste,” Assemblymember Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan) said. “We understand that the plastic industry and chemical industry is very focused on not just continuing, but expanding their operations. Meanwhile, the American Chemistry Council has been pushing to allow the use of “advanced recycling,” such as pyrolysis, where plastic materials are heated to high temperatures to produce fuel and other byproducts.īut the bill is expected to limit the use of “chemical recycling” to meet those packaging reduction goals - a redline issue for some environmentalists.
The plastic, forestry and paper industries, as well as makers of consumer goods, have raised concerns about the proposal, which also mandates reductions in the amount of packaging used. “It’s frustrating and causes a lot of anxiety to see all of this come down to a few days.” “We’ve worked on it for several years, but in the last three there’s been an intense amount of work on this,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. Still, it is a tight window for a complex issue that’s been the subject of a virtual lobbying bonanza. “We feel optimistic with the work product… There are five days of session left, that can be a lot of time.” “It’s a short amount of time to build consensus around,” he said.
Peter Harckham (D-Westchester County) confirmed the measure is at “pens down” and will be revealed in a matter of days. The new chairs of the Environmental Conservation committees and their staff in both chambers have been working feverishly - including over Memorial Day weekend - and a new version of the bill is expected to drop soon. Kathy Hochul and Democrats in the state senate backed versions of the measure in the budget, Assembly Democrats pushed to defer the issue. With leaders indicating little interest in tackling any more big issues - except perhaps the Clean Slate Act - the prospect of passing a major measure to reduce packaging waste is slim.įor years, environmental advocates have pushed the concept of “extended producer responsibility.” This means the makers and sellers of goods that get dropped at your front door or plucked off the supermarket shelf bear the costs of disposing the cardboard or plastic you wishfully toss into the recycling bin and the trash. | AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, FileĪ holy grail for reducing plastic waste remains elusive in New York as lawmakers close in on the final week of the legislative session. A man leaves a supermarket in Manhattan carrying his groceries in a plastic bag in March 2019.
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