Closing the Loop on Plastic Pollution
Source: https://www.proxypreview.org/all-contributor-articles/closing-the-loop-on-plastic-pollution
Author: Kelly McBee
Many corporations are attempting to mitigate the plastic pollution crisis by reducing their use of plastics, yet few have committed to tackling the crisis in its entirety by taking accountability for what actually happens to their packaging at its end of life. To solve the plastic pollution crisis, corporations need to adopt a circular economy mindset for packaging. With this framework, natural resource use is limited; products and packaging are designed to be reusable, compostable or recyclable and are collected for reuse or recycling when their useful life is complete. To ensure their packaging is circulated, producers would benefit by advocating for extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation in the United States to level the corporate playing field on funding packaging waste at the end of its life. Without a national EPR policy, companies can make voluntary financial contributions to expand and modernize U.S. recycling infrastructure. As You Sow has filed a resolution with Constellation Brands requesting it to investigate opportunities to improve its packaging circularity. Constellation Brands does not endorse EPR, nor make any known voluntary contributions to support recycling infrastructure. As You Sow plans to file similar resolutions this year with additional companies that have not taken responsibility for their packaging waste. Four U.S. states recently passed EPR packaging laws f: California, Colorado, Maine and Oregon. The new requirements mean producers will pay a per-unit fee for each piece of packaging distributed in these markets. The fees will be commensurate with a package’s recyclability and overall sustainability, which financially incentivizes companies to design packaging with minimal material and optimal recyclability. Under EPR for packaging, reusable packaging is encouraged and often exempted from fees placed on single-use disposable packaging.