Letter
Update
The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act was passed by the New York State Senate last year and the bill also passed through all the necessary committees in the New York State Assembly. At this point, all that is left to do to pass the bill is for Speaker Heastie to schedule it for a floor vote in the Assembly.
Right now, New Yorkers have no control over how much single-use packaging is pumped into the market by companies. This tsunami of unnecessary and polluting single-use plastic packaging waste is taking a toll: microplastics and the toxic chemicals in plastics are building up in the bodies of New Yorkers, plastic packaging is filling up overcrowded landfills, and incinerators are burning plastics that create harmful air pollution. To add insult to injury, New Yorkers are footing the bill to deal with all the needless, polluting waste created by big companies.
Nearly all packaging that cannot be reused or effectively recycled is made of plastic. New York City alone trashes 1,579,600 pounds of plastic bottles and jugs every week, and spends $425 million each year to export its waste to incinerators and landfills — which comes directly out of taxpayers’ pockets.
Even worse, much of the waste finds its way to waterways, where it can choke wildlife, leach toxic chemicals, and threaten human health. Meanwhile, fenceline communities where plastic is produced suffer toxic pollution that contributes to disease and lower quality of life.
The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA, for short), a popular bill backed by a diverse coalition of organizations and individuals across New York, would help fix this mess by holding big companies responsible.
The bill would require polluting companies to:
This includes PFAS, BPA, BPS, lead, mercury, formaldehyde, polystyrene, and polyvinyl chloride.
Don’t stick municipalities and taxpayers with the bill for collecting and processing their waste.
The law would also:
Save taxpayer dollars by shifting the burden of dealing with packaging waste to its producers.
Prohibit incineration and so-called “chemical recycling” technologies from counting as true recycling.
Advance reuse and refill systems that offer a safe, non-toxic, environmentally-friendly, waste-free solution for packaging.
For people and for the planet, New York must use this critical opportunity to pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Act. Last year PRRIA was passed by the NY State Senate and the bill also passed through all the necessary committees in the NY State Assembly. We need it to be taken to a vote this year. It's important that New York lawmakers hear from New Yorkers: Put people over plastics.
Can you raise your voice, and help us hold manufacturers accountable for their pollution? Join us in signing the letter to tell legislators to pass the Packing Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act.
Your name will be added to the official letter language, which we will deliver to New York lawmakers.
