We need to rethink our relationship with plastic

Recently, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works convened for a hearing titled “Examining the Impact of Plastic Use and Identifying Solutions for Reducing Plastic Waste.” The final hearing for the committee of the 117th Congress began with Sen. Jeff Merkley discussing the plastic problem, ranging from how plastic does not break down to the ways it has infiltrated seemingly everything through that process.

Merkley last year introduced the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act that includes provisions like establishing a national system that would allow for better methods of recycling plastic bottles in an effort to reduce waste and prevent more plastic from going to landfills. For now, there is no nationwide bottle bill, though there are 10 states with their own bottle laws. The legislation also includes financial incentives for recycling as well as for material recovery facility operators that run recycling and reclamation facilities.