Eight actions to tackle plastic pollution

 

This week, Joe Biden was officially inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States, and we have a new year's resolution for him — to act swiftly in tackling the plastic pollution crisis that is harming the U.S and the globe. 

This leadership cannot wait! The United States is facing a plastic pollution crisis that is impacting the planet and our communities at every level of its lifecycle. 
 
Beyond poisoning our oceans and marine life with plastic waste, the fossil fuel industry — makers of plastic — are fueling the climate crisis and harming Black, Brown, and frontline communities living in and near petrochemical facilities and extraction zones. 

As we welcome the new Congress, we are closer than ever before to passing the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act — the pioneering federal legislation to hold corporations accountable for the plastic pollution crisis. However, we don’t have to wait for Congress to act, and our communities can’t afford to wait! President Biden has the power to take immediate action during his first year in office by issuing executive actions to help tackle plastic pollution, and we must demand it. 

This urgency is why Greenpeace and a coalition of more than 600 organizations are calling on President Biden to commit to taking eight sweeping executive actions¹ during his first year in office to put the U.S. on a path towards a plastic free future. 

These eight priority actions will be instrumental in tackling the plastic crisis by: 

1. Using the purchasing power of the federal government to eliminate single-use plastic items and replace them with reusable products

2. Suspending and denying permits for new or expanded plastic production facilities, associated infrastructure projects, and exports 

3. Making corporate polluters pay and reject false solutions 

4. Advancing environmental justice in petrochemical corridors 

5. Updating existing federal regulations to curtail pollution from plastic facilities by using best available science and technology

6. Stopping subsidizing plastics producers 

7. Joining international efforts to establish binding commitments to reduce plastic production and eliminate single-use plastics 

8. Reducing and mitigating the impacts of discarded and lost fishing gear 

Biden can be the President to lead the United States towards a fundamental transformation of the plastics economy, one that reduces the amount of plastic produced and shifts responsibility for plastic pollution onto corporations. Let’s ignite people power to demand it! 

Thank you for taking action. 

Kate Melges, Greenpeace USA
Senior Plastic Campaigner 

P.S. President Biden has promised to become a climate champion — that must include tackling the plastic pollution crisis. Let’s work together to amplify the movement to demand Biden issue transformative executive actions during his first year in office to put us on a path towards a plastic-free future.