EPA’s National Plastics Plan Flouts Sea Pollution, Chemical Use

A national plastics strategy by the Biden administration has drawn concern over its scope and consistency with existing laws, according to comments on the proposal that closed earlier this week.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s draft national strategy to prevent plastic pollution aims to reduce use and build a circular economy—a system where materials are recycled or recovered instead of thrown away.

Released in May, the EPA outlined three objectives for the strategy: reducing pollution during plastic production, improving post-use materials management, and removing trash from the environment. The agency endeavors to eliminate the release of plastic waste from land-based sources into the environment by 2040.

The public comment period was initially open for 45 days but upon request, was extended to 90 days with a deadline that passed on Monday.

Responses to the strategy included fierce opposition from groups questioning the plan’s outreach and its compliance with a present regulation.

The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, passed by the 116th Congress and signed into law in December 2020, instructed the EPA to develop a strategy for improving management of water and post-consumer materials, via Section 301.

The Department of the Interior noted that “sea-based sources of plastic are currently not in the scope of this Strategy,” in reference to Section 301.

Sea-based sources account for approximately 2.7 million tons of plastic per year, according to the Interior Department’s submission. It recommends for the EPA to expand the strategy’s scope to include sea-based sources of marine plastic pollution through methods like working with the commercial fishing industry.

The American Chemistry Council, which represents leading chemistry companies, specifically noted that parts of the draft strategy are “inconsistent with the direction and intention of Congress” as outlined by Section 301.

“Save Our Seas 2.0 is really about ending plastics pollution and keeping plastics out of the marine environment,” said Craig Cookson, senior director for plastics sustainability at the ACC. The EPA’s draft strategy, on the other hand, focused on switching to other materials. “[It] almost put forth the thesis that other materials are preferable to plastics and that’s not what was called for in SOS 2.0 at all.”

Groups voiced support for another part of the same law. Section 137 in the act describes potential incentives for fishermen to collect and dispose of plastic found at sea, gaining the support of the Interior Department.

The ACC encourages the EPA to recognize chemical recycling, or advanced recycling, which is a method of using incineration to resolve waste. The national strategy should “acknowledge the diversity of recycling technologies and programs that provide pathways to circularity for plastics,” according to a statement from the ACC.

“That is a complement to mechanical recycling to help us recycle greater amounts of more types of plastics,” Cookson said. He encouraged the EPA to adopt the five key elements from its national recycling strategy into the plastics plan.

The ACC also emphasized prioritizing circularity. This attaches value to the plastic, keeping them out of landfills and the marine environment, according to Cookson.

Environmentalists and similar groups oppose chemical recycling because it produces significant greenhouse gas emissions and toxic pollution.

“The PRC fundamentally opposes redefining chemical processes that convert plastic waste into energy as recycling,” the Paper Recycling Coalition, which consists of member companies representing the interests of recycled paperboard and containerboard industries, wrote in its comment. “This is energy recovery, not recycling. The Agency wisely recognizes this in its Draft Plastics Strategy.”

A collection of congressional members consisting of 65 Democrats and one independent urged the EPA to act quickly and serve as a leader in phasing out single-use products across the federal government.

The lawmakers asked the EPA to cut its procurement of single-use plastics and reduce its procurement of polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene, two of the most toxic plastics. They also suggest utilizing authority under the Clean Water Act to decrease microplastics and microfibers in waterways.

“As our waterways overflow with plastics and our bodies are invaded by microplastics, now is the time for urgent, meaningful action, not timidity,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said in a statement.

The EPA expects implementing the plan to be an iterative process as resources and needs change over time, according to the strategy. The agency intends to provide routine status updates to stakeholders throughout the process.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Zhu in Washington at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Zachary Sherwood at [email protected]; JoVona Taylor at [email protected]

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