Should Plastic Producers Pay for Recycling?

We're in a plastic crisis.

Who's responsible for this mess? How can we turn it around?

Let me toss a few facts at you.

More than half of the plastic ever produced was created in the last decade.

And, only about 9% of the plastic ever made has been recycled.

But before you go blaming your lazy neighbor for that dismal recycling rate.

Maybe we should take a step back, and see how we got here in the first place, and answer that question.

We've got to go way way back to where the plastic begin.

No, no, not that far back, right? That's good.

These are fracking wells which is where a lot of the plastic *beep* you see lying around in the environment starts.

Over the last decade, governments handed out billions of dollars in tax subsidies,

and gutted environmental rules to encourage the oil and natural gas development.

That created a lot of new cheap oil and gas that companies like Dow and Exxon also turned into plastic.

In other words, lots of cheap oil and gas means lots of cheap plastic.

In fact, plastic is now the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases like CO2 and methane.

Huge consumer goods companies then turn all that cheap plastic into packaging

or products that often get used just once

and then can't or won't get recycled.

And, with no laws holding producers responsible for the plastic wastes they created,

guess who picks up the bill for all that junk?

That's right, us. The taxpayers!

The companies who make and use single-use plastics want you to believe that recycling will take care of all of it.

But it turns out it's often more expensive to recycle something than it is just to create new plastic.

Some cities and towns are even considering ditching the recycling programs altogether.

Take Maine for example, Mainers want to do the right thing.

The products continue to be packaged in wasteful ways,

and towns are struggling with what to do with them when they get to the dump.

You see when the people who create plastic packaging are responsible for managing and paying for their waste, bad things happen.

Like really bad things.

That's why many are starting to rethink packaging as a way waste is handled.

One way to do that is through a system called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

You might also call it polluter pays or a great idea.

EPR for packaging puts companies on the hook by making them accountable for the stuff they put on our shelves,

like paying more for non recyclable materials.

While the United States doesn't require manufacturers to help manage their packaging wastes,

many other places do, including several Canadian provinces and all countries in the EU.

Some of these laws have been in place for 30 years and many of these places now see recycling rates at up to 80%,

and, better yet, when the companies become responsible for their waste, the real magic happens.

They realize it's actually cheaper to reduce their packaging than to pay to clean it up.

That's the beauty of extending the responsibility to the real polluters.

It can help reduce plastic waste on the front end,

improve recycling by creating a cleaner waste stream,

and, oh yeah, tackle this thing called climate change, too.

Coupled with other ways to reduce unnecessary plastics like bag and foam bags,

performing recycling through EPR for packaging is what the world needs.

What's your take on EPR? Tell us in the comments below?

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