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.

Over 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 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 waste they create,

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?

Thanks for watching. If you like this video, please like it or subscribe