Grist Article
It’s Monday, December 5, and congressional Democrats have introduced a new bill to restrict plastic production.
As international negotiators began hammering out the details of a global plastics treaty last week, legislators in the United States were busy unveiling a domestic policy to address the plastic pollution crisis.
A new bill introduced by four congressional Democrats on Thursday takes aim at plastic manufacturers in an attempt to reduce the country’s reliance on single-use plastics. If passed, the Protecting Communities from Plastics Act would set national targets for reducing plastic production, strengthen protections for communities most affected by plastic-related pollution, and place restrictions on a controversial process known as “chemical recycling.”
While much public attention has focused on cleaning up plastic pollution that’s already built up in the environment, the bill seeks to address human health and environmental damages from plastics across their life cycle, including soaring greenhouse gas emissions from the production stage.
