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UPDATE: On October 25, 2023, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), 130 co-sponsors, and more than 200 supporting organizations reintroduced the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act in the 118th Congress.

The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2023 expands and improves upon earlier versions of the bill by tapping into proven solutions that will better protect impacted communities, reform our broken recycling system, and shift the financial burden of waste management off of municipalities and taxpayers to where it belongs: the producers of plastic pollution.

More than 430 million metric tons of new plastic are produced globally each year—an increase of over 40 million metric tons since the bill was first introduced in 2021.

The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2023 incorporates the Protecting Communities from Plastics Act as introduced by Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Merkley, and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), in December 2022. And also includes the Plastic Pellet-Free Waters Act as introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).

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The petrochemical industry and the pollution it creates disproportionately harms people of color and low-income communities. Every year, the United States alone burns or buries in landfill 32 million tons of plastic, impacting the health, wealth, and well-being of frontline and fenceline communities.

In fact, the U.S. produces the most plastic waste per capita of any country, and exports much of this waste to the Global South. An astounding 91% of plastic is never recycled.

350 million metric tons of plastic are produced globally each year, and 15 million metric tons wind up as plastic waste in the world’s oceans.

The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021 (BFFPPA) builds on successful statewide laws across the country and outlines practical plastic reduction strategies to realize a healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable future.

Plastic—which the petrochemical industry makes out of fossil fuels—contributes to climate change at every step of its life cycle, from extraction to refinement, manufacture, transportation, disposal, and waste. Breaking free from plastic would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen climate resiliency.

Plastic disproportionately harms low-income communities, communities of color, and Indigenous communities by polluting their air, water and soil. Breaking free from plastic would uphold environmental justice by halting the development of new plastic facilities until necessary health and environmental regulations are updated and established.

Plastic is toxic, and includes 144 chemicals or chemical groups known to be hazardous to human health. Microplastic particles are so pervasive in our food and water that the average person ingests a credit card’s worth of plastic (5g) every week. A recent study even documented microplastic particles in maternal human placentas. Breaking free from plastic would protect human health and improve fertility, helping ensure our survival as a species.

This legislation seeks to meaningfully address the plastic pollution crisis by:

• Shifting the financial burden of waste management and recycling off municipalities and taxpayers to where it belongs: the producers of this waste;

• Spurring massive investments in domestic recycling and composting infrastructure;

• Phasing out certain single-use plastic products that aren’t recyclable;

• Establishing minimum recycled content standards;

• Launching a national beverage container refund program to bolster recycling rates;

• Placing a temporary pause on new and expanding plastic facilities until the Environmental Protection Agency updates and creates vital environmental and health regulations to protect frontline and fenceline communities;

• Prohibiting plastic waste from being exported to developing countries;

• Require a compressive analysis of the scale of fishing gear losses by domestic and foreign fisheries, including an evaluation of the ecological, human health, and maritime safety impacts of derelict fishing gear, and recommendations on management measures;
  

• And more proven policy solutions!

Tell your representatives it's time to support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021 for the health and future of humans, animals, waterways, oceans, and the environment.

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• Shifting the financial burden of waste management and recycling off municipalities and taxpayers to where it belongs: the producers of this waste;

• Trasladando la carga financiera de la gestión de residuos y el reciclado desde los
  municipios y los contribuyentes hacia el lugar de donde proceden: los fabricantes de estos residuos.

• Estimulando la inversión masiva en infraestructuras domésticas de reciclaje y compostaje;

• Eliminando algunos productos de plástico de único uso que no son reciclables.
  

• Estableciendo niveles de contenido de reciclaje mínimo;
  

• Lanzando un programa nacional de reembolso de envases de botellas para fomentar la tasa de reciclado;

• Estableciendo una moratoria temporal a la creación de nuevas instalaciones de fabricación de plástico y a la expansión de las ya existentes hasta que la Agencia de Protección Ambiental actualice y cree normativas medioambientales y de salud que protejan a las comunidades más vulnerables y de primera línea.

• Prohibiendo la exportación de desechos de plástico a países en vías de desarrollo;

• Requerir un análisis comprensivo de la escala de pérdidas de equipo de pesca por pesquerías nacionales y extranjeras, incluida una evaluación de los impactos ecológicos, de salud humana y seguridad marítima del equipo de pesca abandonado, y recomendaciones sobre medidas de gestión;
  

• Adoptando más soluciones basadas en políticas ya aplicadas