“There is no good reason to exempt toxic, climate-damaging facilities from laws and regulations designed to keep Rhode Islanders safe,” said CLF Senior Attorney, Kevin Budris. “It makes no sense to pass a strong climate law and then undo that progress. This bill will not only strip our communities of their rights, but it will also set the state back on its climate goals. The House should not make the same mistake.”
“For decades, the beverage industry has done everything in its power to keep our failed recycling systems in place and prevent new solutions,” said Kirstie Pecci, Director of CLF’s Zero Waste Project. “Most bottles and cans in the U.S. still end up buried in landfills, burned in incinerators, or littering our communities. We must hold Big Beverage accountable for the mess it’s made and invest in real solutions for bottle and can recycling.”
Manufacturers should not be allowed to reap profits while their toxic products and packaging harm our health and environment. Producer responsibility laws have the potential to drastically cut our waste generation and disposal, as well as their harms. And all while holding producers accountable.
During my recent stint on parental leave, I tried to disconnect from my Zero Waste work. But I quickly realized that there’s no off-switch for corporate greenwashing. So, I’d like to set the record straight. What does circular economy really mean? And why will single-use plastics and waste-burning technologies never have a place in it? Here are the answers.
Over the past few years, recycling prices across the U.S. have soared, with some cities and towns now spending millions of dollars on their programs. To understand the financial burden our communities are facing, I spent the better part of last year collecting recycling data from Massachusetts cities and towns. Here’s what I learned.
Wrestling humanity away from single-use plastics will not be easy. But we can start by reducing our reliance on single-use plastic beverage containers.
Located in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, Uvida Shop is the city’s first-ever Zero Waste store – a retail destination that sells products with no single-use plastic packaging. Owner and CEO Maria began this venture while studying environmental science and sustainability at UMass Boston.
Plastic is everywhere – even in the places you’d least expect, like chewing gum, tea bags, wet wipes, receipts, and microwaveable popcorn bags. Yet, manufacturers continue to make more and more plastic each year – even though how plastic is made fuels a toxic cycle of production, consumption, and disposal.
Today’s throw-away culture exists because plastic producers and manufacturers choose to make single-use products and packaging that cannot be recycled. But we can change that by passing legislation that will hold producers accountable for the waste they create.
“Maine’s current recycling system is broken,” said Peter Blair, Zero Waste Attorney at CLF Maine. “Cities and towns are paying exorbitant disposal rates for polluting products that are deliberately manufactured to be unrecyclable. It’s time plastic producers pay for polluting our air, land, and water with their products, and this law will finally hold them accountable.”
