As The Current’s excellent Talking Trash series noted, the vast majority of plastic waste produced by our throwaway society is not — or cannot — be recycled. At any rate, the industrial process of recycling plastic spews toxins into our air and water and should not be encouraged. We need to reduce the amount of plastic produced in the first place.
With encouragement from Climate Smart Beacon, the Beacon City Council on May 6 passed a resolution urging the state Senate and Assembly to pass two bills to reduce plastic pollution.
The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act would require companies to greatly reduce plastic packaging — the bag-within-bag phenomenon — and mandate that businesses cover some disposal costs for the packaging waste they generate rather than forcing municipalities to foot the bill.
The Bigger, Better Bottle Bill would increase deposits on returnable bottles for the first time since 1983 (from 5 to 10 cents) and add wine and liquor bottles. This would reduce the waste going to landfills and cut down on roadside litter, which, in our area, often ends up in the Hudson River.
Assembly Member Dana Levenberg, whose district includes Philipstown, is a co-sponsor of both bills, and Assembly Member Jonathan Jacobson, whose district includes Beacon, is a co-sponsor of the Packaging Reduction Act. But Rob Rolison, whose district includes the Highlands, is not a co-sponsor of either in the Senate. The plastics industry is lobbying hard against these bills.
Let’s encourage our elected officials to display the same leadership the Beacon City Council showed by ensuring these bills are passed.
Heidi Wendel, Nelsonville
