EPA Announces Plans For Plastics Threat

The "National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution" has a draft version issued by the EPA.

The EPA wants to totally stop plastic and other garbage from entering the ecosystem from land-based sources by 2040.

The annual production of plastic and plastic garbage has more than doubled during the last 20 years.

The EPA has identified three primary objectives for its plan, working with industry leaders and other stakeholders to achieve each of them:

A. Reduce pollutants during the entire plastics production process.

B. Improve the management of materials following usage.

C. Eliminate any escaped garbage from the environment and stop waste and micro/nanoplastics from entering waterways.

In accordance with the agency's "National Recycling Strategy," the "National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution" draft explores ways the Agency can work with US organizations to prevent plastic pollution and adopt a circular approach to handling plastic waste. Regenerative design, optimizing resource value, and waste reduction are given priority in this strategy.

In the draft strategy, some of the suggested activities are:

• increasing the number of refill and reuse alternatives for plastic products.

• increasing the collection of solid trash and making sure that waste management has no negative effects on communities.

• reducing pollution from plastic manufacturing facilities and decreasing the creation of single-use, non-recyclable, and frequently-littered plastic products.

• educating the public about measures to reduce the amount of plastic and other waste in rivers.

EPA anticipates completing a strategy by the end of the year.