Industry Goals and Recommendations

Prepared in Advance of the Environmental Protection Agency Hearing

Main Concerns of the Industry Group:

Any government regulation of plastics will limit business growth, prevent job creation, and impose too many expensive burdens on producers and should be prevented.
The industry can solve the problems of plastics on its own, without government regulation.
Plastics solve many problems that alternative materials cannot address. Therefore, improved disposal methods for plastics are superior to efforts to limit plastic production. Government efforts should finance Industry efforts to develop recycling infrastructure rather than to regulate or limit plastic production.

Recommendations Based on Industry Group Concerns:

Any regulation in the recovery and recycling of plastics should apply only to one-use, disposable plastics, such as plastic packaging.
Municipal and state governments should be required to work with producers to improve existing recycling infrastructure and develop new recycling systems.
Producers should not be penalized for failure to meet plastic recovery goals or any other requirement of the regulation.
Financial incentives will be made available to producers who choose to invest in the development of new recycling infrastructure or in the improvement of existing recycling systems and to producers who voluntarily reduce plastic production.
Financial incentives will be made available for producers to invest in the development of biodegradable plastics.
Improvements to existing state and municipal recycling systems should be financed by state and municipal governments.
Producers will continue to educate the public about the importance of recycling and proper disposal of all plastic materials.

Science Matters: The Case of Plastics