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Single-Use Plastics

Use this topic to share information and resources regarding single-use plastic in Pennsylvania.

PennEnvironment Shares Single-Use Plastics Laws in Pennsylvania - a toolkit for passing bans and other laws tackling plastics pollution and litter in your municipality

Every year, Pennsylvanians use an estimated 4.75 billion single-use plastic bags. These bags are used for just a few minutes and then thrown “away”, but there is no “away”. Plastic bags and other single-use plastics end up in landfills, incinerators, or our environment, where they can last for hundreds of years, if not longer, harming wildlife, waterways, and our health.

Since 2018, PennEnvironment has helped more than a dozen Pennsylvania municipalities write, introduce, and pass legislation tackling single-use plastics. These ordinances—from cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to townships like Radnor and Easttown—impact over 2 million Pennsylvanians and could eliminate over 8 million pounds of plastic waste every year.

VIEW THE TOOLKIT

This toolkit provides a set of resources for local decision makers and activists to take action in their communities to rein in plastic pollution. It includes sample legislation, reports and research on various issues, and information on local legislation passed in municipalities across Pennsylvania.

For questions, more information, or if you’d like assistance on passing plastic legislation in your community, please contact zero waste advocate Faran Savitz at [email protected].

Environment America Collecting Signatures in Support of Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act.

Environment America is collecting signatures from organizations in support of the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act. This legislation has been introduced in the US Senate and is expected to be introduced in the House soon too.

Plastic pollution is everywhere we see and one of the largest threats is plastic pellets, otherwise known as nurdles- the raw material that’s used to make familiar plastic products like water bottles, grocery bags and polystyrene foam. They’re frequently dumped or spilled into our waterways, where they pose a large threat to wildlife. Today, an estimated 10 trillion plastic pellets enter our oceans each year.

We can prioritize our clean water over waste by passing the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act, which bans companies from dumping or spilling plastic pellets into our waterways. To earn bipartisan support and ultimately pass the bill, we need to show Congress that organizations like yours are concerned about this issue.

Here is the link to sign on: Support the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act.

Southeastern Single Use Plastics Coalition

The Southeastern PA Single Use Plastics Coalition is an information and support group for Pennsylvania EAC’s. The group is focused on reducing plastic waste by helping townships enact single use plastic bag bans; and, going further, working on straws on request, utensils on request, and Styrofoam bans. Many other tangential issues around waste are also discussed. If you or your EAC has been looking to tackle the issue of single use plastic waste, then this is the group for you.

The group is composed of mostly Environmental Advisory Committee representatives from 50 -60 different townships in bucks, Chester, Montgomery, and Delaware counties, though we encourage and have members from elsewhere in PA as well.

To get involved, email Richard Metz at [email protected].