Source: World Wildlife Fund
This week, the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty issued a letter to President Biden, expressing their support for comprehensive policy solutions to address the plastic pollution crisis. The Coalition urged strong federal leadership to enact policies like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), to incentivize companies to reduce their plastic footprints, design easy-to-recycle materials, and keep plastic out of nature. This letter comes after WWF and several other leading organizations called for a whole-of-government approach at the federal level to advance ambitious solutions to plastic pollution.
In response, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) issued the following statements from Alejandro Pérez, senior vice president of policy and government affairs; and Erin Simon, vice president and head of plastic waste + business:
“The Biden Administration has a clear opportunity to drive historic action toward solving the plastic pollution crisis. This level of cross-sector, unified support from leading American businesses, foundations and nonprofits for ambitious solutions signals strong support for meaningful and bold steps by the federal government to reduce plastic waste.
“This is the moment for the Administration to accelerate its already-significant leadership on this issue. Advancing a comprehensive and coordinated federal plan will help tackle plastic pollution in the US and is the perfect complement to the Administration’s ongoing efforts at the international level.”
— Alejandro Pérez, senior vice president of policy and government affairs
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“This surround-sound of voices advocating meaningful, comprehensive policy action on our plastic pollution crisis is too loud to ignore. This is an issue passionately advocated for by voters, nonprofits and foundations — and corporate support is making this call even stronger.
“Leading companies have made some progress in addressing their plastic footprints. To make an impact at the scale of this crisis, we need to tackle the jumble of disparate policies and inadequate recycling systems. Nationwide EPR policy, which would require companies to take responsibility for their plastic products from cradle to grave, would provide the consistency and incentives needed to jumpstart our country toward a new era in tackling plastic pollution.
“As we head into the next round of international discussions toward a global plastics treaty, we hope our leaders hear this call for action and respond. Let’s show the world that we will put our money where our mouth is and lead the way toward a circular economy. “
— Erin Simon, vice president and head of plastic waste + business
