Plastics Treaty Negotiations in Ottawa

 Plastics Treaty Negotiations in Ottawa

 Oil friendly nations and corporations, including the United States, are lobbying hard for voluntary reductions in plastic production, distribution and waste. At the same time, environmentalists and others who care deeply about human and environmental health are lobbying for stricter legislation and policies that face down the growing threat of doubling or tripling of plastic production in the next decades. Voluntary actions will no longer cut it. This is a ruse by corporations to continue their endless exploitation of fossil fuels for financial gain. We desperately need legislation that limits production and distribution of single use plastics with clear and accountable targets and goals

Already the nation is dumping the equivalent of 2,000 trash trucks worth of plastic waste into our oceans and water ways. This in addition to the millions of tons of plastic waste already clogging our waters, fields, and even our bodies. 

However, major oil and gas countries are pushing hard to continue to exploit fossil fuels to produce unnecessary amounts of plastic. They continue to fall back on the debunked idea that plastic recycling is an option. Less than 9% of plastic waste is recycled and the process is energy-intensive and inefficient. Virgin plastic is and always will be cheaper and more efficient as a process. Recycling depends on the individual acts of billions of people around the globe to make sure their plastic waste makes it to a recycling center...even then only a tiny fraction of plastic is recyclable. 

We are at a crossroads. The nations of the world need to reach a treaty that significantly restricts the production of plastic, particularly single use plastics. Surveys indicate that the vast majority of Americans want action taken to end our over-reliance on plastic.  Contact your federal legislators today and ask them to advocate for a strong treat that limits single use plastics.


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