President Biden is committed to taking ambitious actions throughout the lifecycle of plastic to end plastic pollution and is working with the global community to do the same. Today the Biden-Harris Administration is releasing the first comprehensive, government-wide strategy to target plastic pollution at production, processing, use, and disposal. Mobilizing Federal Action on Plastic Pollution: Progress, Principles, and Priorities outlines existing and new federal actions to reduce the impact of plastic pollution throughout the plastic lifecycle and calls for sustained and coordinated work with state, local, Tribal, and Territorial governments, local communities, the private sector, and other stakeholders to address the scale and breadth of the plastic pollution challenge.
Additionally, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing a new goal to phase out federal procurement of single-use plastics from food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035. This commitment builds on President Biden’s Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs through Federal Sustainability and the President’s Federal Sustainability Plan, which directs the federal government to achieve net-zero procurement by 2050, including by phasing out procurement of single-use plastic products. Meeting the new goal by selecting reusable, compostable, and highly recyclable products in lieu of single-use plastics in food service will further agencies’ obligations under the Executive Order.
Today’s actions further leverage the purchasing power of the federal government to reduce emissions, protect public health, and spur markets for new sustainable products. They also enhance domestic initiatives that reinforce United States leadership in ongoing international efforts to develop a strong agreement to tackle the plastic pollution crisis across the globe.
Mobilizing Federal Action on Plastic Pollution: Progress, Principles, and Priorities
In Mobilizing Federal Action on Plastic Pollution: Progress, Principles, and Priorities, the federal government is — for the first time — formally acknowledging the severity of the plastic pollution crisis and the scale of the response that will be required to effectively confront it. Developed by the Biden-Harris Administration’s Interagency Policy Committee on Plastic Pollution and a Circular Economy, the report outlines key principles for reducing plastic pollution, focus areas of federal agencies, and opportunities for further action:
Assessing and Reducing Pollution from Plastic Production: Over 90% of plastic is derived from fossil fuels.Under President Biden’s leadership, federal agencies are taking steps to reduce pollution from the extraction of fossil fuels and production of plastic. This includes chemicals of concern and a range of hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds, some of which are known carcinogens. Pairing these measures with improved data collection is necessary to understand the full extent of the environmental and human health risks of plastic production. This work aligns with EPA’s ongoing efforts towards meeting the goals of the Biden Cancer Moonshot.
Innovating Materials and Product Design: Agencies are advancing work to explore alternative materials and processing methods.Innovation in materials and services can help ensure that products are compatible with waste management systems and have minimal impacts on human health and the environment. Actions include participating in the development of standards to promote recyclability and reuse, innovation in materials management, and additional research and development of materials that will create a more circular economy.
Decreasing Plastic Waste Generation: A key step to decreasing the quantity of plastic waste generated is limiting the initial use of materials that are unnecessary, difficult to manage, or likely to end up as pollution in the environment. Federal agencies are leading by example to reduce single-use plastic within their own operations by targeting specific items or pollution pathways, such as introducing more environmentally friendly systems like water refill stations as a substitute for single-use plastic bottles.
