Washington, DC – Over a dozen groups representing over 1 million members in California urged the Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets and Curbside Recycling to end its acceptance of unrecyclable plastics this week, as much of the state’s plastic waste continues to be exported to other countries around the world. The United States is now the largest exporter of plastic waste to non-OECD countries and California accounts for 27 percent of that waste.
The letter — signed by Greenpeace USA; The 5 Gyres Institute; GAIA; Beyond Plastics; Peak Plastic Foundation; Surfrider Foundation; Oceana; The Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research, and Education (COARE); San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility; Algalita; Story of Stuff Project; the Center for Biological Diversity; Basel Action Network; and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families — expresses concern that California continues to accept plastic waste that is exported to countries with weak labor standards and few environmental protections. It urges the state to only label and accept as recyclable plastic items which are sorted by type with sufficient domestic reprocessing capacity.
Commenting on the letter, Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director John Hocevar said:
“By continuing to accept unrecyclable single-use plastics, the State of California is doing the bidding of the plastics industry by making these polluting products appear less harmful than they are. It is an absolute shame that one of the most forward-thinking states in the country — which has in many ways worked to tackle the plight of single-use plastics — continues to ship its plastic waste to countries that cannot handle it. These decisions are hurting our environment, communities, and the health of people around the world, particularly low income communities and communities of color.
“California must end the greenwashing of recycling that claims you can toss the majority of single-use plastics into a bin and those materials will be recycled. They are not being recycled. They are being dumped onto other communities that do not want our waste. If the people of California knew the truth, they would be demanding an end to this practice immediately. It is time for California to show real leadership by only labeling something as recyclable when it has a proven domestic market.”
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Contact: Perry Wheeler, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, P: 301-675-8766
