Aquarium Conservation Partnership (ACP), a coalition of aquariums and zoos for aquatic conservation, has issued a statement celebrating the release of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution on 21 November, and the EPA’s identification of an approach to eradicate the release of plastic waste into the environment by 2040.
“We support the Strategy’s actions to combat climate change through greenhouse gas emission reductions associated with the lifecycle of plastic products and to reduce public health impacts to communities overburdened by pollution,” ACP says in the statement.
“We thank the Biden-Harris administration and the EPA for recognizing the significant breadth and scale of the impact of plastic pollution on our communities, ocean and freshwater environments and wildlife, climate, and public health.”
Commitment to tackling plastic pollution
According to research, the vast majority of Americans are worried about plastic pollution and support national and international initiatives to combat it. The US generates more plastic waste than any other country in the world, both per capita and in total mass.
The measures described in this strategy show the EPA’s commitment to addressing plastic pollution through:
- Reducing the manufacture and consumption of single-use plastic products while enhancing the United States’ capacity to reuse and refill products, including in the federal government.
- Monitoring the environmental and human health impacts of single-use items throughout their life cycles.
- Improving public policies and incentives to reduce plastic pollution, including collaborative efforts to develop a national extended producer responsibility framework.
“We wholeheartedly support the EPA strategy,” says ACP. “It charts a path forward to tackle plastic pollution, and is a welcome step in the recent evolution of federal leadership to address plastic pollution and build toward a healthier future for all. Our aquariums and zoos stand ready to work with the EPA and others to implement the strategy and make strides to end plastic pollution.”
Earlier this year, ACP commended the Biden-Harris Administration’s dedication to ambitious actions throughout the full lifecycle of plastics to end plastic pollution. The White House published the Mobilizing Federal Action on Plastic Pollution: Progress, Principles, and Priorities report and set a goal to phase out single-use plastics from federal procurement for food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027, and all federal operations by 2035.
