Technological watch
ACC Applauds Final Passage of the “Save Our Seas 2.0 Act” (S.1982)
WASHINGTON (December 1, 2020) – U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) led the passage of the Save our Seas 2.0 Act (S.1982), a bipartisan bill building upon the important environmental safeguards made in the Save Our Seas Act, which wassigned into law in 2018. The following statement may be attributed to Joshua Baca, vice president of ACC’s Plastics Division:
“America's plastic makers welcome final passage of the Save our Seas 2.0 Act (S.1982) and the bipartisan approach taken by Senators Sullivan, Whitehouse, and Menendez. We strongly support the legislation being signed into law.
“The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act supports scientists and agencies in researching innovative ways to repurpose used plastics, including for infrastructure projects, such as roads and bridges, and development of a mass balance certification system for recycled content creating circular polymers.
“Additionally, the legislation creates a revolving fund to strengthen our domestic recycling infrastructure. Earlier this year, ACC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Energy to support innovations in plastics recycling and recovery technologies that strengthen domestic supply chains while improving economic and environmental outcomes. Across the U.S., there have been 64 announced projects in mechanical and advanced recycling valued at $5.3 billion. Together, these projects have the potential to divert more than 4.0 million metric tons (approximately 8.9 billion pounds) of waste from landfills each year.
“In 2018, the plastics industry set ambitious circular economy goals for making all plastic packaging in the United States recyclable or recoverable by 2030 and for all plastic packaging to be reused, recycled, or recovered by 2040. Charting a path to meet these goals, in October ACC released its Roadmap to Reuse and Guiding Principles. Several of the crucial concepts to support recycling outlined in our Guiding Principles are also echoed in the Save Our Seas 2.0 legislation.
“Lastly, we look forward to continued engagement toward combatting marine debris worldwide. Plastic makers are dedicated to advancing global solutions to end plastic waste in our environment. In 2011, ACC helped lead the development of a Global Declaration for Solutions on Marine Litter. Since then, 80 plastics associations in 39 countries have initiated or completed more than 395 projects aimed at addressing marine debris around the globe.”
“America's plastic makers welcome final passage of the Save our Seas 2.0 Act (S.1982) and the bipartisan approach taken by Senators Sullivan, Whitehouse, and Menendez. We strongly support the legislation being signed into law.
“The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act supports scientists and agencies in researching innovative ways to repurpose used plastics, including for infrastructure projects, such as roads and bridges, and development of a mass balance certification system for recycled content creating circular polymers.
“Additionally, the legislation creates a revolving fund to strengthen our domestic recycling infrastructure. Earlier this year, ACC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Energy to support innovations in plastics recycling and recovery technologies that strengthen domestic supply chains while improving economic and environmental outcomes. Across the U.S., there have been 64 announced projects in mechanical and advanced recycling valued at $5.3 billion. Together, these projects have the potential to divert more than 4.0 million metric tons (approximately 8.9 billion pounds) of waste from landfills each year.
“In 2018, the plastics industry set ambitious circular economy goals for making all plastic packaging in the United States recyclable or recoverable by 2030 and for all plastic packaging to be reused, recycled, or recovered by 2040. Charting a path to meet these goals, in October ACC released its Roadmap to Reuse and Guiding Principles. Several of the crucial concepts to support recycling outlined in our Guiding Principles are also echoed in the Save Our Seas 2.0 legislation.
“Lastly, we look forward to continued engagement toward combatting marine debris worldwide. Plastic makers are dedicated to advancing global solutions to end plastic waste in our environment. In 2011, ACC helped lead the development of a Global Declaration for Solutions on Marine Litter. Since then, 80 plastics associations in 39 countries have initiated or completed more than 395 projects aimed at addressing marine debris around the globe.”
This project has been co-funded with the support of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union [LIFE17 ENV/ES/000438] Life programme
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