Regulation and Policy
On this page:
- Circularity
- Extended Producer Responsibility
- Recycling Laws and Incentives
- Product Bans
- Related Regulatory Information
Circularity
Innovative approaches, such as circularity, are necessary to reduce and recover plastic materials and improve economic, social, and environmental impacts. Circularity keeps plastic products in use for as long as possible, which reduces the environmental and human health impacts that result from creating new plastic products and managing additional plastic waste. The business-as-usual approach to managing plastic waste is unsustainable. According to Pew Charitable Trust’s report, Breaking the Plastics Wave (pdf), the cost of managing plastic waste from now until 2040 will be $70 billion greater than if the world adopted a fully circular approach.
To reduce plastic pollution and increase the circularity of plastic products, a coordinated effort across the entire value chain is necessary. This requires implementation of multiple solutions with varying levels of impact, from reducing plastic consumption to identifying substitute materials, recycling, and properly disposing of plastic waste. In the “System Change Scenario” discussed by PEW, concurrent interventions aimed at reducing plastic pollution could divert up to 195 million metric tons of plastic waste from polluting the environment by 2040 compared to the “Business-as-Usual approach.” According to PEW’s research, reuse could achieve up to 30% reductions; substitution efforts, 17%; improved innovations in recycling, 20%; and proper management at end-of-life can achieve a 23% reduction of plastic pollution in the environment.
The United States can be a leader in developing an innovative, circular approach to reducing plastic pollution while growing the economy and fulfilling America’s needs. A coordinated effort across the entire value chain of plastic products is necessary. Some policies that can contribute to a circular economy for plastic products include:
- Recycled content requirements for products.
- Taxes on virgin materials.
- Bottle bills.
- Take-back programs.
- EPR requirements.
- Fees for recycling incorrectly.
- Landfill fees.
- Packaging fees.
- Policies favoring natural resource use. Recycling mandates.
- Pay-as-you-throw.
- Consumer incentives.
- Bans on contaminants in products.
- Bans on producing/using specific materials. Bans on certain materials in landfills. National recyclability standards.
- Minimum standards on MRFs to recover certain materials.
- Minimum quality/contamination standards for MRF outputs.
- Dual stream versus single stream collection. Policies/incentives to divert materials from landfills.
- Data reporting requirements.
- Policies to support infrastructure development (permitting requirements, regulations, engagement, etc.).
A few of these approaches are discussed in more detail below.
Extended Producer Responsibility
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, extended producer responsibility is an environmental policy approach that gives producers financial or physical responsibility for a product’s entire lifecycle, including the management or disposal of post-consumer products.
Benefits of Extended Producer Responsibility
Through properly designed EPR strategies, localities can reduce the amount of plastic in the waste stream by ensuring reduction or recyclability of plastic products. EPR strategies can help reduce the costs of collection and final disposal, depending on the type of scheme implemented. EPR strategies, which are typically adopted at the national level, establish a legal requirement that producers assume responsibility for the goods that have reached the end of their useful life. Localities can apply EPR strategies to plastic producers, targeting plastic products such as packaging and containers. Successfully implementing EPR can decrease contamination in the waste stream because products are required to be recyclable at the end of their useful life. This results in fewer non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle products entering the waste stream. Reducing contamination may also decrease the cost of collecting, sorting, and processing waste. Common elements of EPR programs that address plastic include:
- Taxes: Localities can set taxes on plastics manufacturers or offer subsidies for manufacturers that meet specific criteria aimed at reducing plastic pollution. Taxes are most effective when they are high enough to discourage plastic consumption.
- Recycled content standards: Recycled content standards require producers to ensure that a certain percentage of their products or packaging are made from recycled content. For example, a developing country may set a target requiring manufacturers to use at least 50% recycled plastic in their products. Localities can also align their own procurement policies for government purchases with recycled content requirements.
Recycling Laws and Incentives
Recycling laws can either be laws that directly require certain materials (e.g., plastic) and products (e.g., plastic containers and packaging) be recycled, or laws directed at limiting the material disposal volume. Incentives can be policies or strategies to encourage recycling or discourage producing waste.
Benefits of Recycling Laws and Incentives
Localities can increase recycling through laws and incentives and in some cases can double recycling rates. These laws and incentives can decrease consumption of certain materials, reduce contamination in the recycling stream, and increase the economic value of certain materials.
Examples include:
- Pay-as-you-throw. A PAYT policy requires households and businesses to pay a fee to dispose of waste. Most communities with PAYT charge residents or businesses fees for each bag or can of waste they generate. In a small number of communities, residents or businesses are billed based on the weight of their trash. Localities can institute a PAYT policy to reduce the consumption of plastic and assist with waste management costs.
- Landfill bans. Localities can ban certain materials, such as plastic, from entering a landfill. Landfill bans can increase the amount of plastic waste that is collected and recycled, and also reduce the amount generated. Although landfill bans can help bolster recycling markets, potential risks exist such as the risks of open dumping or other improper disposal if the proper conditions and recycling outlets are not in place. Decision-makers should fully evaluate the suitability of this approach before implementing it to avoid potential risks.
- Deposit-refund strategies. Deposit-refund strategies offer incentives, such as payments or credits, that encourage proper disposal of plastic products such as bottles or bags. This scheme often increases the value of the plastic waste and may decrease litter and other waste mismanagement.
Aspects to Consider for Recycling Laws and Incentives
Localities may not have adequate infrastructure to handle a sudden increase in recycling volume after implementing a mandatory recycling law or landfill ban. For example, deposit-refund strategies may increase the volume of plastic entering the solid waste management system, overwhelming the system. A PAYT policy may increase illegal dumping or mismanagement of waste if people are unwilling to pay the fee.
Product Bans
Local governments can use a variety of regulation and policy mechanisms to minimize or eliminate plastic production, consumption, and disposal. Many localities find it helpful to address plastic waste by banning certain products such as plastic bags, straws, and cutlery. To be effective, it is important that localities not only enforce the product bans they put in place, but also provide complementary educational resources on the need for the product bans and offer alternative product suggestions.
Product bans address plastic before it becomes waste. By banning certain plastic products, the amount of highly problematic or difficult-to-recycle plastic found in the waste stream decreases, lowering the probability of mismanaged waste and plastic pollution. Bans can also reduce the need to collect some low-value products, which can lower overall collection costs.