Proper Plastic Disposal, not Plastic Bans, is the Solution to Plastic Pollution

In a Star-Ledger Guest Columnist, We need to end plastic pollution now. Don’t wait for the state to act Jennifer M. Coffey wrote:

Plastic pollution is a threat to our wildlife and ecosystems right now, but it’s a very solvable problem. First, we need to turn off the plastic pollution machine. That’s where ordinances banning plastic and requiring the use of durable, recyclable, compostable or degradable materials is critical.

In 2016, the World Economic Forum released a robust study that said if we keep using single-use plastics at the current rate, by 2050 we will have more plastic than fish in our ocean [sic], measured pound-for-pound. In 2050, my now-10-year-old niece Giselle will be about my age. I owe her better than an ocean full of plastic, and I know many of you feel the same way. We also need to clean up the plastic that is already in our environment, and luckily, there are many nonprofit and for-profit organizations already working on that!

Coffey is the executive director of ANJEC, The Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions. She condemns “industry advocates”, the New Jersey Food Council, for trying to override a growing spate of local municipal bans by urging legislators “to push a weak plastic bag bill through the Legislature.” 

I posted these comments:

Note the bait and switch--equating plastic pollution with plastic use, as if everyone who bags their groceries in plastic bags goes home, puts the food away, then drives to the beach and throws the bags into the ocean. In fact, we reuse plastic shopping bags for trash can liners or car trash--double use.

The problem is proper disposal, and Americans are good at it. Americans contribute almost none of the “ocean full of plastic.” 95% comes from newly industrializing nations in Asia and Africa. Americans, in fact, account for less than 1% of “mismanaged” plastic waste and only 1/10% of marine debris. That’s America as a whole. Banning plastic statewide, let alone in any particular municipality, will do nothing to solve the ocean plastic problem, but plenty of inconvenience to NJ residents. A ban is a sledgehammer overreaction that only an Environmentalist could love.

The problem is not plastic use. The problem is plastic pollution. Plastics are a boon to human well-being. Kudos to the plastics industry for pushing back. They’re standing up for their livelihoods and our quality of life.

One thing I will say is at least the plastic ban warriors are addressing a real problem, actual pollution--unlike the climate crisis fearmoners, who claim that carbon dioxide is a pollutant, mislabeling it “carbon pollution”. 

Related Reading:

Plastic Bag Bans Won't Help the Environment, But They'll Cause More Foodborne Illnesses--Hans Bader

Why the Sudden Frenzy Against Plastic Straws?--Jeffrey Tucker