New York Assembly ends session without voting on plastic packaging waste bill
New York lawmakers ended their legislative session without voting on a widely watched bill that would have made large companies financially responsible for packaging waste.
Jack Arpey reports for Spectrum News 1.
In short:
- The Packaging Reduction & Recycling Infrastructure Act passed the state Senate but stalled in the Assembly for the second year in a row, this time without a clear last-minute disruption.
- The bill would have required large corporations to pay fees based on the waste their packaging generates and reduce packaging volume by 30% over 12 years.
- Business groups opposed the bill, saying it would be expensive and burdensome; advocates criticized Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie for failing to prioritize it.
Why this matters:
Plastic waste is a growing environmental and public health threat, especially in states like New York that serve as major distribution hubs. Most single-use packaging ends up in landfills or as litter, where it breaks down into microplastics that contaminate water, soil, and the air we breathe. These particles have been found in human blood and lungs, raising concerns about long-term health effects. Meanwhile, the fossil fuels used to produce plastic continue to drive climate change. Extended producer responsibility laws shift the financial burden of managing waste away from taxpayers and onto the corporations that create it. Without such measures, states struggle to fund recycling infrastructure or curb the flood of plastic into communities, waterways, and ecosystems.
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