Letter from Marty Van Lenten Becker

A1749/S1464 Must Pass

No time to waste on waste—NY Legislature must pass the Packaging Reduction Act in 2025.

In the United States alone, 37 million tons of plastic were generated in 2021 and less than 9 percent of that plastic waste was recycled nationwide, according to Margaret Osborne of Smithsonian.com. That percentage is now 5-6 percent. In New York State, markets for all varieties of plastic are in the negative.

Clearly, New York faces a growing plastic pollution crisis. We produce 6.8 million tons of packaging waste each year, according to the Impact Environmental Group (https://www.waste360.com/waste-legislation/new-york-packaging-reduction-bill-faces-ticking-clock). Most of this packaging is sent to landfills, burned in incinerators, or littered in our streets, parks and beaches. Far too much finds its way into our rivers, lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.

Our state legislators have an effective solution at their fingertips: The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, A1749/S1464, (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S1464) would require big companies selling products in New York to cut plastic packaging by 30 percent over the next 12 years.

The bill, introduced by Senator Harckham and Assemblymember Glick, would also reduce plastics’ harmful impacts on human health by banning 14 highly toxic chemicals, including PFAS, formaldehyde, mercury, lead, vinyl chloride, and bisphenols that are used in packaging, including the packaging for food and drinks. Finally, it could save New Yorkers $1.3 billion in 10 years, shifting the financial burden for dealing with this unnecessary waste from taxpayers to the companies responsible for creating it.

The good news is that this legislation passed in the state Senate on May 28 by a vote of 33-25. But it still must be passed in the Assembly, and the chemical industry is putting a great deal of effort into fighting this bill. The 2025 legislative session ends on June 17. There’s very little time left; we must reduce the waste that harms our health, pollutes our environment, and speeds climate change—the Legislature must pass this critical bill to put New York’s people and our planet over plastic now. The Legislators should not adjourn until both houses have passed this vitally important bill.

If your assemblyman is Brian Miller, please call him at (518) 455-5334; if not, find your assemblymember’s phone number at https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/. Tell them that New Yorkers want to want to preserve our health and our beautiful state and urge them to vote YES on The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (A1749) sponsored by Assemblymember Glick before the Legislature adjourns.

Marty Van Lenten Becker
Oneonta