Andrew Yang Policy on REDUCE PACKAGING WASTE
Packaging waste has hit epidemic proportions in this country. Its not rare to see individual oranges wrapped in plastic containers at local food stores. Plastic waste is growing by around 4% per year, while recycling rates are decreasing.
We used to ship excess plastic to China (which itself isnt a great solution), but theyve recently banned the importing of plastic waste. This is resulting in overflowing landfills and the shipment of waste plastic to countries that arent equipped to deal with it, so they respond mostly by dumping it into the ocean or other waterways.
We need to pass a national extended producer responsibility bill, or find a way to shift the costs of disposing of these materials onto the manufacturers. If they pass the cost on to the consumers, each of us can make an informed decision about whether we really want to pay for the amount of packaging that producers are currently using for their goods.
"We produce a lot of packaging waste in the US. Our recycling efforts are becoming less effective at the same time as demand for our waste products goes down. We should include the true cost of packaging to manufacturers so that we can improve best practices. Reusable containers are cool. "
https://www.yang2020.com/policies/reduce-packaging-waste/