John,

What could possibly be wrong with a bill called the "Accelerating a Circular Economy for Plastics and Recycling Innovation Act"?

Plenty, it turns out, starting with the misleading name.

This bill would give plastic producers much more room to burn plastic and spew toxic chemicals into the air, remove important federal pollution controls on plastic waste, and allow companies to claim their packaging contains recycled plastic when it may have little or no recycled content.1

This misleading, harmful bill needs to be stopped. Send a message to your U.S. House representative today.

PIRG supporters like you are well-versed in what needs to be done to curb the plastic waste crisis: Stop plastic production at the source by convincing companies to switch to reusable, sustainable alternatives, banning the worst kinds of single-use plastics, and holding plastic producers accountable for decades of plastic pollution.

Instead, despite the phrases "circular economy" and "recycling innovation" in the title, this bill would undo progress we've made on plastic waste reduction.

No wonder it's being pushed by the American Chemistry Council, a trade association that represents plastic companies.2

We're working to expose the truth about this bad bill. Add your name today to strengthen the effort.

This bill would harm our communities, health and environment. Here are just a few of the anything-but-innovative provisions in the draft legislation:

• This bill would relax rules around plastic waste that would allow plastic manufacturers to expand plastic-burning practices without controlling the toxic pollution they emit.
• It would overturn existing -- and prevent any new -- state and local restrictions on single-use plastics, polystyrene and other packaging.
• It would roll back federal environmental protections against plastic pollution.
• It would exempt plastic incinerators from meeting the environmental and health protections of the Clean Air Act and other environmental laws.
• And it would remove federal pollution controls on hazardous waste generated from plastic disposal under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (also known as the Solid Waste Disposal Act).3

In short, this bill would worsen the consequences of nearly every aspect of plastic production, use and disposal. We urgently need to defeat this bill in Congress. Will you send a message to your House representative?

Thank you,

Faye Park
President

1. "H.R.9676 - Accelerating a Circular Economy for Plastics and Recycling Innovation Act of 2024", Congress.Gov, September 19, 2024.
2. "Comprehensive Bipartisan Plastics Recycling Bill Tackles Plastics Pollution in U.S.," The American Chemistry Council, September 19, 2024.
3."H.R.9676 - Accelerating a Circular Economy for Plastics and Recycling Innovation Act of 2024", Congress.Gov, September 19, 2024.

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