Plastic: Policies, Pitfalls, and Particles

Comprehensive Extended Producer Responsibility, Angela Noakes

Designing EPR to deliver environmental outcomes and reduce plastic pollution.  

Seven states have passed extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws for packaging since 2021 and approximately 20% of Americans live in states that have passed an EPR for packaging law. As these states begin to implement their laws and others consider developing their own, it is important that these policies be optimized to deliver the best environmental outcomes. This presentation will outline a comprehensive approach to EPR that combines EPR for paper and packaging, a deposit return system for beverage containers and source reduction requirements for single-use plastics, as well as principles for developing strong EPR laws to deliver the best outcomes for communities and our environment.  

Rethinking Plastic Alternatives from Beginning to End-of-Life, Samantha Romanick

From feedstocks to end-of-life, why the proliferation of plastic alternatives is making recycling and composting harder, not better.

The words “bio”, “biodegradable”, and “compostable” appear on plastic packaging everywhere these days, often used interchangeably, but they describe fundamentally different materials with very different fates. 

This presentation explores the chemistry and lifecycle of today’s plastic packaging landscape, from petroleum based plastics to “greener” alternatives. Bioplastics, for instance, address the fossil fuel question by using plant based feedstocks, yet they often produce a chemically identical end product that carries the same end of life challenges as conventional plastic. Biodegradable and compostable plastics introduce additional layers of complexity, each requiring specific conditions and infrastructure that rarely exists where the products are actually discarded. 

Drawing on years of public education and hands-on experience helping people navigate what goes in which bin, this talk makes the case that the proliferation of disposable plastic alternatives is itself one of the largest barriers to successful recycling and composting. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of what these labels mean and a sharper argument for the reduction and reuse approach.

Preventing Instant Microplastic Pollution at Construction Sites, Brian Thompson

Presenting campaign-ready action to contain instant toxic microplastic and other small particulate sawdust from outdoor tablesawing at construction sites.

This presentation is based on a successful two-year campaign in New Jersey that began in two shore towns, Margate and Monmouth Beach, to address instant microplastic pollution created at outdoor construction sites. As of spring 2026, nearly twenty municipalities including the fourth largest city in the State of New Jersey have passed this ordinance and a first-in-the-nation statewide law has passed the Assembly Environment Committee. Brian will present on how this can be done in communities across the nation.