Congressman Cohen Commends Appropriators for Helping Reduce Plastic Waste

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today commended the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch for reaffirming the commitment of Congress to reducing plastic waste, including from plastic straws and other single-use plastics, which he advocated for and the Subcommittee agreed to the first time in July 2020. The report language included in the bill encourages the elimination of all single-use plastic products, including lightweight plastic carryout bags, food and drinkware from expanded polystyrene, plastic stirrers and plastic utensils. The House of Representatives is expected to consider this annual spending measure later this year.

The report reaffirmed the Subcommittee's support for implementing the language drafted by Congressman Cohen, which was signed into law as part of the last appropriations package. This report also included the Congressman's language directing the Architect of the Capitol to provide a status report on implementing the plastic waste reduction directive. The U.S. Capitol Police have already detailed their work to reduce single-use plastic water bottles as requested by last year's report.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

"The United States is being overwhelmed by mountains of single-use plastic waste. I have tried to ramp up the federal government's response to this environmental disaster by phasing out unnecessary single-use plastic products, hold corporations accountable for wasteful products, and reforming our broken waste and recycling infrastructure with the Break Free from Plastics Pollution Act in 2020 and again in the current Congress. But there are steps Congress can take right now to prevent this situation from becoming even worse. The easiest way to reduce plastic pollution is to reduce the volume of single-use plastics and other containers that are being used in the first place and subsequently clogging the recycling stream.

"The federal government has a responsibility to lead on this and other environmental issues, and in that context, the prevention of plastic waste is most easily accomplished by putting a stop to the federal procurement of these products wherever possible. The language in this appropriations bill advances that goal."

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