White House Sets Path to Circular Economy

“Communities across the United States and around the world are facing a plastic pollution crisis.” Thus begins a fact sheet issued late last week by the White House outlining plans by the federal government to reduce plastic pollution in the United States and curtail consumption of single-use plastics.

The Biden-Harris administration said in the statement that it is releasing the “first comprehensive, government-wide strategy to target plastic production, processing, use, and disposal.” In addition to publishing “Mobilizing Federal Action on Plastic Pollution: Progress, Principles, and Priorities,” the White House also announced a goal to phase out federal procurement of single-use plastics. The communication dated July 19 commits the federal government to the elimination of single-use plastics from food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027 and from all federal operations by 2035.

What would Trump do?

The fact sheet was published before President Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 race for president, but there is no reason to think that de facto Democrat nominee Vice President Kamala Harris would reverse this decision or alter the roadmap to a circular economy outlined in the 82-page mobilization document.

To the best of my knowledge, Republican nominee Donald Trump has not commented on this initiative, but given his aversion to regulations, it’s probably safe to presume that it would not be a priority for his administration should he win the election.

The response to the White House campaign has been fairly predictable, with environmental groups and anti-plastics crusaders applauding the initiative while voicing some caveats. Comments from Plastics Campaign Director Christy Leavitt of Oceana, an international ocean-conservancy advocacy organization, are illustrative. “The US has been a laggard on national action to address plastic pollution,” Leavitt told the New York Times. But the Biden plan, at least, “puts the federal government in the driver’s seat to tackle its own plastic use.”

Final meeting on global plastics treaty.

The announcement from the White House comes just a few months before the fifth and final UN-led meeting to hash out a legally binding international agreement on reducing plastic pollution. That meeting will be held in Busan, South Korea, starting on Nov. 25 and will bring together government officials, experts, NGOs, and industry representatives. Previous meetings have been somewhat contentious, as maximalists argue that the best way to eliminate plastic pollution is to simply restrict plastic production, an approach that industry views as unreasonable and potentially devastating to the global economy.

You can read our coverage of past UN meetings by clicking on the links below:

Global Plastics Treaty Talks: Yawning Gap Between Lofty Goals and Practical Effects

End Plastic Pollution or Plastic Production? That Is the Question at INC-3

Latest Global Plastics Treaty Talks End Largely Where They Began

Stakeholders Retreat to Their Corners in Global Plastics Treaty Talks

Global Plastics Treaty Talks off to Contentious Start

Possible second Trump term boosts urgency of treaty talks.

Politico reporter Jordan Holman had an interesting take on how the prospect of a second Trump term could be an accelerant in getting a global plastics treaty to the finish line. The “Trump bump” is boosting the “level of urgency around United Nations negotiations . . . to significantly cut plastic pollution,” writes Holman in the article published on April 9, 2024, just ahead of the fourth meeting in Ottawa. The rationale is that Trump as president would take a hard-nosed look at any treaty that emerged from the talks and would be “skeptical that the agreement reached was the best agreement that could have been reached,” Mario Loyola, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told Holman.

The Politico article notes that treaty advocates feel the time is ripe to put pressure on the Biden administration and federal agencies to adopt their demands. The looming US election could have a positive impact on the discussions, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told Wolman. Headed for Canada to attend the meeting in Ottawa, Huffman said, “In the unthinkable scenario of a second Trump presidency, we’re going to get nowhere on plastics. That’s one reason to be motivated. A more positive and hopeful reason to be motivated is that this is a great opportunity for the Biden administration to show young voters that they get it.”

Remember, this was back in April. Kind of prescient, eh?