This week, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to adopt a report laying the groundwork for the City’s Comprehensive Plastic Reduction Program.
The report by the City’s Bureau of Sanitation (LA Sanitation & Environment) provides guidelines for the City to engage in public outreach and engagement before drafting ordinances to reduce consumption of single-use plastic products in Los Angeles.
“We’ve been sold a bill of goods by the plastic industry, that the plastic we use will be recycled, when that’s just a lie,” said Council President Emeritus Paul Krekorian at a City Hall news conference following the vote.
Industry publications admit that as much as 86 percent of the used plastic discarded every year winds up in the ocean. Of the small amount that’s ever recycled, much is “downcycled” or turned into products of lesser value that cannot be recycled again and end up in landfill, or worse, are burned as fuel, releasing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.