Friday, January 20 at 10-11am. Online.
Over the last ten years, solid waste policy in Massachusetts has been unsuccessful. The Commonwealth is burning and burying as much waste every year as we were in 2010. While we are diverting more food scraps from disposal, and we no longer have to contend with much newspaper, none of the goals set in the 2020 Massachusetts Solid Waste Plan were met – in fact, many of them were not even measured.
The performance of our Bottle Bill has been eroded over time. State bans have long been in effect for cardboard/paper, metal, glass, and plastic containers, yet waste ban materials comprise at least 40% of our disposal. The Commonwealth’s incinerators continue to spew pollutants and even when we close landfills, rather than reducing, reusing, recycling, or composting, we instead ship our trash to states with fewer environmental protections in place.
However, we have Zero Waste solutions that would save us money, create good local jobs, and protect our environment and health. This is the time to modernize the Bottle Bill, pass recycling reforms, bans unrecyclable single use plastics, and institute clean composting programs. Now is the time for action in Massachusetts.
Join Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts (PDM) in their latest virtual forum addressing issues vital to Massachusetts.
Featured speakers:
- Kirstie Pecci, environmental lawyer, Executive Director of Just Zero; formerly Director of the Zero Waste Project at the Conservation Law Foundation;
- Jennifer Congdon, environmental advocate and Deputy Director of Beyond Plastics
- Jenny Gitlitz, recycling and green building expert, Director of The Solutions to Plastic Pollution Resource Center, Beyond Plastics;
- Moderator, Rick Reibstein, Esq., teaches environmental policy and decision-making, Lecturer at Department of Earth & Environment, Boston University.
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