Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin believes private industry should be the ones solving the issue of plastic waste, and not overrulgation from the federal government.
It’s the message he delivered at a recent Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on evaluating material alternatives for single-use plastics. Mullin is the Ranking Member of the Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight Subcommittee.
In his remarks to the committee,Sen. Mullin called for market-driven solutions and not overregulation to reduce plastic waste. He argued that driving competition through innovation will allow private industry to tackle waste issues in a way that provides realistic and affordable solutions to both consumers and businesses.
“This series of hearings has made it abundantly clear that banning plastic production is not a real solution. Rather than wasting our time talking about banning plastic or mandating alternatives that consumers don’t want – we should be discussing real, market-driven solutions,” he declared.
While the star of the popular movie, “The Graduate” was once urged to get into plastics after his college graduation, plastics waste has become a growing problem worldwide.
Remember the days of “Paper or Plastic?”—-they’re gone, at least at some stores where customers are charged if they don’t bring their own shopping bag.
Sen. Mullin urged support for advanced recycling, saying anyone serioius about addressing plastic waste should support it.
“It has the potential to turn the whole concept of “single-use” on its head by converting previously unrecyclable plastic into valuable new commodities,” he told the hearing.
Click here for a video of Mullin’s opening remarks.
Click here to watch Mullin’s witness Q&A.