What are real solutions to plastic pollution?

• Government bans and restrictions for unnecessary and damaging plastic products or activities.  Legislative reuse targets.
• Mandated Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations and strategies to make producers and companies responsible for the damage plastic causes to our environment, make them accountable for the entire lifecycle and true costs of their products.
• Government and corporate investment in reuse models and new ways to deliver products using less or no packaging.
• Corporate phase-out of production and use of single-use plastic products and throwaway product models.
• A shift in dominant public mindsets away from our throwaway culture focused on convenience being equal to disposal, toward a vision of healthy, sustainable and more connected communities.

What are false solutions to plastic pollution?

• Bioplastics – not as green as they seem, approach with caution. Though companies often market them under the same umbrella, a product is not necessarily biodegradable and may require very specific conditions to break down. They also do not solve the litter or throwaway culture problem.[23]
• Incineration – creates other pollution and does not address the overproduction problem.[24]
• Focusing on end of life like recycling or disposal – we can’t recycle our way out of this crisis.[25]
• Clean up – while clean up efforts help reduce litter problems, they do not address the source of the problem and ignore the unseen plastic pollution – microplastics.[26]
• Throwaway alternatives – replacing one single-use item with another does not necessarily solve the problem or help to address our throwaway culture.