Summary

This legislation develops a packaging reduction and recycling infrastructure program and shifts the financial burden of managing packaging waste from taxpayers to the producers of packaging, while reducing the amount of packaging and plastic waste produced in New York State by 30%.

Explanation

The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA) will require companies (with a total gross revenue of $5 million or more) selling, offering for sale, or distributing packaging materials and products to register with a packaging reduction organization and develop a packaging reduction and recycling plan. This legislation will not only require manufacturers to reduce the packaging they use by 30%, but will also improve recycling and recycling infrastructure, prohibit processes that produce toxic byproducts (including advanced recycling), reduce toxins in packaging, and financially support municipal recycling programs. 

New York is facing a waste issue that is spreading further than landfills. While most plastic packaging is sent to landfills or burned in incinerators, other plastic waste persists in the environment, harming wildlife or breaking down into microplastics that disrupt the food chain and enter human bodies. Numerous studies have found microplastics existing in the air, drinking water, human blood, breast milk, and placentas. When burned in incinerators or processed in chemical recycling facilities, plastic waste releases toxic chemicals that cause climate change, human health problems and disproportionately impacts environmental justice communities. Cumulatively, this waste accounts for 12% of the state’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.

Managing packaging waste is a financial burden that New Yorkers have carried for too long, and takes away funding for important services. For example, New York City proposed spending $477 million on waste exports in 2025. This legislation addresses this by requiring companies to pay for the management and recycling of their packaging waste, rather than the taxpayers. This is an issue affecting residents across New York State with nearly 30% of NYC trash is dumped in landfills in the Finger Lakes.

Environmental Advocates NY strongly supports the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure A.1749 (Glick)/ S.1464 (Harckham) due to the significant health, environmental and financial benefits associated with this legislation.

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