Plastic politics are in the news. Three converging debates will shape the future of plastic manufacturing and recycling: At the global level, the United Nations is negotiating the terms of a worldwide plastics treaty, while in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency has introduced a draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution and the Federal Trade Commission is working on updating its Green Guides, the rules that govern the advertising of environmental and recycling claims. Dr. Anja Malawi Brandon, associate director of U.S. plastics policy for Ocean Conservancy, returns to the show to discuss the state of plastic packaging regulations and extended producer responsibility laws. Anja is an environmental engineer who helped draft landmark state and national legislation regulating plastic pollution in recent years.

Anja last appeared on the show to discuss unnecessary plastics in March 2022. She recently authored Ocean Conservancy’s recommendations to the FTC about labeling plastics to indicate their recyclability. Anja summarized the challenging recycling information we all struggled with when she wrote, “Consumers should not need a Ph.D. in plastics to understand what to do with their plastic packaging.”Recyclability and compostability need to be clarified terms, and local services, not national rules, determine the natural options available to each of us. You can learn more about the Ocean Conservancy at https://oceanconservancy.org/