EAC Info Session on Plastic Waste 10/4
Americans generate over 35 million tons of plastic waste each year and less than 6% gets recycled. Our communities are overrun with litter, trash is piling up in our environment, and single-use plastics are polluting our waterways and oceans. Once there, plastic will remain for hundreds of years, if not longer. Single-use plastics, including bags, utensils, straws and polystyrene containers, are a profound threat to global environmental and public health.
The Upper Gwynedd Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) has been monitoring regional initiatives aimed at curbing single-use plastic pollution, and has surveyed residents and businesses in the community to learn about public practices, interests and goals as it relates to single-use plastics.
More than a dozen states, including our neighbors New Jersey, New York, Delaware and Maryland have enacted state-wide bans on some forms of single-use plastics. In Pennsylvania, municipalities are leading the charge with 23 local governments enacting ordinances to curb single-use plastic waste, including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. In Montgomery County, 9 municipalities have ordinances in effect or recently passed.
As momentum grows in our region for action to reduce plastic waste on the municipal level, the EAC will be hosting an information session on this initiative on Wednesday, October 4th at 6 PM in the Upper Gwynedd Twp. Public Meeting Room at Parkside Place. The session will feature a presentation by Penn Environment and the Clean Air Council followed by Q&A. This information session will take the place of the regularly scheduled EAC meeting.