Haaland said the plastics order was especially important because less than 10% of plastics ever produced have been recycled, and U.S. Oceana said a national poll conducted by Ipsos in November 2021 found that more than 80% of American voters would support a decision by the National Park Service to stop selling and distributing single-use plastics at national parks
He urged improved recycling infrastructure in parks as "a better approach to sustainability.'' "In most applications, plastic products are the least environmentally harmful option, as long as they are disposed of properly,'' said Seaholm, whose group represents the entire plastics industry supply chain. RELATED: Great Lakes, Lake Michigan pollution, microplastics, algal blooms endanger ecosystems Matt Seaholm, president and CEO of the Plastics Industry Association, called Interior's announcement "disappointing'' and counterproductive. Quigley, who is planning a visit to Yosemite National Park, said he looks forward to learning how the park will implement the new rule. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., who co-sponsored the bill in the House, hailed the Interior announcement as "a huge step forward in the effort to protect our environment and its creatures from the damage of single-use plastics.'' Merkley, who chairs a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Interior Department, is co-sponsor of a bill that would ban the sale of single-use plastic water bottles in national parks.
"With everyone - from park rangers to park visitors - doing their part we can get this done before the decade has passed!" Merkley said in a statement. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., also urged quicker action to address what he called the plastic pollution crisis. The group urged the National Park Service and other agencies to move swiftly to carry out changes in reducing single-use plastics well before 2032. Haaland's order "will curb millions of pounds of unnecessary disposable plastic in our national parks and other public lands, where it can end up polluting these special areas,'' Leavitt said.
"Our national parks, by definition, are protected areas - ones that Americans have loved for their natural beauty and history for over a century - and yet we have failed to protect them from plastic for far too long,'' said Christy Leavitt, plastics campaign director for the conservation group Oceana. RELATED: Plastic in your poop? Scientists find plastic bits in human stools, but others call for more research Only a fraction of the more than 400 national parks, but some of the most popular ones like the Grand Canyon, had implemented such a ban.Įnvironmental groups hailed the Biden administration's announcement, which advocates and some Democratic lawmakers have been urging for years. The order essentially reverses a 2017 Trump administration policy that prevented national parks from banning plastic water bottle sales. "As the steward of the nation's public lands, including national parks and national wildlife refuges, and as the agency responsible for the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats,'' the Interior Department is "uniquely positioned to do better for our Earth," Haaland said in a statement.
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