ALBANY, NY (Erie News Now)-- IN A JOINT SENATE AND ASSEMBLY HEARING TUESDAY SOME ADVOCATES STRESS REDUCING THE STATE’S PACKAGING MATERIALS CAN MOVE NEW YORK CLOSER TOWARDS IT’S CLIMATE GOALS.  

“So, by recycling, recovering more of our plastics packaging and all types of packaging, we’re going to lower our greenhouse gas footprint, we’re going to conserve natural resources, and have less of this material to landfill,” said Craig Cookson, senior director of plastic sustainability for the American Chemistry Council.

COOKSON SAid THE STATE CAN BE DOING MORE TO RECYCLE MORE EFFECTIVELY.  

“Advanced recycling what it does is it takes plastics back to its basic chemical constituents and then you can rebuild those into new plastics and other types of materials again,” he said. 

COOKSON SAID ADVANCED recycling PROCESSES DISPLACE VIRGIN NATURAL RESOURCEs LIKE OIL OR NATURAL GAS.  

HE SAID NEW YORK HAS THE TECHNOLOGIES NOW TO ADVANCE RECYcLING BUT LEGISLATION IS NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT AN EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY (EPR) PROGRAM. 

THE PROGRAM WOULD ESSENTIALLY MAKE PRODUCERS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE COSTS OF CONSUMER WASTE AND REDUCE USED TOXINS.  

“It’s time not that the individual taxpayers or municipalities on our behalf pay for disposing of all the waste that is sent to us,” said Assembly Member Deborah Glick (D-Assembly District 66).

Glick said this LEGISLATION, establishing an epr PROGRAM, WILL SAVE MUNICIPALITIES MONEY IN THEIR WASTE MANAGEMENT.