Plastic Pollution ·
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This week, the Trump administration dealt another blow to efforts to reduce plastic pollution by reversing the U.S. Department of the Interior’s policy phasing out single-use plastics across our national parks and public lands. The 2022 policy was a modest but meaningful step toward reducing the flood of unnecessary, unrecyclable plastic pollution that ends up in landfills, incinerators, and our environment. Reversing it is a step backward.
Most Single-Use Plastic Is Not Recyclable—and Was Never Meant to Be
As recyclers, we know firsthand that most single-use plastic has no place in a sustainable recycling system. Items like plastic cutlery, wrappers, bags, and pouches are not only wasteful—they also clog up recycling equipment, contaminate recyclable materials, and burden communities with costly and hazardous disposal options. These materials were never designed to be recycled.
Even the small fraction of plastics that are recyclable—like PET water bottles—are part of a system built around disposability rather than reuse. For example, while PET bottles are often called a recycling success story, only about 29% are recycled in the U.S. Instead of expanding production of inherently toxic materials, the federal government should lead a transition to reusable systems that eliminate single-use packaging altogether.
The Trump administration’s rollback ignores the urgent need to address plastic pollution at its source. Allowing more single-use plastics on public lands doesn’t just increase waste—it entrenches a harmful, extractive system. National parks and public lands should model sustainable practices, not normalize disposable culture.
We Need Leadership That Moves Us Forward
This isn’t just about plastic forks in national parks. It’s about the kind of country we want to be—one that sides with polluters and rolls back progress, or one that listens to communities, supports real solutions, and puts future generations first.
We call on the Department of the Interior to reverse this decision and recommit to its original plastics reduction plan. More broadly, the nation needs aggressive, comprehensive action on plastic pollution—including reducing single-use plastic production, ending fossil fuel subsidies, investing in reusable systems, and holding producers accountable through strong extended producer responsibility (EPR) policies.
Let’s not go backward.