This week marks the fourth of five sessions of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution. As these discussions progress toward a legally binding treaty, we encourage the United States to strongly support measures to phase out single-use plastics. As the Episcopal Church, we are part of the Anglican Communion, and we echo the call of our Anglican siblings to reduce and eventually ban single-use plastics.
As people of faith, we believe caring for God’s creation is a moral obligation, and as one way we love our neighbors as ourselves. Plastic has made its way into every corner of the earth, from the bottom of the ocean to the top of mountains, and even in the air we breathe. Plastic pollution is causing serious environmental and health problems globally.
We ask the United States, as a global leader, to support the banning of all single-use plastics. Less than 10% of plastic has been recycled. Continuing to mass produce single-use items only contributes to plastic pollution. While recycling programs are a step in the right direction, they do not address the root cause of this problem. Because it does not decompose, every piece of plastic ever made still exists. While individual actions are being taken, real policy change is required to deal with more than seven billion tons of plastic waste that has been created. We hope to see meaningful change come from these sessions and are grateful for the work being done to address this issue.