Transcripts For CSPAN3 Hearing On Plastic Pollution Impacts 20240713

Well come to order. I may look like congressman huffman but im not. Know its a shock. Im congressman lowenthal and is back in sonoma dealing with the wildfires and get back here to to washington. That, you ll hoping know, that the fires subside, that, you know, many people are safe, and that mr. Huffman soon. S so with that, the subcommittee oceans and wildlife will come to order. The subcommittee is meeting hear a testimony on a sea of problems. The impacts of plastic pollution wildlife. And format, anytee rule oral Opening Statements at the hearings are limited to the minority the Ranking Member, the vice chair and the vice Ranking Member. Hear from llow us to our witnesses sooner and help eople help members keep to their schedules. So therefore i ask for unanimous members hat all Opening Statements be made a part of the hearing record. F they are submitted to the subcommittee clerk by 5 00 p. M. Oday, or the close of the hearing, whichever comes first. Objections, so ordered. Ill open up and welcome all the witnesses. Pressing ussing a environmental issue and thats plastic pollution. Certainly Single Use Plastics made life easier but these aterials come at a much higher cost than many would like to admit. Instics last for center tris the Natural Environment and are found nearly everywhere on our planet. Impactar i witnessed the wildlifec pollution on in antarctica, one of the few relatively s been untouched by human activity but not untouched by the scourge of plastics. Personally ive been involved in trying to tackle the growing years. For over 20 working with my constituent and friend, captain charles moore, created the scientific and who organization, research f the early on the plastic garbage situation. Here is an estimated 8 Million Metric Tons of plastics that enter the oceans each year at a garbage truck ne per minute. Threatening biodiversity and accumulating in the food that we eat. Plastics have been found in samples right here in the capitals visit center. Making clay also mat change worse. The global life cycle emissions years plastic production throughout the united the same as 462 coal fired power plants per year and that number is rising. Plastic production is an Environmental Justice issue also. Petro chemical factories and incineration facilities are located in low income communities where local Health Quality impacts are quite significant but ignored. Y are finally, in the subcommittee we eed to look at solutions to deal with, for example, fishing gear, fishing gear thats been continues to t catch fish. Marine mammals, turtles, birds and corals. Clear that we need to reduce plastic pollution. Commitments and bans and taxes on single use plastic items can be part of the but we must expand our tools to address this growing health ental and public problem. In this committee, we switched pitchers and glasses for water rather than the disposable plastic Water Bottles see so often around the capital. Easy t every switch is as and not everyone has the option. Cleaningcial burden of up pollution should not be on solely on the taxpayers. Its imperative that the ompanies that manufacture and sell these products take ownership of their environmental impacts. Congress needs to step up. It is for this reason that ive een working on comprehensive legislation with senator udoll. Our legislation seeks to create circular approach by extended place an producer responsibility program. Recycling content tandards, as well as phasing out certain single use items with more sustainable alternatives. To announce we have a discussion draft of this esolution quite soon which and idisseminate publicly you to let me f your comments. Noah recently funded 14 new aspects of ressing this problem. The 2. 7 million provided to come projects doesnt even close to addressing the scale of the oceanplastic problem. Is this we need to do more. E need to look at a broader range of solutions, that will revent wildlife from being strangled and to keep microplastics from ending up on our plate. I look forward to hearing more from our witnesses ideas and i will now member to ranking share his remarks. Thank you, mr. Chairman. To subcommittee meets today hear testimony on plastics and their impact on our oceans. Rom the written testimony it appears that the majority is blaming American Consumers for the plastic wasting that reaches oceans and is proposing to place restrictions on them that ill dramatically reduce the convenience and Higher Quality of life that plastics have modern ted to our society, while increasing costs dramatically. Blaming America First seems to be a recurring theme but the facts paint a very different picture. 2017 study published in the Environmental Science and Technology Magazine found that 88 and 95 of all the lastic debris that enters our oceans comes from 10 rivers, none of which is anywhere close to the United States. Eight of those rivers are in asia and two are in africa. 2015 study the top 20 Marine Plastic polluters 10. 76 d as much as Million Metric Tons of plastic debris. The United States generated just tons. Llion metric barely 1 . Indeed the entire United States less water borne plastic pollution than north korea. The majority blame for this . American consumers. Kilpatrick once observed they always blame America First. Epa, americans have increased Plastic Recycling tons in 1980 to 3. 1 2015. On tons in thats a 155 fold increase. Consumers go to great engths to properly dispose of Plastic Waste and the numbers show that. American consumers are heroes, fight lains, in this against plastic pollution of our oceans. We should be celebrating them punishing them. Yet thats just what draconian on plastic use would do starting with the 1. 7 illion families who depend on plastics manufacturing to put food on the table, roofs over heir heads and taxes in our government coffers. The single largest state remains my home state of california where 80,000 californians are directly plastics n the industry. Misplaced object of the lefts re appears to be single use plastic containers. The toothpaste tube, shampoo plastic bag. They criticize being wasteful ince the plastic is used once, discarded and yet takes between 50 and a thousand years to decay. Disposed e properly of, and americans do, i have to that hat exactly is problem . The most common single use packaging of the ancient world we had progressed from nimal skins and gourds was a ceramic, a massive hill called mount in rome, is composed of discarded which have not degraded in nearly 2,000 years, world is not worse for it and the romans were better off for it which begs the question . If were going to ban single use containers exactly what will replace them . How about your toothpaste . Toothpaste came in collapsible metal tubes. The opponents of plastic find environmentally friendly container . The toothpaste tube was invented consumers from the unhygiene knick practice of getting toothpaste in glass jars and dipping your toothbrush into them. Shall we return to glass jars . Powderedat, it came in form in cardboard boxes which required mixing a batch every to brush your teeth. Plastics have largely replaced container the best to protect food against food spoilage. Before aluminum it was tin. It takes four pounds of boxi dad mining and ip strip 7 1 2 kilowatts of electricity to make one pound of aluminum do. Plastic critics really think an environmental friendly alternative is to return to the metal containers . Before metal containers glass was commonly used. Takes roughly a million years to decompose, a thousand times longer than the longest for plastic decomposition. I suppose we could go back to i dboard and paper but remember the campaign decade ago to ban paper bags as wasteful environmentally offensive so we dutifully replaced them with plastic bags which have now ire of the he environmental left. Single use plastics, properly of, means greater convenience and lower prices for American Consumers and a much environmental footprint than all of the different packaging materials that they have replaced. So im very interested in hearing today why americans, who exemplary record of responsible plastic disposal and recycling, are to blame for the of other people in other countries and why those same americans should now be with higher prices, less convenience, and a lower standard of living. I would like to know what are the plastics critics propose as an alternative to they c containers that havent already rejected over years . I yield back. Im going to ask for unanimous consent that the person from new mexico, representative of holland be to sit on the dias and participate. Ordered. Objection, so now im going to introduce our witnesses. Ur first witness is mr. Ed ansda ted danson. Es also the vice chair of the board of directors at oceana, involveds been closely since its inception. Our next witness will be mr. Parras, who is the founder nd executive director at the texas Environmental Justice tejas. Cy service, or ollowing him well hear from jenna jambeck, an associate at the university of on plastic impact. And d finally, a president c. E. O. Of the plastics Industry Association. Let me remind all witnesses our Committee Rules they must limit their oral statements to five minutes but their entire will appear in the hearing record. When you begin, the lights on witness table will turn green. After four minutes, the yellow light will come on. Time will have expired when the red light comes on and it please comet o your statement. Ill also allow the entire panel testify before questioning witnesses. The chair now recognizes mr. To testify. Welcome to our committee. I would like to thank the Ranking Member and the committee to testify. m vice chairman of oceanas board of directors. Oceana is the Largest International advocacy solely toon dedicated ocean conservation. I have been working on ocean than 30 years, in the late 1980s, i cofounded he american oceans campaign, which then joined with oceana in 2002. To testify today about the growing problem of plastic ourution thats threatening oceans. Almost from the moment we wake up to the time we go to bed, faced with throwaway plastic. We face it when we brush our of h with a toothbrush made plastic and squeezed toothpaste out of plastic tube. Hair with wash our shampoo and conditioner from plastic bottles. Routines f our daily might include one or several coffees and cups with plastic lids. Plastic takeout containers, with plastic shopping, nd grocery where single use plastic is unavoidable. There isnt a place on earth the pollution from all of this plastic. He list of marine animals affected by plastic pollution grows. Lastic has been consumed by an estimated 90 of seabird species. Species of every sea turtle. Even our corals are threatened. Polluting the marine environment, plastic poses a risk to human health. Seeing plastic in our soil, air, and , bodies. Plastic particles have been everything from honey and beer to salt and tea. Affecting our climate. If plastic was a country, it fifth e the planets largest emitter of Greenhouse Gases. Plastic production rates anticipated to increase, so will lastics affect some of the climate and oceans. The most important thing to emember about plastic is that it lasts for centuries. This is what makes single use so profoundly flawed. They are created from a material to last forever but are designed to be used once and thrown away. Simply improving recycling rates will not solve the plastic crisis. Of all the Plastic Waste ever 9 has been y recycled. That means the vast majority was landfill, incinerated or ended up polluting our Natural Environment including our oceans. Recycling is like trying to mop from an overflowing bathtub while the faucet is still running. Facet to turn off the and reduce the production of plastic. Companies need to significantly the amount of single use on to they are putting the market and offer consumers plasticfree choices for their products. Unfortunately, companies arent doing enough and thats why we need your help. Policies governing the production and use of single use these are effective and policies are becoming more common around the world and country. Is the e. U. , peru, chile and canada announced or are implementing policies to reduce plastic pollution. Cities, counties, and states have taken the initiative assing policies to reduce Single Use Plastics, but ultimately, comprehensive u. S. Action is needed. This committee should use its authority to tackle the problem. Applaud you for stopping the use of plastic Water Bottles in hearings. The National Park service had a policy to encourage National Stop selling water in plastic bottles. Unfortunately the policy has reversed. The committee should make our ational parks, wildlife refugees, marine sanctuaries and other federal lands and waters single use plasticfree zones. Pass federal s to legislation that stops plastic pollution at the source that. Significantly reduces the of this everlasting ollutant, and that holds corporations responsible for this Global Crisis and enable states and cities to continue to lead the way on solutions. Dont fall for the false promise of recycling. And please dont stoop to incineration. The runaway increase in plastic production and reduce the amount of plastic that companies are making and forcing on us because they will last for centuries. To waste. More time thank you. Thank you, mr. Danson. He chair now recognizes mr. Parras to testify for five minutes. Welcome to the committee. I, too, thank you, mr. Ranking lowenthal and member im want parras with texas Environmental Justice advocacy services. This for working on over 16 years. We work at the intersection of human rights and social justice issues. We call houston home and share the largest petro complex in the nation, the second largest in the world. Also the averagest city petro meaning that chemical plants and other industries and infrastructures on the fence line of communities bordering them. Of plastic relies on fossil fuels. Produced they cs come from oil. The explosion of natural gas roducts has led to an ever increasing demand form national gas liquid, reaching the block of, the building lastic production, its a product of oil refining. Ts eat key element of plastic production. And others [inaudible] exposed to a dangerous mix of toxic pollutants, both authorized and nonauthorized, released by many sources industrial located along the ship channel. Overly the last several years complex has emical been expanding. Post Hurricane Harvey we began realized missions and that the expansion in our communities were related a growing market plastics. At terminals, all center around one thing, production of plastics. This erstood that expansion was focuseded on lg facilities. However, we now understand the and gas mic oil shifting from traditional production into new forms of utilization. However, as they expand, so, the instability of this the chemical plants and weve seen chemical e of disasters in the houston ship channel. In the most recent fire 37 people were injured, some with thirddegree burns. Initially evacuated but later required to reenter the plant as the fire was still burning. Compound the problems the ommissions quality monitors malfunctioned during the event the five Community Members to protect their health. When those Community Members ere unaware of proper shelter in place, exxonmobil, 20 billion in their expansion for the gulf of texas. Disasters the 2019, the fire in fire were held hostage under plume 47 miles long and 1 miles wide. On july 31, l fire 019, where 37 workers were injured, and on september 20, chemical barges collided after Tropical Storm vanished evacuation routes. In a recent report for the center for international environmental, they found if trends in the Oil Consumption continue as expected the the entire of oil by plastics sector will account for consumption by 2050. Uncovered 2 3 of the plastic related facilities in the houston region violated pollution control laws over the last five years and were environmental enforcement. But many more exceeded their not penalized. E compound in emissions including an increased risk for cancer and other health conditions. Plastic [inaudible] from our dinner table to the of the ocean, every art of the chain that creates plastic harms us. Plastic is being produced near ulnerable communities, predominantly people of color, poor people, indigenous and who have to pay the price, shortening the children and ur elderly, and i have exceeded my ill submit the entire document, thank you. Parras. K you, mr. The chair now recognizes dr. To for five minutes. Welcome to the committee. Lowenthalou, chairman and Ranking Member mcclintock and the rest of the subcommittee. To be here to testify. My name is jenna jambeck. Professor of environmental engineer at the university of georgia. Ive been conducting research on solid waste for over 23 years with related projects on marine especiallylf for 18, projects regarding location and spatial analysis, quantification characterization, and global Plastic Waste management. I have also witnessed and in the oceans sailing across the atlantic in 2014. Codeveloped a mobile litter retractor, which was funded by the noah Marine Program in 2011, where over two million items have been logged by people all over the world. Previously testified to the senate on this issue, to the subcommittee on fisheries, im also a participant in the International Informational Speakers Program department. S. State this has brought me to 13 Different Countries and world, to round the engage with governments, ondemics, ngos and citizens this issue. I have committed a written document that my testimony today based upon my background and experience Cutting Research on marine waste. C and when i testified previously to congress in 2016 i spoke to educate and raise awareness of based upon my research but we now know we have a major problem with plastic our environment and in the oceans. The science on this issue has been increased rapidly, just in four years. We now know weve produced 8. 3 billion metric tons of plastic of 2017, and since about 40 of this is used for packaging use items it means that 6. 3 billion of that had 2015. E waste by done with we begun that that waste . It. Recycled about 9 of on average globally weve recycled only about 9 . Another 12 had been incinerated so that means 79 has ended up ither in a landfill or in the open environment. As a result of weathering an exposure to sunlight plastic in doesnt onment biodegrade. It simply fragments into smaller with an er pieces, and unknown fate i would say of the smallest particle that we cant even measure yet. So you heard the number in our science paper in 2015. We estimated the global quantity plastic entering the oceans at 8 Million Metric Tons in 2010 about a dunkual to truck of plastic entering every minute. O although there have been actions taken globely to stop the business as usual projection input doubling by 2025, plastic production use and population growth are all riving factors that have resulted in an increase of plastic use and in our waste we ams so we can all agree want to keep plastic out of the ocean in the first place. There is a tremendous continued for bipartisan support and action on this issue. In the intervention framework i in 2016, we start all the way upstream with reducing waste generation, especially in with hyper person waste generation rates like here in the usa. Rate is twoneration to six times that of many ountries around the world, especially still economically developing countries and this eduction can be obtained through a combination of individual choice, policies and industry led changes. Packaging, do need there needs to be a more distinct connection between endgn, material choice, and of Life Management of materials. Currently the Waste Management system has to deal with whatever their way. This is one contributing factor o the historical practice of exporting nearly 50 of our Plastic Recycling to other of tries, primarily those lower income, which contributes to the. S critical, to make sure all voices are heard. And so one reminder i always there are people behind all the numbers i gave you and so we need to collectively come up with socially and culturally appropriate solutions, because were all you, today presenting to im optimistic we can do that and i will continue to work hard policy, e to inform that everyone has an Important Role to play. Points i want to two rage you to try experiments. For the next 24 hours take note of everything that you touch plastic. From this you will see how useful it and how is, but also the right times and right places to use them. Go outside on a Scavenger Hunt for litter. Far ont likely have to go and look at each as a message for you, the figure active and bolt, ask message in a yourself three questions. One, what is it . Two, how did it get here . Three, what are we going to do about it . Collection sed data and Citizens Science within a framework and structure can data bute to critical needed to inform management and communities and i believe empowers like these can citizens and ngos, corporations nd policymakers like you to take the most relevant and impactful actions for your and community. Thank you. Beck. Ank you, dr. January he chair now recognizes tonya radoszewski to testify. Welcome to the committee, mr. Radoszewski. Good afternoon, chairman lowenthal and Ranking Members of subcommittee. My name is tonya radoszewski and of the ident and c. E. O. Plastics Industry Association. The term short and proudly. Billiard balls. Ivory was expensive and the it was of collecting gruesome and inhumane. So they developed a material but at aved like ivory fraction of the cost and a fraction of the environmental impact. Thats been the story of genesis to m their today. Its a material that meets or exceeds the performance of other a erials and does so at fraction of the cost and with lower environmental impact. Ince it was first developed plastics have gone on to make hospitals safer, surgeries less invasive, patientcare for safer, effective and affordable, in the century and a alf since they were invented and other made cars things safer. Toed water brings freshwater people and takes water away in the most environmental and sustainable way. Have also made food last longer improving health and afety to millions across the world. The plastics industry employs United States. State, california. I can say with confidence that none of them got into this business in order to pollute our oceans and waterways. I can also say with confidence that many of them entered the ndustry with a passion to improve the state and quality of a lot of people. That our products end up where upsets me and im sure every one of those nearly Million People who work in this way. Try feel the same but its a fact. Its also a fact that a staggering eight million tons of ends up in the worlds ocean each year. 0 percent of which comes from 10 rivers in Southeast Asia and africa the remaining 10 comes from world. Else around the thats a great deal of value being wasted when they end up ultimately in the oceans. Our industry agrees with everyone that there is a Plastic Waste problem. He urgency of the situation cries out for a solution more thoughtful than simply saying no to a material that lowers Greenhouse Gas emissions is more efficient to produce than other materials like metal, paper and and has delivered numerous benefits to society as a whole. One after study including conducted recently by the California Water board has shown that banning Plastic Products drives consumers to other less sustainable materials. Bans have a very minor impact on if they have any impact at all. Plastics are used in such a iverse array of applications because they are the best option when all considerations are evaluated. In a Free Market Society consumers decide which products provide the best value and performance. Applications, the chief characteristic of plastics, that is, their lower flexibility,ility, and versatility, constantly make competingior to other materials. Plastic bags became popular due treescerns about how many were being cut down. Dont s are lighter and break down as much as paper once. When disposed of properly they a smaller environmental footprint than products made by other materials. Rather than trying to deny the plastics we need to head in the opposite direction enhance o preserve and their value so they are worth too much to waste. This can happen by investing in and Waste Management infrastructure. E continue to legislation for state and local entities to improve recycling infrastructure which is what we need to close loophole on these, i. Eve also supported the act which aims to protect Marine Debrises and has seen action in committees, e having been introduced here in the house. The industry itself has stepped p to this challenge by innervating like it always has. Developing new chemist industries, investing in new and collection technologies, developing ways to convert Plastic Waste into energy and creating the supply meet the demand for recycled plastic content. Still, we need the support of ederal, state and local authorities to ensure that no american has to wander if the bottle they toss in the blue bin will end up being recycled orened up as landfill fodder. Sum up with a d recent quote from japans prime we shouldnt treat lastic as an enemy nor ostracize those who use it. Whats needed is an appropriate management of trash and to earch for solutions through variation. On a personal note, i love this industry. Ive worked in it for nearly 40 years. I sincerely believe that plastics are among humankinds reatest innovations and that they have delivered enormous benefit to Public Health and commerce all over the world. To learn how to live with these materials because i can assure you, we would never want to have to live without them. Forward to d i look your questions. Thank you for your testimony, radoszewski. Im going to remind the members 3d he committee, that rule impose as five minute limit on questions, and now the chairman to recognize members for any questions they may wish to ask. Members of the panel, the witnesses, and im going to recognize myself for five minutes of questions. My first question goes to dr. Jambeck. To follow you on something that you said but also something that Ranking Member his introduction, where he said there is no real here in the United States, the real amount of ocean really e come from other countries. Sian countries and african countries. So dr. Jambeck, you know in your is how much of the waste entering the oceans from china, ietnam and other southeastern asia countries. Can you tell us, is this the origins of of the the waste . Can you tell us more about the full impact of the united in contributing to oceans debris. And plastic weight and has that been partially hidden by our exporting our waste to primary asia. You kind of give us respond to that. Thats how it was framed. Big question, a but certainly when we first did those calculations of the global input of plastic into the ocean, we couldnt take into account importexport aspect, and so what we did see were these so really factors, rapidly developing economies wherein from a structure to that comes he waste with the increased waste generation that comes with conomic growth, that infrastructure was lagging behind. That have been referred to here, many of those rapidly developing economies is we saw the most leakage but as i mentioned in our testimony, our per person two to six ate is times that within the u. S. And if we look at leakage as a of what we generate, the only the u. S. Is high income country within the top 20 countries within that because of ouris waste generation rate. So in terms of a contribution to the global plastic quantity of million that i mentioned billion, excuse me, contributor. So what has become an issue that started in the 1990s, in terms our single stream recycling to make it easier, we can put that hing in one bin, meant our commodities as well as global encouraging needing d china material for manufacturing, to become the manufacturing hub of the world that set up this rapid of our in exporting Recycled Materials and for me, we looked at recycled plastic, half of that had been going to china until they at the end of 2017, which caused a cascade industry the recycling within the u. S. Itself. And so that has been a major relying ecause we were on lower Income Countries to manage that material. Having cases, china trouble managing their own, and then us exporting on top of hat, so that contributes to pollution in shows countries as well. O its very interconnected and complex but i hope that clarifies some. Thank you, i want to talk a some questions right, we know bout the waste, of plastics, and how much is going into the ocean but the question is, how species . Impact is, weve st question ust had i hope i pronounced it right, report that was released earlier this year that plastic pollution as a threat to marine biodiversity. Threat. Een as a the first question is, do you now, mr. Danson, if plastic is affecting species that are in danger of extinction . We want to understand not only how it gets into the ocean but are . Some of the impacts some of the impacts, turtles, of turtles is either on the endangered species list or close to, and every turtle has ingested plastic. Away c doesnt go completely. It just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces. Turtle or a sea mammal or ingest that may plastic. They think they are full because their stomachs are full of they stop eating, to death. Tarve dipping into up what they think is a sorry, some sort, Something Like like eat in the water but its plastic, then they feed it to bird, hild, their little and the bird dies for the same reason, they starve to death. Impact, ts having an on whales, on many species. Thank you, i think my time is and so im going to yield and call upon representative graves, who looked very good side g on the democratic there for a while, and we welcome him back. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Ive recruited a number of your members to your side. Coming to my district this weekend . I look forward to it and i note, mr. Lowenthal and i, i was arguing with him a said, you need to come see the people that i represent, communities that i whyesent, so you understand i say the things that die and why i vote the way i do and to he came down and spent three dias in louisiana and i put him on an air boat and airplane, a n helicopter maybe, took him all over the place. Him eat crawfish. Free crawfish, and i look forward to coming over to part of the country to see if we can talk some wisdom into people. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. The friendship and im looking orward to an opportunity to meet with some of your constituents. Thank you for being here want to be clear, i very much appreciate ll of your efforts to remove plastic from the waste stream. Share that i very much and represent. Part of the coast of louisiana commercial he top and Recreational Fishing destinations and producers in United States, and not just fishing for fun, but for a really e, its important part of our culture, ommunity economy in southeast louisiana. We could talk end game for a im curious. There is a huge part of the waste stream that exists right now. Plastic in the oceans. Youve got plastic that is chain re in the recycle as we know with what china has done. Just o we do right now, putting the long term aside, ooking at the incredible waste streams that are in the ocean, and im in support of some of he legislation that weve pushed out of the house to deal with that but what do we do with current waste stream of plastics, the way stream thats recycled but with the china ban its created problems with workers. Plastics do with the in the ocean . If you were king for the day and make any decision what would you like to nson, i would ask all of your opinions . I would reduce single use plastic. Be to live o forever and yet you use it once away. Hrow it take easy things like that, that arent really necessary. Can i just clarify my question. Though, youve got plastic thats already been some thats ed and already somewhere in the way stream, whether nits our oceans, in the shipping or somewhere, where its going enter inycled but its the way stream already. How do we handle that way stream . Im not sure, if its in the ocean, im not sure you can. Ocean, im not sure you can. Its like oil, captioning performed by vitac really compared to the amount of plastic thats about to be produced in the next 20, 30 years, its going to be scaled up, you just cant compete with the amount of plastic production by recycling and picking up on the beaches. Thank you. Mr. Parras . What i see in our neighborhoods and communities all over the country is that plastic is actually made to be disposable, it seems like. Its affordable because it is plastic. What happens is people dont consider it as trash or as valuable, so they get rid of it. And until we start actually either charging more for the production of plastic so we can have major cleanups, that may help. Thank you. And, dr. Jambeck, im talking about the existing load thats there and im interested to hear our last witness talk about some of the technologies moving forward. But please. Sure. Quickly, whats already in existence, probably the easiest things to grab or nets. And they are one of the materials, nylon, very valuable and could be recycled. The problem with what actually exists is the diversity of plastic thats there, the challenges with recycling that. Most of it is getting land filled here in the u. S. Thats not the best thing. We wish more of it could be recycled. Thank you. Thank you. Today our industry the four Value Components of our value chain from the manufacturers, the machinery manufacturers, processors and end users are all actively engaged in recycling and reuse of these products ranging from sorting to the plastics that are most predominantly used in recycling, p. E. T. And high density polyethylene, and then also developing technologies that can sort out the other materials and develop enough of a waste stream so that it can be used in applications. The other technologies that are being used right now are chemical recycling which we can take the products back to their basic form, repolymerize it, and use it again in food content packaging where before if its recycled we cant use it in food packaging. These are technologies that were actively involved in right now. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. And i now recognize representative case for five minutes. Thank you, chair. The Ranking Member asked two i think good questions. If first that he asked is what exactly is the problem and the second question he asked is why should americans take the blame for the excesses of the rest of the world. Those are two good questions in this debate. As to the first question, give a couple of examples from my perspective. In the state of hawaii we have the largest marine monument in our country and there we get somewhere around 52 metric tons of Marine Debris, almost all fishing gear every year, every year. Why is that a problem . It wrecks coral reefs which are endangered around the world and it degrades into smaller parcels which then are ingested by our marine life. We have 1,400 hawaiian monk seals left in the entire world and declining. They get entrapped in this debris and die. That species is highly endangered. We have Invasive Species from elsewhere in the world hitching a ride on ghost fishing gear to hawaii in the endangered species capitol of the world where we cannot take that kind of external impact. We have in hawaii i went on the first the first world reef day on june 1st of this year to the north shore of oahu to a beach in kahuku where i tried to clean up a coastline with Sustainable Coastlines hawaii, one of many grassroots organizations across our country trying to do something about it on a microlevel. A beach that i used to walk on that was pretty white is now all different colors, green, yellow, red, very small particles of plastics not degraded but down into the level of ingestion at the very lowest levels of marine life. Now thats what the problem is. Now, as to the Ranking Members second question, why should we take the hit when the rest of the world isnt doing anything about it, i think thats a really legitimate question because it reminds me greatly of the debate over Climate Change where essentially the same question is posed, why should we reduce our emissions when the rest of the world is not doing that, and that leads us to International Agreements as what i can see is being one of the other ways to get at this problem from an international perspective. So, you know, mr. Danson, does oceana partner with International Organizations towards an International Solution at the plastics in the ocean given that it does put us at a disadvantage, for us to unilaterally curb our plastics use from several perspectives and yet we need to do it. Cities and counties and states throughout the country are doing that. The city honolulu is doing it now. Are you partnering with the rest of the world to try to find those International Agreements . Yes, i believe we are. I think there are literally thousands or at least 1,000 groups around the world working on plastics. This is a united effort. I can get you more specifics when i talk to the staff of oceana. I mean, we havent talked about Climate Change and Greenhouse Gasses. But plastic is such a huge part of that story. I dont see how we cannot address our plastic, our Greenhouse Gas emissions without and if we dont do that, how we expect the rest of the world to follow along. So, yeah sorry. Okay. Thank you very much. Mr. Radoszewski, you stated in your testimony that you are supportive of you and your industry are supportive of save our oceans 2. 0 which is a bipartisan bill introduced by bicameral bill introduced by both the house and the senate and that calls for much greater studies, incentives at the federal level, but it also call for pursuing International Agreements that would curb plastic use, especially singleuse plastic use around the world. And i just want to your testimony sounded to be inconsistent with that position that part of save our oceans 2. 0. Are you supportive of pursuing International Agreements whereby the entire world would agree to a reduction in plastic use and a reduction of dumping plastics into the oceans . I would say we are involved and eagerly working with International Organizations to find solutions to the problems that exist today. We are engaged with whether its the british plastics union, the canadian plastics union, Industry Association in new zealand, plastic association, working in consortium with them to define those abilities to minimize the waste in the ocean and in the land as well. Okay. So that doesnt sound like what im talking about. It sounds like youre working with the rest of the plastics industry around the world to manage it going into the oceans but not necessarily reducing it. Reducing or reusing or recycling, theres a lot of different options that were looking at in the save our seas 2. 0. There are many parts of it that we do like and other parts we would still like to negotiate with. Thank you. And i now recognize the Ranking Member for five minutes of questions. Thank you, mr. Chairman. First, i dont think mr. Case was listening very carefully to what i said. I was referring specifically to properly disposed of plastics, plastics put in landfalls, incinerated or recycled, none of which gets into the ocean and we know that america counts more less than 1 of plastic marine pollution. So even if we went to the extreme of banning all plastics in the United States in addition to having a devastating effect on the economy, it would at best effect just 1 of plastic pollutions in our oceans. Mr. Radoszewski, dr. Jambeck asked a very intriguing question. Think about how much plastic you touch every day. Isnt that an indication of how useful plastic has become in our daily lives . Absolutely. If you look at what plastics have replaced in the past, whether its glass, paper, steel, aluminum, the reason why theres so much plastic is it is the best choice in terms of many of the packaging applications isnt her question also a warning of how our quality of life would decline if the left is successful in restricting or banning it. I would think a lot of things that weve taken for granted today would be gone and the accessibility to those foodstuffs that give us a Higher Quality of life not only to americans on the east and west coast but in the middle of country, in poor areas as well, availability to get foods to different parts of the world because of lower transportation costs and the food stays safer and healthier and fresher are all reasons why the quality of life not only in the United States but across the world has increased. I think dr. Jambecks question also begs to correlate the question. Lets think about everything that we touch every single day. Everything is either mined or grown, is it not . I would think that would be right. I dont know of a single exception to that. And that then opens a new question and that is, well, whats the alternative to plastics . I use the example of the toothpaste tube. What would be the alternative to that . And i think even in your original testimony you mentioned what it used to be. And as far as we know, the only thing we could go back to what it was and that would mean glass bottles, that would mean lead was once used in toothpaste tubes because of the softness of it. If you go backwards, youre talking about materials that have a higher carbon footprint, take more energy to produce, usually weigh more so the transportation costs also increase, so you have that aspect as well. So at this juncture in our technology in science and advancement of our civilization, plastics are the most environmentally friendly alternative that we have if we are to engage in the commerce that makes our civilization possible, is it not . I think thats very right. In fact, again, i go back to the point of just lets look at food packaging. The ability to get bratwursts at any place in the country at any time because its wrapped in plastic and has a foam board packet which is made of styrene makes it accessible to everybody. Your meatstuff, your sausage containers for your breakfast patties, all those are packaged in plastics because they get product to the shelf economically, safely, and fresh. Im curious, mr. Danson, how are we going to get our toothpaste, for example . How do you propose that we package our toothpaste in the future . You want to ban plastic containers . You want to go back to metal tubes or glass jars . I dont really know the answer to that thats the problem, isnt it . I have not heard a single alternative offered by the critics of plastics and i think its become very clear that plastics we have found to be a far better solution, economically and environmentally to the materials that we have used in the past. Mr. Radoszewski, tell me how a ban on Single Use Plastics would impact the overall economy. I think it would be detrimental to it. It could have an effect of putting people out of work. I dont think theres a Quick Response to supply the demand that the marketplace has created for these products so you would have a shortage of goods. You would have an economic decline because of lack of notification of materials that are seen in the plastics industry. Theres a whole host of materials that would be affected what would happen to Consumer Prices . They would go up. Its a simple example of supply and demand. In the demand is not satisfied by the supply, the are automobiles, for example, instead of using a plastic material, would go back to using metal materials. Im looked at these name plates right here, theyre plastic. In a previous day they were brass. Much more expensive and much harder on the environment to mine, is that correct . It is. And one of in fact, if you look at the cafe standards, one of the reasons the Automobile Industry has been able to meet those standards over the last couple of decades is because of the incorporation of higher performing plastics. So, once again, its blame America First, lets harm the American Consumer even though the American Consumer is responsibly disposing of Plastic Products and without any alternative. That to me sounds almost childlike. I yield back. Thank you, Ranking Member. I now call upon representative cunningham for five minutes of questions. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you for holding this hearing today on an issue thats near and dear to my heart and also our constituents in the First District of South Carolina which stretches from charleston all the way down to hilton head. This issue is certainly on the minds of south carolinians. Many of whom dedicate their free time support local beach cleanups in an effort to preserve our beautiful, godgiven Natural Resources and im proud to represent so many of these conservation leaders. The local Surf Rider Foundation chapter in my Congressional District host beach cleanups almost every single weekend and we also have andrew wonderly, the charleston water keeper who has made it his livelihood to protect and restore the quality of charlestons waterways while fighting for the right to swimmable, drinkable, fishable water. And today i actually came up here from charleston with some of the plastic treasures that were recently found on our shoreline over the weekend from the goose creek reservoir, which is the source of the goose creek water supply. Lets see what we got here today that was and this was just found this weekend. It looks like weve got a used piece of styrofoam here. Weve got plastic water bottle here. Singleuse straw, you know, a singleuse plastic bag and this this actually looks like its been kind of shredded or nibbled on, more than likely ingested by some type of marine life. So this is whats left of it right now. A shredded straw here. Weve all seen the pictures of see turtles ingesting these and the damage that causes. Glass jar and a looks like a potato chip bag, plastic. This isnt abnormal, unfortunately. This has become kind of the norm of what washes up on our shorelines or into our waterways every single weekend and a lot of people in this room are aware of it. In fact, earlier this year, noaa published a report on the Economic Impacts of Marine Debris and i would like to enter this report for the record. Not surprisingly, this report found that getting rid of debris from our beaches can have a significant positive impact on the tourism economy. Thats kind of a nobrainer. Mr. Danson, every year the Ocean Conservancies International Coastal Cleanup report shows the most frequently found items on the beach. In 2017 data showed for the first time that the top ten most commonly found items were all made of plastic. And that trend continued in 2018. Mr. Danson, what items is what you saw here today, is this typical of the items typically found in beach cleanups in your experience and how does this these discoveries help shape policy . Well, theyre all singleuse plastics which is something we would like to reduce. Theyre all very convenient and easy for us to use in our every day life but create incredible problems, everything from Greenhouse Gasses to sea animals dying from ingesting them. So its thats our disposable lifestyle of which i am part of. Its very hard to deal with that every day. But people are coming up with solutions. Theres a toothpaste called bite that now comes in a little jar thats a powder and you add water. That creates jobs and money and taxes. So there are alternatives that we need to find. Its been incredibly useful and now its become incredibly dangerous and i think thats the argument. Not that the left or the right has any monopoly on about being smart about things. This is a problem for all of us and we all need to find ways to do it and i do believe we are capable of that. I appreciate, mr. Danson. I appreciate you all being here today. Unfortunately, my time is coming to a close. But i know theres been some discussion here today as far as where the United States is as far as polluting and the cleanup and everything, but i think we should all agree that the United States of america is a leader and we should lead on this issue and no matter where we fall in the list of polluters, you know, we should be leading by example and, you know, being more responsible. Being more of a sam instead of the norm, if you will. But just, you know, being out in the front on this and recognize that this is not sustainable and we have to do every single thing in our power to make that come to an end. I appreciate the work you all are doing. I appreciate the time here today. And with that, i yield back. Thank you, mr. Cunningham. And i now recognize congressman sablan for five minutes of questions. Thank you, mr. Chairman. In my first few months here in congress and my first year, i had this naive thought that there was a possibility for some Committee Members to get on an airplane and fly over this garbage patch thats in the pacific. Now it has a new name, actually. Its the Great Pacific garbage patch and its located just a little north of hawaii and right next to a place called micronesia, i come from the northern marianas which is just a part of micronesia. Its called micronesia because its a lot of small islands together. And you take all of those islands together and take all of them and put them together and its hardly a large part of this garbage patch. We have in the northern Mariana Islands that are conservation islands and unless youre a scientist with a permit, you cant get on this island. But there have been scientists who have got permits and gotten on and found they had to collect bags and bags and bags of garbage, plastic garbage. I dont mean any disrespect to all of you. Thank you. Mr. Danson, sir, thank you very much for so much between you and cheers and m. A. S. H. , i had so many wonderful hours of great entertainment. I enjoyed your show cheers. I also notice among the four witnesses on the table, sir, mr. Call me tony, how about that. Out of the four witnesses, youre the only one with a plastic bottle of water. Right. Yeah. I mean, you really are for your product. Yeah if you would like me to comment on that. Im not asking you for a comment. Its an observation, sir. You didnt have to bring that because there are glasses of water in front of you. But you see this micronesia islands, yeah, we probably contributed to some of this debris. But were not responsible for that debris and that thing is floating and growing and its one day going to cover micronesia. Micronesia is the the area is is the size of the 40 contiguous states. So what do we do about that . You know, dr. Jambeck, how much effort and resource would you think it would take to clean up this garbage patch . So what is floating out there is only about 3 of what we think is going in every year. So its not a large amount, but youre absolutely right in that what is floating often ends up on islands like yours that sort of interrupt those currents. To be honest, the best way to sort of get that out is if its ending up on land and then cleaning that land like they do in hawaii. You know, getting there are folks who are trying to Design Systems to collect out in the Great Pacific garbage patch but theres a lot of sources that go into that and that is similar to the analogy of mopping up your bathroom floor while the tap is on. Okay. Just imagine what it would be like for hawaii if those garbage get any closer and keep going on land. I dont have an answer to the problem. I really dont. I do have a serious concern because, you know, i eat a lot of fish, reefcaught fish and tuna caught by trolling and everything and i agree that, you know, these things get into the fish and so it gets into what i eat in most likelihood. But i dont know. I dont have an answer. Im not as smart as the four of you sitting at the witness table or those people who arent. But we do need to take something get something going and try and find a way to resolve this and maybe find an alternative to plastic thats not going to hurt peoples jobs, you know . There has to be something. Were a much all right nation than we think we are and we give ourselves credit for. My time is up. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Sablan. Next the chair recognizes mr. Neguse for five minutes of questions. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And thank you for hosting this important hearing. The topic of plastic in our waters and oceans cannot be more pressing. The study connected by the u. S. Department of the interior and the u. S. Geological survey called its raining plastic was published in may and found that plastic was found in 90 of rainfall samples in denver and boulder, colorado, the area that i represent in congress amongst many others. An earlier study found that people are swallowing an average of five grams of plastic every week, about the weight of a credit card. For my constituents who are suffering from this reality every day, ultimately, for the people across this nation and the world who are doing the same, it is imperative that we address this issue. It just happens, mr. Chair, quite fittingly, literally, one week ago, a week and a half ago on october 16th of 2019, a constituent of mine, her name is annie, shes a sophomore at ft. Collins Learning School in my district, wrote to me about this very issue, about the issue of microplastics in our worlds oceans and Water Systems at large. And in her letter she said im such a small part of this world, but i want to do everything i can to fix this problem. Im inspired by her commitment to fixing this problem and heartened by the chairmans decision to host this important hearing and my fellow Committee Members in their attempt to address this issue collectively and of course to the witnesses who have joined us with their testimony. I will confess, i had a number of competing scheduling commitments from both a hearing perspective as well as meetings but i was watching the testimony and some of the exchanges on the television in our office. And there was one exchange in particular that was a bit interesting to me and so i want to and i had noticed that mr. Danson, you didnt have an opportunity to really respond to the question that was being posed by the gentleman from california, mr. Mcclintock. And so i would like to go back to the point that he made about the toothpaste. In 1984 how old were you, mr. Danson . If youre comfortable sharing it, of course. I was born in 47. Would you do the math for me. Im a lawyer, not a mathematician, unfortunately, but i believe that would put you at, what, 34 . Sounds right. What was that . 43. I think thats right. In 1984 when you were 43 33. Go ahead. Im old. Go on. I dont want to get stuck on your age, dr. Danson. What kind of car were you driving, mr. Danson, back in the 1980s . 1980s. Ford explorer for a while. And i take it, it probably wasnt an electric car. No. But i did have the first ev1. Right. And i suspect you might have been renting back then or owned a home. Did your home have solar panels back then . No, they did not. No. And my point is this, the reason why i ask, i was born in 1984. Im 35 today. I have a daughter whos 14 months old and i think a lot about the world that she will inherit. And much of the work we do here in this committee and in this congress is about fighting to make sure that the world she inherits is a better one than we did. The transformative changes that have happened just in the last 35 years since i was born had been dramatic and you have chose amongst many other citizens in our country and of course several of the panelists here to try to make a difference, to adopt strategies in your own life and the way in which you conduct yourself to be environmentally conscious and taking advantage of the Technological Capabilities that have also changed. So this notion that we cant adapt, that removing microplastics suddenly we all will be amiss with the realities of trying to replace the plastic tube that carries toothpaste, to me is a false choice. Fundamentally, we all collectively are going to have to adopt strategies that enable us to move into a future in which microplastics are not polluting our planet and the communities that we are all so lucky to call home. That to me is what this hearing should collectively be about. To the extent, mr. Danson, youd care to respond further. I know you did talk a little bit about some of the alternatives to toothpaste containers and toothpaste brushes that are nonplastic options. But if you care to also illuminate further or expound further on that. Just briefly, i do know that people will invent new things and create for jobs and not create stuff that is worse for the climate. But just in general, if youre talking about your children, then youre talking about Climate Change. You just are. And youre talking about Greenhouse Gasses. And if youre talking about Greenhouse Gasses and were in the middle of a committee about ocean plastic, you have to acknowledge that the plastic is coming from petroleum and chemicals and that lifespan from the time of production to it lying on a beach is the equivalent, all of the plastic, as the fifth largest emitter of Greenhouse Gasses. If you want to take care of your children, you have to stop start addressing these incredibly inconvenient things that we have all gotten used to and enjoy. But theyre not lonr