>> a senate subcommittee on a single use a plastic on the environment featuring several environments are policy experts. during the remarks witnesses and lawmakers also spoke about the effect on wildlife, the proliferation of micro- plastics and food an alternative to single-use plastics. cooks welcome. the subcommittee on chemicals safety risk management environmental justice and oversight hearing on evaluating alternative materials for single use plastics will come to order. there is a saying that waste is a design flaw. single use plastics and utensils, two bottles in a large amount of plastic packaging. single use plastics and plastic packaging are often not recyclable or biodegradable. they often end up as the phrase scope burned, buried, or borne out to sea. all of that waste represents a pretty large design flaw. ideally would like all of our products to be sold in reusable containers biodegradable packaging damage to my plastic is in fired many companies to develop alternatives to fossil plastic, often marketed as a green or natural. some are weak referred to as bio plastics that sounds like a win for everyone. they've been around contingent use single items on glass and aluminum. the most successful implementation of this vision consumers get the peace of mind knowing the packaging and single use items as being rias are composted. the world is more complicated than that. it's exciting to see how many small companies are working to develop alternatives on the front end. it can be recycled or can be reused. hopefully of the many research efforts and investor funded laboratories will have more alternatives for the goal is to understand where do we sit at this moment? what alternate is on the front end? what is truly recyclable? what is truly compostable? does it require special laboratories or special facilities to be compostable as opposed to a compost bin in one's yard? so that leaves consumers very confused about how they are participating in a consumer economy and the best most responsible way. today of witnesses and bring expertise to bear on this topic. according to the world wildlife fund which is represented here today, four to 50 million tons of plastic are produced each year. a member that is expected to triple between now and 2050. plastics are made from climate chaos causing fossil fuels. they generally do not biodegrade they break down into micro- plastics give testimony in this committee about the challenges of micro- plastic the average adult in america consuming 800 particles per estimate a credit card worth of plastic per week that ends up in our blood for in our lungs and in the breastmilk we feed to our babies. also these facts plastics are toxins that expose a number endocrine disrupting chemicals. that is certainly a challenge as we think about our various daily activities. our hot coffee cup we get from starbucks. what is it actually lined with? what is the result of those particles ending up in our body? we also of the production of a plastics occurring in front-line communities where it creates a toxic soap pollution that endangers the health of the people who live there. so there's many aspects to this complicated world. we look forward to learning more today and our panel of experts. we have doctor marcus erickson marine scientist cofounder of gyres institute. the extent of pollution and his colleagues published the microbeads and great lakes in 2013 that's an example there is a very definable product a very definable reaction we cannot live without these microbeads and our cosmetic or skincare lotions. and now they are not there so that is good. also joining us is erin assignment vice president at the world wildlife fund helping companies to reduce plastic pollution. she spent 10 years working as a packaging engineers in us a lot about the packaging side and we are joined by humberto founder ceo of gsf up cycling which breaks down use plastics to remake them into new products. thank you for the time for sharing your expertise with the committee. and i will turn it over to ranking member senator mullin for his remarks. >> thank you and i appreciate it. i think you for allowing this and mr. merkley has a long history of study and plastics. while we may not agree on the solution we are in search of a solution to a problem. i appreciate having his hearing. i can start by thanking our witnesses for attending this hearing we appreciate you for taking the time to be with us. it is a challenge. sometimes thankless. you are not getting paid so we appreciate your time, time is a valuable in you do not receive that back until i do appreciate when you guys are being your as everyone knows plastics exists in almost every aspect of her day-to-day life consumer goods automobile barks to building materials will improperly manage single-use plastics can contribute to our plastic waste issues certain types of single use plastics is essentially invaluable uses for us which needs to be considered discussed alternatives. notably a few examples of these single uses include blood bags, syringes help modern healthcare remain affordable and insulate food packages to maintain hygienic standards while reducing food waste. these uses play a vital role in our society and if restrictive have detrimental impact on a daily lives. this series of hearings has made it abundantly clear combating plastic production is not a real solution for it rather than waste that's our time talking about banning plastic or mandating alternatives consumers don't want we should be discussing real market-driven solutions. this includes state of art developments and advance recycling anyone serious about addressing plastic waste should support advanced recycling. this promising technology can address plastics that cannot be recycled by traditional methods. it has the potential to turn the whole concept of single use on its head by converting previously un- recyclable plastics into valuable new commodities. let's be clear in proving our recycling system is not when the solution but is without question eight legitimate solution that warrants all of our attention. we should not -- you should just be taking my word for it mr. german i would like to ask renounce consent to enter into the record to studies written from the department of energy and one from the national academics of science. back to that objection regrets both reports demonstrate potential value of commercializing scaled chemical recycling. that is why am very thankful to be doing today i hope i said that right sir. mr. kravitz appeared oklahoma and pretty close to getting it right. gsf upscaling traveled all the way from spain to be here with us today. that is a long flight sir i get upset having to travel back and forth from oklahoma, so i appreciate that. it's it innovative chemical didl recycling company that accepts the most plastics gfs facilities distance guard fishing notes eats you are the exact type of person meeting here today because listening to you we can start getting serious about addressing plastic waste. so i appreciate it once again. innovation, not misguided regulation is the correct way to move forward but i look forward to hearing from all of our witnesses today on ways we can facilitate this. look more serious. with that ideal back. >> with that thank you very much. the researcher at the five jars institute ocean plastic solution leading 20 expeditions across all oceans. we have collected thousands of samples like the one that is right here right we can see it's mostly micro- plastics. we recently published a study looking at a 40 year trend or published paper the first 25 years in 1980 until 2005 this quarter-century the amount of trash and the world ocean increased slowly but since 2005 there has been an exponential increase to the point that today we estimate 170 trillion particles of micro- plastic in the whole ocean. the point is that we need urgent action. now, why does this matter? let me tell a quick story. a few years ago back to kuwait i'd been there 30 years ago as a marine infantrymen during the persian gulf war if you remember those times in 1991 the print i returned there recently as a marine scientist. our team surveyed the gulf of arabia but we also went deep into the desert with you and a few camel skeletons. i will show you will be doug out of one skeleton. we estimate about 2000 plastic bags in this mass and one camel's gut. this adds a thousands of organisms worldwide impacted by our trash. the point i want to make here is i have been across oceans and we are not talk about cell phones or car bumpers or blood bags when you think of harm we are talking single use during plastic they are ubiquitous across the globe. but solutions are clear. first of all we are not going to recycle our way out of this problem. it's rising to the challenge. refill it reused great entrepreneurs in the reit used in refill economy are succeeding. there successfully living products to consumers without packaging waste. thousands of entrepreneurs are proving successful with rios in refill business models. at the same time biomaterials are promising innovation. our team research what happens when bio plastic are lost and inreal environmental settings pretty want to understand how did they perform and the environment. we are talking about biodegradable bio plastics draws and thin film from bags the ocean in florida, the ocean and made a forest in maine, the everglades a desert in california. environments over 18 months a year end a half. they are fascinating. this is our study. we took all kinds of straws and 16 weeks we found them. they function as a straw when they are used if they are lost they degrade it match the rate of degradation of a paper straw. of biodegradable plastic films within 16 weeks same things they films are disappearing they aree degrading over time. it is practically gone the utensils the same thing for different kinds of utensils that pha and pla are practically gone. even faster than the bamboo of wooden utensils if you look here the polystyrene polyethylene film the straw are as new as the day we got them. in closing the problem is getting worse it based on our work of the world's ocean and land. businesses that refill in rios are thriving and their functional alternatives to some kind of packaging. i would be happy to answer any questions you might have thank you. x thank you very much doctor erickson. it's a fastened display you brought up much of. appreciated and awed. >> please make sure your microphone is turned on too. >> thank you for that. good morning mr. chairman and ranking member and ranking berms of the committee my name is erin and i'm the vice president and head of plastic business at world wildlife fund. wonder thank you for the opportunity to testify on such an important topic. one has quickly become a top environmental concern for many americans that's growing up plastic solutions. plastic solutions can be found in nearly every corner of the planet from our city sidewalks. as you mentioned this enormous amount of plastic solution entering our oceans every year. that's a dump truck amid a plastic pollution. significant toll on public health, vulnerable communities. also harms on that most important ecosystems like coral reef and mangrove. less you act now the trajectory of this will just worsen it will double the amount of plastic we produce and triple the amount of it entering our oceans by 2040. it is undeniable plastic is the versatile material that keeps her food freshener medication safe. however recurrent revamp plastic as a single use resource and linear system are products and packaging are created, used, thrown away but the plastic pollution crisis is taught as it is no longer economically, socially or environmentally sustainable to prioritize the production of single use products no matter where they are made and what they are made of. all natural resources or finance. we are taking these materials faster. we look to the future of innovations we need to amend the broken system no matter what the material is. this means getting rid of the things we don't mean substantially the single inputs in the attornment of an alternative when appropriate alternative but chose to replace patrick goodby paper, metal, glass or bile basement trip however no matter the material we must always be thoughtful and thorough in considering the use of alternatives so we avoid the negative trade-offs. all materials have environmental and social impacts. it is critical we take necessary ideas that have stronger environmental and social benefits when compared to the conventional plastics. it is important to know for example both virgin glass and metal have intensive extraction processes for their overall sustainability performance is largely tied to ability to recapture the ability. if you look for solutions to reduce and replace you might still need a version of plastic but does not need to come from fossil fuels. jacob gave alternative resources such as seaweed, sugar cane and other plants they offer an opportunity to decouple from fossil resources achieve greenhouse glass savings when produced in accordance to best practices. to realize this potential we have to file a no one-size-fits-all for bio -based plastics. shared set of principles that can guide design choices how they are ground effectively recycle or composted. it is critical we pay attention to food security, labor practices, deforestation and conversion impacts on water quality is both necessary recycling or composting for the recovery of these. policy conversations around all materials continued to be essential. independent of any alternative material solution. we did supporting infrastructure and policy contact with the broken system. that includes assistance to collect rios recycling compost. anything produce. in knights it's leading businesses are setting around recycling i'll be out of pedal later today in this room with w wf and coca-cola, walmart and mars talk about the ambition we are seeing for many private sector including calls for enabling government policies. united states has the opportunity to be a global leader in this. in the end that we need everybody to do their part speak debbie wf hopes today's conversation will pave the way for further development implementation of robust policies in the state. policy is a call attention to the consideration advantages of production rios and other plastic alternatives as we seek to address the problem of plastic solution for a circular economy is unsustainable if we have a way forward when we are working together. it begins by reevaluating use of disposable plastic in a system that prioritizes environmental health and environmental justice. this reality may seem an ambitious but there are policies and changes in technologies you can used to move forward today and create a more efficient system for the healthy planet and future generations. thank you. >> thank you very much and we are going to turn to, welcome. >> good morning. chairman merkley, ranking member and members of the subcommittee i am founder ceo of recycling. i appreciate the opportunity to appear before the subcommittee today. i will discuss three aspects of my company's innovation that allowed. first we can up cycle all types of user plastics second, we deliver substantial improvements in energy and environmental performance with the plastic recycling process. third, we could a strong economic for communities to keep user plastics are the waste drinks and environment. our first breakthrough takes advantage for proprietary materials commonly known as carbon nanotubes by adding our motility 2 tons of use plastic in the process and in municipal or industrial entity will now be able to up cycle 80% plus of used to plastics including mixed, dirty and contaminate plastics that are currently too hard to recycle and otherwise end up in landfills, incinerators are lost in their environment. examples of this include packaging material for about 45% of the global as well as medical devices, automobile parts, and even integrated plastics such as marine debris. recently validated this in our demonstration plant using fishing nets collected from local fishermen. our nano materials enable the process to a occur at roughly half the return for a 50 degrees fahrenheit considered 800 degrees fahrenheit. and with the 30 -- 60% improvement in plant performance. thus a significant a reducing reducingenergy costs and associd greenhouse gases per unit of output. just as cap consequential the process also captures dixie -- 99% such as as well as other contaminants of major health and environmental concern. these contaminants can be segregated. our second breakthrough takes advantage of proprietary mix biological enzymes. by placing these enzymes in direct contact with used to plastics plastic back into its original. unlike any other method our process takes place at room temperature without the added heat or energy consumption and without chemical -based solvent pretreatment that other processes require it. we have proven the process cannot only handle plastics soda bottles but also plastics that are otherwise expensive and or completely mechanical recycled for example start from packaging materials or electronic plastic waste. we are currently redeveloping similar treatments for polyethylene and packaging materials. the output of both of our innovations is high quality thick economically compete with new feedstock on fossil fuels. in other words plastic back to plastic. our midterm objective is to decouple plastic production from fossil based sources. just as important up cycling abuse plastics can occur at a profit. creating economic incentives for local communities to construct affordable up cycling facilities to collect and convert all of their plastics into valuable feedstock. at a net savings to their budget rather than at a cost. in his summer income are up cycling technology innovations are able to process all types of user plastics include integrated plastics like marine debris and produce high quality feedstock that can readily be converted into new plastic. we can perform bio somatic up cycling at room temperature and can significantly reduce the heat needed. driving substantial reduction in energy consumption and associated air pollution and greenhouse gas. and we can capture and segregate chemical contaminants and use plastics but for example. [background sounds] >> thank you to all of our witnesses,s much appreciated. i wanted to start out, dr. eriksen, when i was a kid we always referred to wax paper cups. paper cups today are mostly not coated in wax, they're coated in plastic. is there a particular reason that for, at least for cold drinks we couldn't return to the wax paper cups? >> [inaudible] i see no reason why we couldn't return to some of those materials we grew up with. same here, you know, a wax coating on paper does function as a moisture barrier. so, yes, we could. is and, actually, they still exist today. you look at the packaging for, like, lettuces and cabbages in the agricultural sector, you see wax-coated cardboard being utilized frequently as a water barrier. >> i want to turn to your powerful display of what you found in the gut of a single camel or from inside the skeleton of a single camel. i've seen similar displays from many marine species. is it fair to say that if we're looking at the gut of, well, i've seen them in dolphins and sharks and so forth, that we also see a huge often accumulation in marine birds as well of, in the oceans of -- affecting our wildlife? >> we do see similar impacts of single-use plastics on other marine life especially. many colleagues whenever a whale washes ashore on the west coast of the united states, they to do look in the gut, and they frequently find, you know, plastic from other objects,
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