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We're in a plastic crisis.
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But who's responsible for this mess?
And how can we turn it around?
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Let me toss a few facts at you.
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More than half the plastic ever produced
was created in the last decade.
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And only about 9% of the plastic ever made
has been recycled.
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But before you go blaming
your lazy neighbor
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for that dismal recycling rate,
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maybe we should take a step back
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and see how we got here
in the first place.
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And to answer that question.
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We've got to go way way back
to where the plastic began.
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No, no, no... not that far back.
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Right, that's good.
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These are fracking wells,
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which is where a lot
of the plastic (bleep)
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you see lying around
in the environment starts.
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Over the last decade,
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governments handed out
billions of dollars in tax subsidies
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and gutted environmental rules
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to encourage oil
and natural gas development.
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That created a lot
of new cheap oil and gas
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that companies like Dow and Exxon
also turned into plastic.
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In other words, lots of cheap oil and gas
means lots of cheap plastic.
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In fact, plastic is now the fastest
growing source of greenhouse gases
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like CO2 and methane.
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Huge consumer goods companies
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then turn all that cheap plastic
into packaging or products
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that often get used just once
and then can't or won't get recycled.
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And with no laws
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holding producers responsible
for the plastic waste they create,
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guess who picks up the bill
for all that junk?
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That's right, us. The taxpayers!
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The companies who make
and use single-use plastics
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want. you to believe that recycling
will take care of all of it.
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But it turns out it's often more expensive
to recycle something
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that it is just to create new plastic.
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Some cities and towns
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are even considering ditching
their recycling programs altogether.
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Take Maine, for example.
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Mainers want to do the right thing,
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but products continue to be packaged
in wasteful ways
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and towns are struggling
with what to do with them
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when they get to the dump.
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You see, when the people
who create plastic packaging
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aren't responsible for managing and paying
for their waste, bad things happen.
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Like really bad things.
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That's why many are starting to rethink
packaging and the way waste is handled.
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One way to do that
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is through a system called
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
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You might also call it polluter pays
or 'a great idea'.
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EPR for packaging
puts companies on the hook
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by making them accountable
for the stuff they put on our shelves.
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Like paying more
for non-recyclable materials.
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While the US doesn't require manufacturers
to help manage their packaging waste,
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many other places do,
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including several Canadian provinces
and all countries in the EU.
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Some of these laws
have been in place for 30 years
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and many of these places now see
recycling rates of up to 80%.
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And, better yet,
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when the companies become responsible
for their waste, the real magic happens.
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They realize that it's actually cheaper
to reduce their packaging
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than to pay to clean it up.
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That's the beauty of extending
the responsibility to the real polluters.
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It can help reduce plastic waste
on the front end,
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improve recycling by creating
a cleaner waste stream,
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and, oh yeah,
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tackle this thing called
climate change too.
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Coupled with other ways
to reduce unnecessary plastics,
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like bag and foam bans,
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performing recycling
through EPR for packaging
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is what the world needs.
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What's your take on EPR?
Tell us in the comments below.
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Thanks for watching.
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