Kickstart: The state of plastics policy depends on the state

While national politicians talk about plastics and sustainability, states seem to be where most of the action is when it comes to public policy right now. As PN's Steve Toloken noted earlier this year, state legislators are the ones passing laws covering everything from single-use plastics to chemical recycling.

And it shouldn't be a surprise that those decisions can vary, with states even in the same region taking conflicting stances.

Consider New England, where on June 29, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott vetoed a bill that would have expanded the state's bottle bill to include water and other beverages, while Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed a bill requiring 25 percent recycled content in bottles by 2027.

It's not as simple as just pointing to either governor's political affiliation. In vetoing the Vermont bill, Scott — a Republican — defended his support of recycling but said the measure merely adds more labor and complexity to a bottle bill first passed in 1972.

Lamont, a Democrat, said in a letter to legislators that while he signed the bill — due to wide support in the state — it fails to address bigger issues related to Connecticut's recycling infrastructure while adding costs for consumers.

"Moving forward, I hope we can work collaboratively in the next legislative session to develop a comprehensive solution," he said in his letter.

Three years ago, with water levels rising in the Great Lakes, property owners with lakefront access were given permission to use sandbags to protect their land. Now with water levels down, state officials in Michigan would very much like those same people to remove those sandbags to protect the lakes from possible microplastics pollution.

"The sand isn't an issue. It's mostly the plastic bags' material that that the burlap is infused with," Hugh McDiarmid, communications manager for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, told The Detroit News. "Once that breaks down, you put plastic material like microplastics on the beaches and in the water and that's what we're trying to avoid."

The state had allowed temporary permits allowing sandbags, and announced July 5 by EGLE that it was returning to the sandbag ban for lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie and St. Clair, which are now officially listed as "below the ordinary high-water mark." Lake Superior continues to be at above-normal levels, so homeowners can retain bags in those locations, state officials said.

The next potential supply chain issue may be just a few weeks away as delivery company United Parcel Service and the Teamsters Union face a July 31 deadline for a new contract. Members of the union, covering more than 300,000 workers nationwide, have already authorized a strike.

UPS last saw a strike in 1997.

As of July 5, Reuters reports, both sides have accused the other of walking away from the negotiating table, which doesn't sound very promising at this point.

It's hard to say at this point what the impact of a strike would have on manufacturers, but UPS delivers more than 20 million packages each day in 220 countries. The BBC notes that as of 2020, UPS handled goods worth an estimated 6 percent of the U.S. economy.