Pennsylvania’s local laws reducing plastic waste

Since 2018, twenty nine Pennsylvania cities, townships, and boroughs have passed laws eliminating one or more types of single-use plastic. These laws cover over 2.4 million Pennsylvanians and could eliminate over 900 million single-use plastic bags every year, equivalent to over 4,900 tons of plastic waste. Plastic bag bans and similar laws are effective tools for tackling plastic pollution and litter since they eliminate the waste at the source. Check out our interactive map below to see which municipalities have taken action and what they’ve done!

Plastic waste: A pervasive problem

Every year, Americans throw away 35 million tons of plastic. But with plastic waste there is no “away”. In fact, less than 6% of all plastic waste is ever recycled. The rest ends up in landfills, where it can contaminate groundwater, or burnt in incinerators, where it creates air pollution, or as litter in our streets, parks, oceans and waterways. Plastic waste poses a threat to our wildlife, our infrastructure and our health. And it’s showing no signs of slowing down. 

To make matters worse, there’s mounting research showing that plastic is bad not just for our wildlife, but for our health. PennEnvironment’s own research has found tiny pieces of plastic called microplastics in every river, lake and stream from which we tested–over 100 waterways across Pennsylvania. Microplastics serve as magnets for harmful chemicals, including carcinogens, neurotoxins, and endocrine disruptors, meaning when we or our wildlife are ingesting microplastics – which are now increasingly prevalent in our food, drinking water, and air –  we’re also ingesting concentrated doses of environmental toxins along with them. Studies suggest that every week, we ingest an average of five grams of microplastics, equal in weight to a credit card.

Implementing effective solutions

To reduce the amount of plastic waste that ends up in our environment, landfills, and streets, we need to drastically reduce our use of single-use plastics and shift from a “throw-away” culture to a zero waste society. The best way to do this is by cutting off plastic pollution at the source. Banning single-use plastic items like bags, polystyrene foam (often called Styrofoam), and other wasteful items has been shown to be one of the best way to reduce waste, litter, and plastic pollution. By focusing first on some of the most visible, widespread & unnecessary forms of plastic, we can build a powerful movement to get rid of single-use plastics once and for all. 

Want to help reduce single-use plastic waste where you live?

Join Pennsylvanians across the state calling on their local leaders to protect our rivers and streams from plastic pollution. If you want your city, township, or borough to join the growing list of communities that have taken action to ban single-use plastics in Pennsylvania, contact us or use the resources below to get started!