The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (PRRIA) passed the New York State Senate on Wednesday with a 33-25 vote. The PRRIA, sponsored by State Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Deborah Glick, would reduce packaging and make the producers and manufacturers responsible for disposal costs. It mandates a 30% reduction in overall packaging by weight over 12 years. It also aims for 75% of the remaining packaging to achieve recycling status by 2052 and would ban 17 specific toxic chemicals often found in packaging, including PFAS, lead, mercury, and polyvinyl chloride.
A report from the advocacy group Beyond Plastics, highlighted by proponents, projects that the act could save New Yorkers $1.3 billion over the next decade by decreasing trash collection and disposal expenses. Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator, described the bill as 鈥渢he most comprehensive plastic reduction legislation in the nation.鈥�
But Republican lawmakers detailed their concerns over the bill in a press conference on Tuesday. Minority Leader Rob Ortt argued the bill 鈥渨ill drive up the cost of food prices, namely, grocery bills will increase for every family if this bill will be passed by both houses and signed into law by the governor.鈥� He also doubted that savings from reducing packaging waste would matter to New Yorkers, because 鈥渢hose savings never get passed back to the taxpayer.鈥�