WASHINGTON, D.C.: As part of its broader strategy to tackle plastic pollution, the Biden administration announced late last week that single-use plastics will be phased out from all federal operations by 2035.
Food service operations, events, and packaging will kick off the phase-out to end federal procurement of single-use plastics by 2027.
The announcement comes before the last scheduled negotiations toward a global treaty to end plastic pollution, which will start in Busan, South Korea, on November 25. Countries are still divided on whether the deal should include caps on plastic production.
The U.S supports a goal to end plastic pollution by 2040 in the treaty, but it wants countries to set their plans for doing so instead of setting global targets and goals.
The White House said the new procurement policies are the latest domestic effort to address plastic pollution and pointed to several policies it has announced that tackle fossil-fuel-intensive polymer production, recycling and removing plastic that has washed up in oceans.
The White House said the Environmental Protection Agency issued rules to limit emissions from producing chemicals used to make plastic and plans to invest $275 million to improve recycling infrastructure.
Since the U.S. government is the biggest buyer, some environmental groups said that phasing out single-use plastic in favor of reusable or compostable products was significant.
"The U.S. government is the world's largest purchaser of goods and services, and its purchasing decisions can have a global impact," Reuters quoted Plastics Campaign Director Christy Leavitt at Oceana, as saying.