Dear Editor:
Parsippany Council needs to support by resolution the pending State legislation now being proposed in the Senate No.2776 and the Assembly as No.4330. An Act concerning plastic carryout bags, expanded polystyrene food service products, and plastic straws, and supplementing Title 13 of the revised Statutes.
When it comes to plastic waste and pollution it appears the free market lost control of itself in the over promotion without proper foresight or consumer protections Concerning the impacts that have occurred and are exponentially progressing; as now rather than less plastic being produced more is being made. This is as if no one sees or wants to see the obvious trash and litter phenomena; it would not be inappropriate to refer to this plastic plaque as a form of climate change in its magnitude locally and worldwide. At the very least as plastic is a petroleum derivative product we may see it as a form of oil spill escaping into our American and Planetary landscapes, waterways and oceans.
In the United States the largest consumer of any nation only 33% of all materials are recycled. Over 70% of the plastics go to waste in landfills, in New Jersey alone. (Not counting the litter).
Plastic never biodegrades but only breaks down into smaller micro-particles infecting our soils, water and actually entering the anatomy of plants, animals and humans. (especially the Polystyrenes or styrofoam).