Hundreds Rally at Capitol for Packaging Reduction (Part 2)

On Monday May 11, several hundred people attended Beyond Plastic’s lobby day and rally. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act – known as PRRIA – would require producers of single-use packaging to reduce the amount by 30% over 12 years and ban 13 toxic chemicals from packaging. The bill has twice passed the Senate but the Assembly Speaker has refused to let it come up for a vote despite having a majority of members as co-sponsors. However, a few days after the rally, the Speaker announced that the Democratic members of the Assembly would be reviewing the legislation in conference. The sponsors recently did an additional 38 amendments to the bill to help with its passage. In part two of our coverage, we hear Dr. Charles Moon of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Chris Alexander of the NYS NAACP Conference, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, and Jay Buckiewicz of the Peekskill NAACP. This has been Mark Dunlea for the Hudson Mohawk Magazine.