US Lagging on Ocean Plastic Litter, OECD Says in Critical Report

An international organization of democracies chastised the US on Thursday for its outsize contribution to marine plastic litter.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development made the criticisms in its first environmental performance review for the US since 2005. The report looked broadly at pressures on the environment, including climate change and urban sprawl, and made 30 recommendations for better environmental protection, with a focus on marine litter and environmental justice.

The recommendations included a national ban on some of the most frequently littered items, such as plastic straws, single-use bags, and packaging.

The US was the top generator of plastic waste globally in total volume and per capita in 2019, according to the report. Plastic use in the US doubled between 1990 and 2019.

Plastic production contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and other environmental consequences, the report said. Plastic also can harm marine creatures when they eat it or get entangled in it.

At the report’s launch event, panelists from OECD and the Environmental Protection Agency said environmental justice, climate, and plastic pollution are priorities for the Biden administration.

“It’s a particularly exciting and critical time,” said John Thompson, deputy assistant secretary for environment in the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. “There’s really a call for action to us as the global community.”

He said the State Department is working on tackling marine litter through international and domestic approaches.

Within the US, municipal waste collection rates are high, but plastic recycling rates are low and lag behind other countries, according to the report.

The OECD recommendations on marine litter also include increased funding to reduce leakage of plastic into the environment, such as better capture at sewer and overflow outfalls and better screening at wastewater treatment plants.

White House Council on Environmental Quality spokesperson Jonathan Black said the US was already spending more on the environment. “The Inflation Reduction Act represents the single largest investment in fighting climate change in US history,” he said. The landmark legislation designated $370 billion to fight climate change.

“We now have the financial resources to be able to achieve these goals,” Environmental Protection Agency Office of International and Tribal Affairs spokesperson Jane Nishida said.

Other countries have different policy approaches, the OECD report noted. Indonesia focuses on closing leakage pathways by providing information to local governments. Japan incentivizes the recycling industry and is developing bioplastics as an alternative to plastics derived from fossil fuels.

The report emphasized systematically considering equity and environmental justice during discussions about marine litter.

“Decades of research have established that low income households, indigenous communities, and people of color in the United States are disproportionately exposed to pollution and other environmental risks,” OECD Environment Directorate director Jo Tyndall said at the event.