Chicago City Council Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy
September 14, 2021
RESOLUTION CALLING ON PROHIBITION OF DISCHARGE OF PLASTIC PELLETS AND OTHER PRE-PRODUCTION PLASTIC INTO WATERWAYS
WHEREAS, The Covid pandemic has driven a 40 percent increase in the use of plastic packaging, including single-use plastics for carryout food containers; and
WHEREAS, A recent report by Upstream Solutions found that the food service industry is estimated to cost $24 billion annually in food packaging alone, in addition to the $6 billion later spent on waste management to get rid of such disposable plastic; and
WHEREAS, Plastic is problematic because it damages our ecosystems and is costly to our health as tiny plastic pieces slip into our drinking water and food chain undetected; and
WHEREAS, The utilization of single-use plastics have been seen to only be a total of 9% of all plastics recycled, with some of the waste ending in landfills or incinerated, but majority ofthe waste finding its way into our rivers, lakes, and oceans; and
WHEREAS, Businesses and city governments throughout the U.S. have saved $5 billion by avoiding disposable plastics and created an estimate of 193,000 jobs within the new reuse economy; and
WHEREAS, It is time-sensitive for Chicagoans to follow such practices seen throughout Illinois such as those in Senator Durbin's Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act and by the Shedd Aquarium; and
WHEREAS, Specifically, Senator Durbin's Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act, which prohibits the discharge of plastic pellets and other pre-production plastic materials from facilities that make, use, package, or transport those materials; and, now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Members ofthe City Council ofthe City of Chicago, call on the City of Chicago to prohibit the discharge of plastic pellets and other pre-production plastic materials from facilities that make, use, package, or transport those materials.
Gilbert Villegas Alderman, 36lh Ward P...
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