Environmentalists and Community Leaders from Across New York Rally in Albany Calling on the State Assembly to Pass Packaging Reduction Act
Bill Would Reduce New York’s Plastic Waste and Phase Out the Most Toxic Chemicals in Packaging
Local Leaders Call on State Assembly to Bring the Bill Up for a Vote After It Passed the State Senate Two Years in a Row
For Immediate Release: September 13, 2025
Contacts:
Judith Enck, Beyond Plastics — judithenck@bennington.edu, (518) 605-1770
Alexis Goldsmith, Beyond Plastics — alexisgoldsmith@bennington.edu, (260) 338-9566
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York environmentalists and community leaders from across the state rallied outside the state Capital building in Albany on Saturday, September 13 in support of the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (Assembly Bill 1749). The bill passed the New York state Senate the last two years but has not yet been brought to the New York state Assembly floor for a vote. It would significantly reduce the single-use packaging clogging New York landfills, phase out the most toxic chemicals and materials used in packaging, and provide new money to local governments to boost recycling. Watch the livestream of the rally here.
Speakers at the rally included:
Brookhaven Landfill Action and Remediation Group co-founder Monique Fitzgerald;
Cancer researcher and Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions founder Courtney Williams;
NAACP New York State Conference executive director Chris Alexander;
Montefiore Einstein Medical Center physician Dr. Sandra Selikson;
Acute care nurse practitioner (ACNP-BC) and certified nephrology nurse Jean Colaneri;
NYPIRG senior policy advisor Blair Horner; and
Beyond Plastics national organizing director Alexis Goldsmith.
“The plastic problem is getting worse each and every year. Scientists are finding tiny shards of plastic throughout the human body, plastic waste is choking our rivers and ocean, and fossil fuel used to make plastic is making climate change worse. This is a common-sense bill that will protect public health and save tax dollars. We applaud the state Senate for passing this bill two years in a row, and we call on the state Assembly to bring it up for a vote when session resumes in January.” —Judith Enck, Beyond Plastics president and former EPA regional administrator
"The refusal of New York state lawmakers to prioritize public health over industry profits has Peekskill residents paying the literal and figurative costs of plastic pollution. Breathing the harmful emissions from burning plastics is directly contributing to the high rates of asthma, cardiovascular ER visits, and the litany of other health problems caused by air pollution. New York state must pass the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Act to halt the flood of plastics, hold industry accountable, and reduce the environmental racism of New York waste management. Peekskill shouldn't have to bear Westchester County's burden." —Courtney Williams, Ph.D., cancer researcher and founder of the Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions
“For years, the plastics industry has wreaked havoc on our communities — especially those communities closest to waste infrastructure. As a person living my entire life next to the Brookhaven landfill, a now 270-foot monster, it is time to hold the plastics industry and all accomplices to its destructive practices responsible. We can do that by passing the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act this session.” —Monique Fitzgerald, a climate justice organizer with the Long Island Progressive Coalition
"Plastics and the many chemicals in them are everywhere in our body — our blood, arteries, brain, testicles, placenta, lungs, liver, and kidneys, just to name a few. This has health consequences, being linked to significant increases in heart attacks, strokes, early death, infertility, premature births, dementia, cancer, and more. Research is at its infancy. More will be learned. Don't let the plastic, chemical, oil, and beverage companies fool you that all is safe. They remind me of the tobacco companies decades ago: Deny, deny, deny." —Dr. Sandra Selikson, physician at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center
"It will soon be two years since the Hochul administration released its 'Solid Waste Management Plan,' and another year has gone by without the governor seriously tackling the state's worsening solid waste crisis. 2026 must be the year that New York reduces packaging wastes, phases out single-use plastics, modernizes its ‘Bottle Bill’ — a program that has been described as an environmental success — and relies on the 'producer responsibility' approach that the governor has touted. New York simply does not have another year to waste.” —Blair Horner, NYPIRG’s senior policy advisor
"While some of New York's legislative leaders have deprioritized tackling the environmental emergency that excessive plastic waste has created, the NAACP New York State Conference has not. We are proud to support the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act because it will save lives and build on the work that has already been done to address the proliferation of toxic chemicals in our waterways, our food, and in our bodies. The communities hardest hit by continued inaction are now advocating for themselves and asking the governor and the legislature to do something. We cannot allow another year to go by without implementing the necessary strategies to reduce our waste." —Chris Alexander, NAACP New York State Conference executive director
BACKGROUND
The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (S1464 Harckham/A1749 Glick) will transform the way our goods are packaged. It will dramatically reduce waste and ease the burden on taxpayers by making companies, not taxpayers and consumers, cover the cost of managing packaging. The bill will:
Reduce plastic packaging by 30% incrementally over 12 years;
By 2052, all packaging — including plastic, glass, cardboard, paper, and metal — must meet a recycling rate of 75% (with incremental benchmarks until then);
Prohibit 17 of packaging’s worst toxic chemicals and materials, including all PFAS chemicals, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), lead, and mercury;
Prohibit the harmful process known as chemical recycling to be considered real recycling;
Establish a modest fee on packaging paid by product producers, with new revenue going to local taxpayers; and
Establish a new Office of Recycling Inspector General to ensure that companies fully comply with the new law.
An April 2025 report from Beyond Plastics "Projected Economic Benefits of the New York Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act" shows how New Yorkers would save $1.3 billion in just one decade after the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act becomes law. These savings would come from the avoided costs of waste management when there’s less waste to manage, and they don’t even include the funds that would be brought in after placing a fee on packaging paid by product producers.
About Beyond Plastics
Launched in 2019, Beyond Plastics pairs the wisdom and experience of environmental policy experts with the energy and creativity of grassroots advocates to build a vibrant and effective movement to end plastic pollution. Using deep policy and advocacy expertise, Beyond Plastics is building a well-informed, effective movement seeking to achieve the institutional, economic, and societal changes needed to save our planet and ourselves, from the negative health, climate, and environmental impacts for the production, usage, and disposal of plastics.
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