Both in person and virtually, i want to announce a couple reminders to the members about the conduct of this hearing. First, members and staff who are attending in person and are unvaccinated against covid19 must stay mask throughout the hearing. And unvaccinated members may remove masks only during their questioning under the five minute rule. Members who are attending virtually should keep their Video Feed on as long as they are present in the hearing. Members are responsible for their own microphones. We also keep microphones muted unless you are speaking. If members have documents they wish to submit for the record, please email them to the Committee Clerk whose Email Address was circulated prior to the hearing. Good morning. Thank you all for joining Todays Hearing. A special thank you to our witnesses for joining us here today. Two years ago, i had the Honor And Privilege of chairing the first hearing on recycling in this committee and almost over a decade. Since then, much has changed, but the problem of plastic waste and how to enable a circular economy for recycling continues. We only have to look to the past year and a half to see some of the important medical and safety functions of plastic. Face shields, face masks, other personal protective equipment, allowed americas essential workers to be on our front lines of our nations covid19 battle. Disposable syringe is are helping to deliver vaccine shots in arms all across this country. Plastic can be designated to be rigid enough to use in Vehicle Safety applications, durable enough to hold liquid products for years, and flexible enough to keep our food fresh. Virgin plastic is also cheap to produce. Unfortunately, the characteristics that make plastic convenient also make it difficult to recycle and to manage after its been used. Global Plastic Production increased from 2 million tons per year in 1950. Its 400 million tons annually in recent years. If current trends continue, Plastic Productions are projected to quadruple by 2050. There is no One Size fits all solution here. But what we do know, and where we want to start, is with reducing, reusing, and recycling. Historically, the u. S. Has done a bad job recycling. We recycle less than 9 of our plastic waste, despite all the campaigns that are pursued across the country. For more than 20 years, the u. S. Shipped our plastic waste to international markets to be recycled. One one of the major markets closed in 2018, items collected for recycling sad in warehouses because many cities across the nation didnt have a local recycling that could process these bails of plastic, which were too often highly contaminated. Our communities face the choice of incinerating recyclables are putting them in landfills. Market, economic, and other factors led to the current Plastic Pollution crisis, but part of the solution can be to invest in research to reduce plastic waste and improve domestic Recycling Infrastructure capabilities. I was proud to introduce the plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Research Act alongside my colleague from ohio, congressman anthony gonzales. The bill calls on the federal government to develop a strategic plan for plastic Waste Reduction and directs the office of Science And Technology policy to establish a program to leverage the expertise of federal science agencies, academia, scientific associations, state and local governments and the private sector. This bill will support research and international Standards Development to spur innovative sustainable solutions that can create a world leading u. S. Industry and Plastics Recycling. Research is absolutely needed into how to design plastics to be recyclable, upcycled existing plastic into high value products, minimize environmental impacts of plastic waste, and recycling on our climate. To improve plastic Waste Management from entering our air, soil, and oceans. Finally this legislation would support the sorting technologies more efficient and to update standards for characterizing the multi layered Plastic Packaging materials used today. No single solution will solve Plastic Pollution. Rather, it will take multiple efforts. The research supported in this bill can drive innovation, and innovation is at the heart of american Industry And Manufacturing that creates jobs. I look forward to hearing from ouR Distinguished witnesses as our committee explores challenges and opportunities for adopting sustainable upstream plastic Waste Reduction solutions, and improvements to the recycling system. Before i yield for the opening statement, i would like to enter into the record two letters of support for the plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Research Act from the american Chemical Society and the national league of cities. The chair now recognizes the opening statement. Thank you, madam chair. Before i give my opening statement, i would like to wish you a happy birthday. I share your passion for this topic. Im an avid recycle or. My 17yearold Daughter keeps me on track in that regard. Good morning. Thank you for holding Todays Hearing. Its good to be in the Hearing Room with you. I look forward to examining a merging technologies and Plastics Recycling. Id also like to thank our witnesses for appearing before the subcommittee and sharing their expertise with us. As we take a step back, i want to note that in the 20th century, the United States was a leader in the field of plastics. We revolutionized the world by making material wealth widespread and attainable like never before. However, the u. S. Recycling infrastructure has failed to keep up with the booming plastic market. In 2018, the u. S. Produced 36 million tons of plastic as the chairwoman noted. However the domestic Recycling Industry only repurposed eight and a Half Percent of it. America has a new opportunity to lead in the development of a circular economy of plastics, an economy that produces, recycles, and reuses materials to reduce costs and waste. The investments and Research Development of new sustainable materials will help the environment and the u. S. Economy. For example, with Advanced Recycling tools and technologies, we can fully repurpose plastic without needing to harvest any new resources. In essence, we can turn waist into a marketable commodity. The economic potential here truly is a mens. According to a report by the american chemistry council, advanced Plastics Recycling could support over 38,000 u. S. Jobs and produce nearly ten billion in u. S. Economic output. Today, plastics are integral to ouR Daily lives, but we cannot ignore their impact on the environment. In my district in northeast florida we are blessed with miles of beautiful coastline. Its a main focal point of our lives and our economy. Moving from plastic waste to plastic reuse ensures the protection of floridas pristine beaches, which many on this committee like to visit, and floridians a con armies that rely on healthy coastal ecosystems. I recently had the pleasure of visiting the marine Life Center in jupiter, florida. It was amazing to see the research in the marine life they are helping their, but it was also very disturbing to see the amount of microplastics that are appearing in our ocean food supply. It was staggering, and its dangerous, and we absolutely need to take action. I believe that using innovative methods to bolster and optimize ouR Domestic Plastics Recycling will not only preserve this environment, but also avoid costly regulations, and thats unlike the plastic provisions in the green new deal. Additionally, has demonstrated over the last, year our national security is at risk as long as we are dependent on foreign nations, particularly on the chinese communist party, for essential commodities or services. Americas clean Energy Future requires a reliable and stable supply of critical minerals. My bill, the american critical mineral independence act, addresses the issue of Americas Reliance on foreign nations to obtain critical minerals. I am pleased, that a provision of the legislation was included in it for the next act that recently passed this committee. When it comes to recycling the u. S. Cannot remain export reliant. For one, media reports regarding chinas 2018 plastics importation restrictions highlighted that china never actually disposed of plastics properly. Secondly, we should not become reliant on china for yet another critical service. Especially when there is untapped economic economic gain to be had here at. Home the science Committees Role is to look to innovation to solve major challenges facing our nation and its just what were doing here today. We have witnesses from academia in industries who are working on new solutions to Plastics Recycling including Chemical Recycling and applying robotics in artificial intelligence ai. I look forward to having an insightful conversation. Innovation in these areas will ensure a better world for our children and grandchildren. Thank you madam chair, i yield back. Thank you. And the chair now recognizes the chairwoman of the full committee, Chairwoman Johnson for an opening statement. Good morning. And thank you, chairwoman stevens for holding Todays Hearing. And happy birthday. Leaders across the globe are wrestling with the need to reduce plastic waste. And i appreciate the fact that, you chairwoman stevens and Congressman Gonzalez have this bipartisan leadership on the legislation supporting Research And Development in activities to help reduce plastic waste. Communities across the country including my district of dallas texas or trying to find solutions to deal with the increasing levels of plastic waste. These statistics concerning Plastic Pollution are indeed staggering and in 2018, plastic waste was a very large source of municipal solid wastes in the u. S. In a year alone we generated 35. 7 million tons plastic waste. We recycle 3 million tons. We can busted 5. 6 million tons and put 27 million tons of plastic in waste blamed fields, waste landfills. The statistics make it imperative to support research that can help us move forward in a sustainable. Way experts agree the no single solution will stall the plastic Waste Crisis. We must have all of the above understood, and is inborn understand the current recycling systems and potential for solutions, where Research Ecology and data gaps we need to fill. Also critical is understanding of the need of standard developments in new assessment models. They help us achieve sustainable systems. Collaboration will be key between federal agencies, state and local governments. Academia, the private sector, and international partners. Todays hearing is very important. And the step were taking with it since heaving working to achieving Sustainability Sustainability goals for our environment. I look forward to this discussion and i thank you neil back. Great, thank you madam chair. And if there are members who wish to submit additional opening statements, youre statements will be added to the record at this point. Also at this time, id like to introduce our witnesses. Our first witness is miss harrison. Miss harrison is the chief executive officer of the Recycling Partnership, a national nonprofit dedicated to protecting the planet by fixing recycling in activating a circular economy throughout the United States. She is an international speaker, media pungent and environmental authoR Dedicated to engaging companies in making measurable lasting change in communities. Under her leadership, the Recycling Partnership has grown significantly. Engaging in more than 70 funding partners and reaching more than half of american households. Our next witness is Doctor Marc Hill meyer. Doctor Hill Mire is principal investigator of the university of minnesota and its App Center for sustainable polymers. He joined the department of chemistry in University Minnesota in 1997 is currently the Mcknight President ial endowed chair in chemistry at the university where his research focuses on this Synthesis And Self assembly of multi functional polymers. Doctor Hill Meyer served as an associate editor for the Acs Journal from 2018 to 2017, and he has been editorinchief since 2017. Arthur witness is doctor gregory killion. He is the Pewter And Wedge professor at the university of michigan, and serves as the director for sustainable systems. He also holds appointments as a professor in a school for Environment And Sustainability in the department of civil and environmental engineering. His research focuses on the developments and application of Life Cycle models and sustaining the sustainability metrics to guide the design improvement of products and technology. Our final witness is mr. Joshua hes the Vice President of the Plastics Division at the american chemistry council. In this role, he oversees strategic programs to advance science based policy agenda, national Outrage And Sustainability initiatives on behalf of americas leading plastic makers. He also leads industry initiatives and fosters multi stakeholdeR Dialogues around helping and plastic waste by creating a more circular economy. As our witnesses should know you will each have five minutes for your spoken testimony. Your written testimony will be included in the record for the hearing. When you all have completed your spoken testimony, we will begin with questions. Each member will have five minutes to question the panel. We will start with miss harrisons opening testimony. Madam chairwoman and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you about this important topic. As you know im ceo of the Recycling Partnership. We are national nonprofit that works with companies, communities, and policies just throwing strength in the u. S. Recycling system. You may remember a recent campaign in d. C. To boost recycling. That was an example of the type of grants that we give and how we partner with thousands of cities across the county across the country. The Recycling Partnership is designed to bring together public and private sectors because without coordination, recycling will neveR Deliver the solutions that we all need. Recycling is one something old becomes something new again. But we need to ensure that that is by plane, and not just by chance, as is the current case. And we are here today to talk about how to execute that plan as shared vision for the future. One of a circular economy moving away from a linear economy where we take roma tears from the planet and make stuff out of it just to bury all of that value back into the ground after a single use. Committee members, recycling is so much more than just putting things in a recycling bin. Its really about smarter and stronger methods for manufacturing. But there is a hitch. As many of you have heard, recycling barriers need help in overcoming. Thats why we are here today. In fact, the Recycling Partnership just wrote a report that you may be interested in, it is called paying it forward. How investing in recycling will pay dividends. And it outlines how to fix the u. S. Recycling system and deliver wards to the environment and the economy. Now, when it comes to plastics, technology has an important role to play in delivering that better system. R d can help us answer important questions like, how do we betteR Design plastics products to meet the demands of the infrastructure . Things like labels, adhesives, they make a big difference in determining if something is truly recyclable. Similarly, how do we make sure that improvements of the infrastructure are aligned with all of the innovation that it wouldnt of what is coming into the system, and what is being designed . How can we develop standards to make sure the businesses across the country know what quality of recyclable feed stops that theyre getting . And exactly how can we make sure that recycled content supplies available for u. S. Businesses. Like businesses in all of your states, there is a unifying North Carolinas turning old Water Bottles into recycled fiber for close. Indiana making outdoor furniture out of and vision of plastics in California Capturing Ocean bottle plastics and producing feed stop for Shampoo And Soap bottles. Their Shoe Pan in michigan, and a number of others. All turning bottles into new bottles. So, why does this matter to this committee . Three things should be top of mind for ouR Discussion today. System solutions, scale and speed. Our indie that focuses on those three things matter most, technology only helps if it is part of a system. What is not needed . One off technologies, silver bullets. Individual projects they do not add up to systems change. Each one of those businesses that i mentioned, and all of the others like them have to overcome technical barriers in order to become profitable and grow. We need research to turn those technical barriers into bridges, hoping to create a circular economy, not just by chance but by plan. We commend this committee for its attention to plastic circulars economy, and im grateful for the opportunity to testify today. The Recycling Partnership looks forward to working with you on solutions that create jobs, protect our planet, and its people. Thank you. Thank you. Now, we will hear from doctor Hill Meyer. Thank you. Chairwoman stevens, ranking member walls, Chairwoman Johnson, and distinguished members of the subcommittee thank you for the invitation and for my testimony today i am quite excited to speak with you today. Im a professor of chemistry at the and director of the national Science Foundation Center for sustainable polymers which is a headquarter for Minnesotas Polymer polymers are plastics and ive worked in Polymer Science since my undergrad days in at the university. Fluttery my Phd And Chemistry steady polymers since the beginning of a professor of chemistry and minnesota, i worked in areas of sustainable polymers and much of my Research Today has connections to sustainability and as the director of sustainable since its inception in 2009, ive led research efforts and manage raw Research Portfolio focused on sustainable polymers. I really have a passion for advancing sustainable polymers for basic research endeavors, that enable a circular economy for future generations. As a society the depends on plastics every day, in nearly all established new, an emerging high low tech applications, we are faced with the crisis. That comforts, conveniences inefficiencies associated with the use of these modern materials also comes at a cost. Ever increasing, broadening, and persisting Plastic Pollution. More than ever, plastic produce every day are done so from non renewable fossil reduces with depletion of those rare earth minerals. When we all know that plastics the fact is the very most small percentage of plastics are recyclable. To make matters worse most plastics are used for short periods of time, for example packaging, oR Disposable service where, and then immediately disposed of and often indiscriminately. The value of plastic, and that Plastic Material is lost, waste is generated and very little is ultimately recycled. Staggering levels of these discarded materials and microplastics created there from, cause environmental damage. The resulting negative impacts on the food change, and ultimately our own health is a clue concern. Using Oil And Gas to make plastics that have very stories lifetimes and up in the environment caused damage to our ecosystems, its simply unsustainable. However, we all need plastic. These remarkable materials are still important. Its difficult to imagine modern society without them. In fact, plastics contribute to sustainability in positive ways, such as in light with transportation, Food Preservation and renewable energy applications. Theyre the main Contributing Factor for our extensive use of plastic is that these materials are generally available at a very low cost. The performance to durability of plastic is about as high as it gets. Well i can argue that we all need plastic, we do not need all plastic. Certainly unnecessary Plastic Materials permit our Society And Materialization play a role in a sustainable polymer future. Theres some places where we simply used too much plastic. We need a major change in the way we produce, use, dispose of, and recycle plastics. The goal of zero Plastic Pollution is aloft even though its a necessary one for sustainable plastics future. To realize his vision there many factors to consider, including policy initiatives, improve recycling practices, other end of life infrastructure, and industry adoptions of sustainable alternate uses for Career Plastic products, packaging, and processes. That basic andand here Today Toe Fact that basic and fundamental research and sustainable polymers is and will continue to be essential for a strong foundation for what new sustainable technologies can be built. This is where Government Industry in private Foundation Support all play critically important roles. Basic research and sustainable polymers aims to uncover the underlying principles associated with, for example efficient converging of renewable feed stalks green processes to incorporate those chemicals, to elevate primary structures, and how to create and of life scenarios posed to use while positively contributing to sustainable polymer future. This important research aimed at understanding fundamentals and revealing what is possible for sustainable polymers is decades behind analogous work in unreasonable fossil derived non degradable and practically non recyclable materials the dominate todays landscape. Significant efforts support a new initiative for new generations to enjoy the benefits of plastics will simultaneously eliminating their negative consequences. Tennis dont provide an overview of research efforts carried out in the national science for sustainable polymers. And in broader research needs in the polymer arena, and my support for the proposed Plastic Waste Production and Recycling Research Act. Thank you again for this opportunity to testify today. Im truly honored to be here to be able to share my thoughts and visions for sustainable polymer future, and look forward to answering your questions that you may have. Thank you. Thank you doctor Hill Meyer, the honors alarms. With that we will heaR Doctor thank, you chairwoman, and ranking members of the subcommittee. My name is greg i serve as director of the University And Professor in the school for environmental sustainability in the department of civil and environmental engineering. My research focuses on the development of Life Cycle models and sustainability metrics that guide the design and improvement of products and technology. Our center recently developed the first comprehensive characterization of plastics used by residents in the u. S. Economy. I wish to offer some observations and recommendations based on this and other plastic sustainability researches within the industry ranging from Milk Packaging to building insulation. The plastics Waste Crisis is more than a packaging waste problem. Two thirds of the plastics put into use in the United States other than packaging including consumer products, furniture, electronics, transportation and building. Listen 8 of the plastics retarding these products are recycled economic barriers. In theory most thermal plastics used in packaging have a wry recycle biloxi but actual low recycled rates can be traced to an expensive stocks combined with material quality issues. Plastic content electronic waste is estimated at 33 and commercially viable mechanical recycling systems that cannot handle the current volume and ive Everest Diversity of plastics in ewaste. Recovery from Separation Technology is very intense, and the cost to clean and collect often exceeds that Aversion Plastic even with oil and natural gas plastics. System analysis tools are necessary to overcome these challenges. First, research is needed to fill in gaps and plastics material flow. Improve characterization will facilitate coordination between Product Design and manufacturing a Material Group Recovery efforts. This is needed to direct our main capital resources to bottlenecks stages in greatest innovation. Second, Life Cycle analysis models are needed to get Innovation And Rob a robust cost effective solutions. Assessments of plastic using products can get improvements. They are necessary to avoid burdened Shifting And Promotion of lest environmentally sustainable alternatives. Third, emphasize interdisciplinary are indeed to develop plastic waste solutions. At the core of the current Plastics Crisis in the economic problem, sustainable solutions are effective when they are in alignment between technology, markets policy, and behavioural drivers. In a disciplinary research, bringing together engineers, industrial ecologists, economist, policy analyst, behavioral scientists fugitive convergence of rubber solutions can work more quickly. Also implementation. Implementation could be accelerated when academics, industry, governments, and community partners cocreate solutions. Fourth, are india should target Product System designed solutions beyond recycling. I strongly encourage the broadening of the Research Scope to develop solutions that avoid or limit the generation of. Waste extensio these strategies inclue materialization, to your substitution, Service Life Extension products, reuse, and remanufacturing. Fifth develop a Road Map to guide R D coordination across agencies. This can help set research priorities and avoid research duplication. Given the wide array of residents and composite types used with a Ride Range of plastic applications, each with varying lifetimes. Finally, plastic Waste Reduction solutions should also reduce carbon emissions. Humanity is facing a carbon emergency. A climate emergency. We need to prioritize technological plastic Waste Reduction innovations that could also create solutions to accelerate Greenhouse Gas emissions to zero. In conclusion, solutions to the plastic Waste Crisis will require community engagement, a major transformation is systems and technology, behavioural change in policy innovation. Technological Innovation And Recycling alone will not be sufficient. Ice ice fully support the goals of the Committees Legislation hope that my Systems Analysis based recommendations will help strengthen programming and implementation. I appreciate the opportunity to share my perspective and welcome your questions. Thank you very much for your attention. Thank you so much dr. , now we will hear from mr. Good morning. Let me first start off by thanking the subcommittee from holding this important hearing today. I want to commend the chairwoman from michigan for her leadership on this issue. Her pragmatic approach and and her collaborative style and bringing stakeholders together to solve big challenges that we face is a nation. The american chemistry councils past like division is pleased to provide testimony to the subcommittee. Our members are the leading producers of modernday plastics used to make countless consumer and durable goods used in a variety of applications, and innovations that improve the quality of our lives, our environment, and our economy. Acc encourages passage of the plastic Waste Reduction in recycling research. Act this legislation would direct federal government resources to improve the global competitive tennis of u. S. Plastic recycling ensure u. S. Leadership and plastic Waste Reduction and in recycling research. It would also help capture the value of used plastics to enhance Research And Development, and create standards, tools, and technology is necessary to modernize and expand todays recycling systems. Finally, it will accelerate the Research And Development for Advanced Recycling technologies. Our members are deeply committed to creating a circular economy for plastics and ending plastic waste in the environment. Plastics contribute to sustainability goals, which helped protect the american environment for future generations. Plastic waste is not. Waste in the environment including plastic waste is never acceptable. We are eager and taking action to solve this problem. Thats why in 2018, Americas Plastic makers established too ambitious circular economy goals. By 2030, 100 of u. S. Plastic packaging will be recyclable or recovery will. And by 2040, 100 of Plastic Packaging will be reused, recycled, or recovered. Last year, we released our roadmap to reuse which outlined a vision and a set of actions to mobilize the entire Plastics Value Chain to achieve these goals. Our industry is work to grow the circular economy for all plastics by implementing this. Since july 2017, our industry has invested nearly six billion to grow Plastics Recycling in the United States. Most of it in Advanced Recycling technologies. While traditional recycling processes will continue to play important role in Plastics Recycling, they do face an important limitation. Newer, cutting edge technologies, compliment these traditional systems by picking up where they leave off and enabling communities to recycle significantly more and greater quantities of plastics. Advanced recycling technologies are innovative, manufacturing processes that fundamentally transform the chemical structure of Post Use plastics back to their basic Chemical Building blocks. These building blocks of the raw materials used for making virgin Quality Plastics, and other valuable products. They unable more types of plastics to become resources for manufacturing, conserving natural resources, and helping grow local jobs and economies. Momentum for Advanced Recycling exhilarating across the u. S. , and the plastic Waste Reduction in Recycling Research Act will help sustain the momentum. Oh significant commitments and building infrastructure at a commercial scale. Technology has evolved in created new opportunities and tremendous breakthroughs they can create virgin Quality Packaging critical foR Demanding applications such as Fruit Grade and pharmaceutical packaging. There is a significance and growing market for recycled products to combined company commitments and consumeR Demands for using more recycled plastics products. 14 states have enacted legislation to update their existing laws so companies are more appropriately regulated in their employment of Advanced Recycling technologies. Any first wave of Advanced Recycling enterprises is achieving first or third Party Validation through international certification. We believe that with the right Approach Isnt commitments, waste caused by plastics in the environment is soluble. And collective actions by government, industry, nonprofits, and ngos will likely make this miracle more sustainable. The stakes are high. And plastics are critical to modern society. From lightweight vehicles, to reducing emissions, to ceiling insulating our homes and buildings, to delivering essential health care, preserving food and preventing food waste, and contributing into an overall higher quality of life. Again, i want to thank the subcommittee for holding this important hearing today. We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate on this legislation, and future legislation, and i yield my time back to the chairwoman. Great, thank you so much. And as you can all tell, we have a great group here. This is making for a very exciting hearing. At this point, we are going to move to our first round of questions. And the chair is going to recognize herself for five minutes of questioning. A recent federal study found that contamination of recyclables is a major cross cutting challenge to the u. S. Recycling system. I have seen this in my own district in southeastern michigan when i talk to my municipal years or others in the industry. Contamination recyclables can occur when non recyclables such as plastic bags are not sorted from recyclables or when Food Residue on recyclable Plastic Materials makes them non recyclable. Miss harrison, what steps can we take to ensure businesses and consumers know the quality of Plastic Feed Stock that they are ten acquiring for making new products . I love this question. Because its really about, how can we make sure that recycled content is competing with virgin, right . Recycling is all about manufacturing. It has to compete on price, quality, and volume. Manufacturers need to know that they can depend on recycled Feed Stock to be there when they need it. So, contamination, i think, can be put into two buckets. One, missteps in the design of a product. I mentioned the label adhesives. We need thought that goes into how packaging is designed. I would encourage the committee to look at plastic iq. Com. It is a new tool a free tool that we just designed with support from walmart to help suppliers align around common design. Challenges so that we know, as consumers, when we get something off the shelf and it is in prime recycling condition. And then the second thing, the second bucket of Work Contamination comes in, its really in the household. That challenge is when, we can sometimes call this a witch filing. When people hope that something is recyclable, so they put it into the bin. There are confused, not really knowing what it is. Does it have the arrows on it . So, that point of how do we engage the public is really important one. Because it is not just awareness. We know that the public is aware of recycling. What we need to know is said to be engaged in the correct behaviors of whatever cycle on which day. Education has been woefully underfunded in this country. Consumers are concerned and confused, and i think that if we marry how things are designed with a system without we leveraged the public will, we will find a better outcome. We are doing work and communities right now, we have a program called feed on the street, where we go to communities to make sure that we are addressing the challenges to contamination for that city. And that program uses tags on carts to really trigger the problem that individuals have solved are making. The number one challenge to a second as people try their best and put their recyclables in a plastic bag. When they tie them up in the bags, and most places, that renders them on recyclable. Thats the number one thing we go after him. Its about Design And Consumer behavior. We are educating the public here today. Also, im just wondering how plastics in Todays Waste streams have changed since the development of the Resident Identification quotes from 30 years ago, which are commonly identified on Plastic Packaging by a number one through seven and a triangle. One of the things i am looking at here today and the research needed, and how could that Research Yield new standards and identification codes. If you have anything to contribute on that, the Doctors Research also contributed to this. Those identification codes indicate the material in the past, not the future. They dont automatically determine that something is recyclable, even if it has a one. Better research into how we communicate with the public with confidence that this was designed for the solution and for the system, and that the system meets it in the middle, the system can take this, i think would be a muchneeded solution. I will turn it over to the doctor. I would agree. And identification is critical to help with sorting. I think other systems are necessary to facilitate the sorting. And we should really also look at transferability of models that are successful. As you know, in the state of michigan, we have very high quality in terms of our recycled containers, due to the reduction rates we have compared to other states. We have to really look holistically at our solutions. Thats part of what we are also symbolizing here today with the great panelists. I am out of time. I am now going to recognize the gentleman from the state of florida who is right. Not at this time a year, but there are certainly points of time in the year where my constituents are in florida or looking to get to florida. Thank you so much, chairwoman. Doctor, as i mentioned during my visit, my opening statement, my visit to the marine Life Center, i saw the damaging impacts of microplastics in our environment, and in our food supply. Do you think that biodegradable plastics would be beneficial . It seems to me that it would be a bit of a gamechanger in addressing the challenge of microplastics. What challenges do you see . Congressman, thank you for the question. This is a challenging question because of definitions of biodegradable that our president. Biodegradable over wet timeframe and under what conditions, that is a piece of the plastics puzzle. In the development of materials that can be absorbed by microorganisms in either engineered environments like industrial composting and places like that, or if escaped into the environment indiscriminately, they could end up bio degrading over a lifetime. The issue becomes and how do we really understand the fundamental processes of Bio Degradation, over what time scale, and under what conditions that Bio Degradation takes place. We want to be careful about plastics that are labeled as biodegradable, as maybe incentivizing leaving them in the environment. Thats one thing we have to be careful about. I do think that with proper Compost Infrastructure and proper understanding and education, biodegradable plastics will play a role in the future sustainable polymers. One example, as we spoke about before, would be food contaminated plastics. For example, if those plastics were composed double, they could go income postal food waste, provided the infrastructure was available. The answer is a bit more complicated and nuanced, but i will end by saying its a piece of the plastics puzzle. The answer has always seemed to be much more complex than most people, including this committee, fully appreciate. We discussed that china has banned the import of Plastic Recycling for processing in the United States and many other countries. The claim is that its due to the poor quality of the plastic bundles being imported. Do you agree . Do you believe that china has other ambitions behind the recent ban . If so, what do you think they are . And i just have to ask more broadly, what would it mean for the u. S. If we were to completely seed leadership to china in advance for cycling . Thank you so much for that question. I agree. We should not be seeding leadership on the issue of recycling to anyone right now. When you get to the issue of contamination, the biggest challenge we have right now is a fragmented system where you have 9000 jurisdictions across the United States doing 9000 different things. There is an appropriate role for congress here to develop a set of minimum standards that work to improve recycling education, outreach, collection, that will definitely streamline the Process Ease to getting more plastics into the system. When it comes to the issue of Advanced Recycling, the good news i want to share with the committee is its actually being built at a commercial scale. The fundamentals that have guarded the Market Development continue to change, and there have been tremendous breakthroughs that allow us to capture all Plastic Materials, turn them into verging Quality Plastic, and reuse them again and again. Its a pouch, thats now recyclable because of breakthroughs and Advanced Recycling. Foam food containers is another example. The point is, technology is not static. It evolves over time. The work this committee is doing in laying the foundation to ensure our global leadership is when i highly commend your work for. Thank you for that. I agree. That is an appropriate role for congress. Then, also, that education peace. My own family gets confused over whats recyclable and whats not. Im an avid recycle. Or i hate the waist. But its difficult to figure out even going back and forth from d. C. And various places. I think those are absolutely appropriate roles and i look forward to working with the committee to move the ball forward. I yield my time. With that, we are going to recognize our next member for five minutes of questioning. It looks like we might be mr. Questioning. You are now recognized. Pardon me. We are on the screen. We are going to hold on you and recognize my good friend from the great state of new york. Thank you, madam chair. First things first, happy birthday. Great to see your mom in the audience. She had a major role to play in the annual celebration. We say thank you to her foR Delivering a great member of congress. And i thank you for holding Todays Hearing and her efforts to advance solutions. Today, Americas Recycling systems face exponentially greater volumes of plastic waste with more complex and multi layered plastic products than was eveR Designed to handle. Even as the u. S. Recycling market is grown more broadly, our Plastic Recycling systems have not kept pace. When the systems are overwhelmed, we risk environmental damage, hard to clean pollution, and more importantly, danger to human health. We need swift and bold action at both ends of the problem, making investments and recycling with strong oversight, but also focusing individually as a society and as a government on the urging need to reduce the amount of plastic waste that we do indeed generate. Several federal agencies carry out standards and development programs related to Plastic Recycling and substitutes and data gathering. I was astonished to learn there is currently no coordinated effort to facilitate multi agency collaboration. Doctor, what should the role of the government be in supporting cost cutting our Entity And Innovation to address plastic Waste Reduction and recycling challenges . And that is an excellent question. There needs to be coordination in terms of this R D through the federal government so we can most efficiently use our R D resources to target the most significant challenges and bottlenecks in terms of our system. We developed this first characterization you may have seen, but some of the areas are incomplete. They dont have data in certain areas to understand what is going into whats systems. I first recommend that we really do more indepth characterization of the different uses and management strategies that we understand fully the problem. And then, the solutions really need to be looked at so that we can develop infrastructure to deal with longlived products like buildings and automobiles versus packaging. Through a characterization of the streams, i think we can then decide which types of materials we want to go after. So, coordination is key, and i think starting out with an overall accounting of the problem will facilitate better use of resources. Thank you. Im very concerned about the climate attacks of Plastic Production, which are primarily caused by the use of Fossil Fuels. Whats environmental benefits, such as lower emission from production, are so she ate it with your work in developing alternatives to Fossil Fuel based plastics . Thank you for the question. Its clear that renewable resources for plastics will be the future in the long run, and the research associated with how to do that from plants that sequester co2 is of high priority. The bottom line is the ability to convert sugars from plants, the chemicals we can ultimately use in the manufacture of plastics, it requires fundamental research to support new technologies that stem from that. Because we are competing with an industry thats very efficient and has many efficiencies associated with the conversion of all sorts of resources. We work on trying to understand how to use renewable resources, how to convert them efficiently into molecules that have utility and the polymer and plastics arena. The basic research is coming along, but more effort is needed to make it both technologically and economically competitive with chemically derived materials. Thank you so much. With that, i say thank you chair stevens. I yield back. Thank you so much. You are the sweetest friend. With that, allow me to recognize my colleague from ohio, who has just been a really great collaborator on this work, mr. Gonzales. Thank you, madam chair. Happy birthday, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today and for your expertise. I agree. Congress must get to work on ways to accelerate innovations with battery recycling, reduce the environmental impact, and increase the Value And Security of resources and apply change domestically. Recycling and innovations and recycling need to be a key part of addressing the climate challenge. Mister Hill Meyer just mentioned that. Its of critical importance that we consider a comprehensive Government Approach to spur innovations through coordination across relevant federal agencies. Thats why i was proud to join the chairwoman and introducing the plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Research Act. This congress, and applaud the leadership on this issue. Its also important to recognize the unique role of the department of energy and its national labs and enabling plastics to my position. Mr. , id like to start with you. In your prepared remarks you describe a Ccs Work with the national labs. My question is, how is the department of Energys Office of science uniquely positioned to conduct research to solve challenges in the space . Congressman. Thank you for that question. Let me start by saying this. In regards to the comments about the climate challenge, first off. Plastics overall have a much lower Carbon Footprint than any other material. They have been critical, as i mentioned in my statement, its a lightweight vehicles, and insulating homes. And some of the work that were doing in the department of energy international labs focused on the ability to understand the Life Cycle of Plastic Materials, and ensure that we understand its impact on the environments. That is currently happening plastics innovation challenge. The key thing is that that work is happening right now. Were working with leading scientists in the world to examine and research the best way as to, recover we use, recover more Plastic Materials. So i commend the work the committee is doing. Our industry is happy to be working in this particular critical role for the department of energy. Its also critical for the national lab to ensuring that we study the best uses for Plastic Recycling. Thank you, and then as a followup. Is there anything that should be done to facilitate more effective views of the work with other stakeholders or other agencies . And though there are mechanisms needed to promote more partnerships through these programs . Absolutely. We can always be doing more to promote private partnerships. Many of us on this meeting today, our guys asian works very often with those Recycling Partnerships. Closed loop partners, to name a few. Creating circular systems here and there. That private partnership is an excellent model in the sense that we able to capture more plastic in collaborate on solutions. The work being done by the b. O. L. O. And national labs, for instance, those findings should inform the work that were doing. So yes, i think that part of the work that i think this committee can do is connect those dots to pouring in those stakeholders together. To solve the problem of plastic waste, it takes a lot of collaboration. When the industry is going to solve it on its own . No. The Value Chain requires collaboration, scientists, engineers, national labs, governments, ngos. Yes, connecting those dogs would be a critical first step for. That great. My final question for you. Theres sometimes some false narratives about Advanced Recycling. Could you discuss how important Advanced Recycling and innovative technologies will be to address the climate challenge . 100 . Advanced recycling is a critical component to solving the plastic waste challenge. We are developing Advanced Recycling technology on a commercial scale. One of our member companies is building a plastic to plastic facility in tennessee that is going to cost about 250 million dollars. Its critical because Whats Advance Recycling does is take very hard to recycle plastics. Take for instance a pouch that is manufactured today it is light, it requires less water to produce, it is easy to transport from a carbon perspective, but its very difficult to recycle from a mechanical perspective. Advanced recycling takes those types of items, breaks them down to their Chemical Building blocks, and creates a virgin Quality Plastic that allows it to go into very demanding applications like food contact, pharmaceutical, and medical, and Advance Recycling is going to be key as a part of that comprehensive strategy that the congresswoman from texas mentioned. That all of the above strategies that we need to solve the problem. Fantastic. Thank you for that. Thank you to our witnesses again, and madam chair, i yield back. And with that we will now recognize mr. Beyer from the commonwealth of virginia. Thank you madam, chair very much. And i want to thank your mother. FoR Doing the hard work, 29 years. Im glad that she gave birth to you, doing hard work for 29 years. I want to say that im very supportive of this act. I do believe that there is better living through chemistry. But i also think that the elephant in the room is, why not less plastics . We seem disbanding an awful lot of time on recycling plastics together, but our colleague from long beach as abandoned single use plastics. There are now 69 countries that have banned plastic bags. And at least a dozen who have banned microbeads including the United States in the uk. But i know that here were all about sustainability, are we not missing a big piece of this just by thinking about better ways to use less plastics . Yes you make a very good point and observation. We really need to look holistically at solving our problems in terms of providing goods and services economically unsustainably. Yes, plastics do afford benefits of light waiting and safety protecting products. But we do need to look at a Life Cycle assessment and look at the impacts of production, use, and retirements. And we need to evaluate the total energy, Greenhouse Gas emissions, and waste. And there are definitely Opportunities Today where we could substitute materials. Use more durable solutions and we could reduce the use of plastics. Plastics clearly have a clear really very critical role in our society. But i think we could be smarter with substitutions. Because if we just focus on recycling, we could actually increase the proliferation of plastics and actually make recycling more challenging. And the volumes could go up, which means more resources. So, as you know, we are in a climate crisis. We need a different calculus about how we look at sustainable systems and solutions. And so i think that its very critical that when we evaluate innovations in recycling, infrastructure, etc, we look from a Life Cycle lens. And, you, know plastics are carbon intensive and there are other materials that are less carbon intensive, but they do offer advantages. But you get these trade offs that occur and its important to use a Systems Approach to address it. Yeah. Sometimes even just little things like you see on capitol hill, many members will carry around the big 32 ounce, or 64 Ounce Water bottles. Which is a huge improvement over buying yet another Water Bottle a dozen at a time. Miss harrison, you have a background in plastics, among other things. Which just scares the dickens out of me. The great pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of texas. That is one of over five major Garbage Patches in the world. And i just read that we have up to 2 million tons of plastics per year put in the oceans through our rivers. What are we going to do to address this . I think it gets back to your first question. I agree that recycling will not solve this. Were circling is part of a circular economy. But it is not the solution. Cycling is a reaction. Recycling only happens when theres a big enough pile that someone can turn into something new. If we wait for that bomb to cumulate in the ocean, we have missed our opportunity to prevent it from happening in the first place. Yeah i started off by studying turtles, in a couple years ago i was on a Research Ship that to corporate executives and actually marine biologists, and Miley Biologist from college, she joined me on this trip, because i said, dont you want to join corporate executives in the middle of the ocean to see the plastics up front . And we jumped in the middle of the water. We jump in the Atlantic Ocean a 50 Kilometers East of bermuda, and we saw the microplastics. But we also saw mackerel, we saw fishing gear, we saw toilet seats, forks. If we wait for forks to be in the middle of the sea, we have waited too long. We have to talk about a systems of solution that takes into concepts, already concepts, and marries thems economics. I love this conversation about cross agency collaboration. We must think about it from a Systems Point of view so that we prevent the problem, not just clean up the problem. Thank you very much, and i yield back, madam chair. Great. And with that allow me to recognize my Friend And Colleague dr. Baird for five minutes of questioning. Thank you, madam chair. And again, happy birthday. Madam chair. Ranking member waltz, witnesses, we really appreciate all of you being here. And i really appreciate miss harris and mentioning the hollywood of indiana. It makes outdoor furniture is out of detergent bottles. And then just last week, i spoke to the er i, which is the electronic recycles international, a company located in my district that specializes in electronics for cycles. And while they focused on Plastic Recycling, i believe that some of the themes remain the same when we view recycling at a global level. And this is an issue that you mentioned in your testimony, dr. Keoleian, as the United States exports ways to developing countries, which excludes bows plastics and electronic waste. I discuss the national security and a counterfeiting which occurs from exporting electronic ways. But that is but one issue. And as such countries also prevent and present severe environmental harm by improperly disposing of these materials, that being plastics, as well as the electronics. Realistically, whats happening in such countries import these plastics and is there anything that we can be doing to help in the disposal and make sure it is handled properly . Doctor keoleian . Yes, so. One thing, just focusing on electronic waste. I know the gao did a study and showed that there is a lot of illegal activity in exporting waste, hazardous waste. And so one activity that congress can do is strengthen the auditing and, you know, crackdown more on this illegal activity. Because that is posing problems in terms of, you know, hazardous waste and how theyre managed improperly in developing countries. So and then we talked about setting up the infrastructure here, so were not exporting it. I think we need to take responsibility. Total Producer Responsibility in terms of how our products are manage that end of life. And we cant rely on exporting. I think that theres an recognition that we also want to have leadership and setting up the systems to be able to properly manage products like electronics to reduce risk. So, i think one, accountability in terms of enforcement of the current regulations that we have an Electronics Waste they go along ways. Thank you for that. Now doctor hillmyer, in your testimony you suggested by a waste fuels unchanging a little bit. Now you suggested Bio Based Products would make for promising materials to use in place of some traditional manufacturing materials. And so, with my background im interested now in agriculture in solving some of these issues, and provide the raw materials for making alternative materials that would function for the same purpose . So do, you have any comments in that regard . Congressman, thank. You absolutely. There i spoke about this in my testimony on bob is products, and the idea that we would use annually renewable crops to generate, and not only new chemicals, congressman, but actually incumbent chemicals that could be drop in pro replacements for petroleum based materials. I think its inactive an important area of research. One area that i think is important now is the ability to use non new treated Bio Mass, so imagine grasses, and woody Bio Mass so that there is no disruption of the food chain. But, of course, it turns out that its a lot easier to process things like Corn And Sugar beets, and materials they have sugars that are more readily accessible to fermentation processes, for example. That basic research and that fundamental understanding on how to convert those Bio Based Resources into both new chemicals and replacements is in need of more efforts, and more research to make these technologically viable. In the fullness of time, using, like i said, new trade of Bio Mass, i think it is really an important goal for the industry. Thank you. I see that amount of time, so i yield back, madam. Chair perfectly on time. And with that, the chair is going to recognize dr. Bill foster, for five minutes of questioning. Thank, you madam chair. It is a perfect example of the research and why this committee is committed on a bipartisan basis to doubling the budget across the full range of its missions. Thats a small but important part. My question to everyone that wants to try it, what do you do with high performance plastics and how do you deal with plastics that have color . Are the classes of high performance plastics, high temperature polymers and so on and, for which there really is not going to be a realistic recycling scenario, what fraction of the current of the potential market is this . Should we just focus on generic plastics and acknowledge that there are some classes that are just going to be really tough . Congressman, i dont mind taking a stab, at least at some aspect of it. These materials certainly have challenges associated with how to recycle them, but the contemporary research in this arena, which is actually going on at the center for sustainable polymers, is how are you able to reprocess these. These are viewed as on able to be reprocessed, but colin ponds allow these to be reprocessed in ways that were not available before. While recycling and Bio Degradation and other aspects of solving this plastic Waste Dilemma are important i do think reused and reprocessed materials could play a role and they may very well come along with the composite materials. I will end by saying that these are a smaller portion of our plastics Waste Dilemma. I do not think we should ignore it, but there are more pressing issues that are more common and ubiquitous and Plastic Packaging. How do you view the future . Are we going more to solvent Type Recycling . What are the future technologies . What are the technologies that will end up being a part of this . Congressman, i will take a shot at that. Some of the work i talked about in regards to recycling right now is focused on Plastic Packaging. There is no doubt we can learn from a variety of other industries. We represent a variety of companies that do a variety of things in this space. One key area we are focused in on is helping create low Carbon Futures by making vehicles more energy efficient. Weve been working on a Road Map to deal with the issue of circularity. Its going to require a lot more effort on this committee and by government agencies to really think about that aspect of it. What we are doing right now is solving the shoe from a carbon perspective, but we have to think about how we make these more sustainable and realized them over and over again. And even thinking about their vision a bit, with the electrification of cars and autonomys vehicles, those are valuable. They have high value that can be used again and again. There is no doubt more work needs to be done. They could eventually extend that into some of these other applications. I think its in germany where they actually have very serious requirements on recycle ability for cars that are manufactured. Is that a correct remembrance of a story ive seen . You are talking about the dream of having cars that are assembled by robots in the factories and at the end of their life, they drive back to the factory in the same robots that put them together take them apart and separate them and meltdown the plastic parts and cast them into pieces. That serves as the ultimate end point. I thought the germans were making some requirements already own cars. I dont know. I think your point is spot on, just what you said. If you think of a futuristic world here in the manufacturing of vehicles, Thats Something we wholeheartedly subscribe to. The material is super valuable and has tremendous value. Its not waste. If we can capture that material, break it down to its building blocks, and reuse again, thats not just good for the environment. It reduces our reliance on natural resources and will create Circularity And Sustainability across a variety of industries. I guess my time is up. I will yield back. Thank you. Now, the chair will recognize the congressman from michigan, peter, for five minutes of questioning. Thank you, madam chair. Once again, on behalf of the members of the michigan delegation, happy birthday. I just wanted to thank both our ranking member and our chair for hosting this subcommittee hearing, and i think its an incredibly important Topic And One that in West Michigan we care deeply about. We have to landfills in our largest county, one of which is nearing the end of its Life Cycle, and im proud to say that our county and local officials are looking at ways of turning it into a sustainable Business Partner to recapture the Values Stream thats being disposed of. I want to appreciate the ranking members for their comments on these circular economy and what we can do to close down some of those waste streams. Single use plastics is the main one. Plastics that are not getting recycled that recyclable are also incredibly significant, but ever since the 2018 national policy by china, we lost one of our most valuable output mechanisms and sorting mechanisms foR Dealing with that recyclable waste. We also have a very strong Plastics Industry that supports thousands of jobs in the Chemical Industry and auto manufacturing, and even in the packaging of breakfast cereals. So plastics plays a vital role. One of my questions, as we are thinking about Singleuse Plastics and composed of all plastics coming on the board, and i know weve spoken about some of the difficulties and or contamination that can occur when Compost Bill are biodegradable plastics are introduced into a recyclable plastic stream, what are the opportunities to be shifting those singleuse applications into a biodegradable or compost double alternative . Congressman, thank you for that question. Both of those are part of the all of the above solution the congresswoman from texas mentioned. The key point that i would mention regarding this, and this cuts across a variety of comments that will remain today. Innovation is what will win the day on solving this problem, not more regulation. Innovation on how we deal with compost ability, how we deal with biodegradable itty, innovation on how we create a circular economy for plastics we are using valuable material over and over again, thats what circularity is. What that will create is a low Carbon Future that all of us want, because it will require us to use less resources to create these products. To your specific question, this goes back to the overarching theme of what the committee is talking about today. More work is needed. We need to think and leverage the best of what we have, whether its the department of energy, our national labs, the commerce department, all these agencies play a critical role in connecting the research dots to ensure that science and guides the expansion of the biodegradable itty, and collaboration continues to guide the work around singularity. Thank you. Doctor, i enjoyed reading your testimony. Its good to welcome a witness from the great lakes state. I should note that your Professor Ship is named for the son who dedicated much of his life to environmental causes. He coined the Term Ecology a call to me. Very much a believer that we need to be caring for the environment, but doing so in a way thats ultimately beneficial, which i believe conservatism, conservationism, are. How should congress be approaching the Life Cycle of Plastic Materials to have the maximum benefit of the economy . In addition to looking at Life Cycle assessment of energy and Greenhouse Gas emissions, we look at Life Cycle costs, and one example, we did a study on behalf of the state of oregon on bottled water versus reusable systems. Clearly, using Tap Water and filling a container is going to be much more economical than using a disposable bottle. The energy savings and the waste is significantly different. So we need to be smart and when we look at solutions, we do need to look at the economics. I believe we also need to look at certain regulations and standards, because its not just going to be innovation. I think its critical that we take an interdisciplinary approach and bring together the economics policy, technology, and behavior. Thank you, madam chair. My time has expired and i yield back. With that, the chair is now going to recognize the congresswoman from the nice state of North Carolina. Thank you very much, chairwoman stevens. I hope this is a very, very happy birthday for you. I also want to thank our witnesses for joining us today on this extremely important issue that affects peoples everyday lives. In my Home State of North Carolina, where one of the top plastic producers in the country. As of 2019, we were ranked in the top ten in the country in terms of number of employees in the Plastics Industry, with over 38,000 employees. We have also played an important role in plastic Waste Reduction and recycling innovation. In 2009, when i served in the North Carolina state legislature, we were facing serious issues with little and Sea Turtle deaths along the outer banks, one of the most pristine parts of our state. In response, we passed a law that banned Singleuse Plastic bags in six counties along the outer banks. While this law was generally supported in those communities, it was repealed in 2017. In addition, we have researchers at North Carolina State University in my district who have been involved and plastic Waste Reduction and recycling research. In addition to the company previously mentioned, one graduate of the college of textiles went on to found the sustainable Clothing Company that converts plastic bottles into fiber and into yarn to be sewn into clothing. I focus a lot in my questions about the next generation, because with such a focused area of the country to all the witnesses, i want to ask you how we inspire the next generation to get involved in a stem field, to get excited about recycling and not using plastics in the first place. Weve seen so much leadership from the next generation about climate issues, and about things like recycling. Beyond teaching kids in schools, how can we better encourage them to pursue education and careers like you all have . I would be happy to jump in. As a graduate of a university, im happy to share this research. I want to look for how to inspire young people and young, diverse people to be involved. When we think of how we engage kids into this space, we often think about campaigns. Weve all seen those. But we really need is to spark the innovation of our youth into looking into the System Solution we keep talking about. We cannot just R D our way out. We cannot look for a singular technology. We have to really think about pivoting from how do we respond to the problem to how we prevent it in the first place. How do we know from the very concept of design whether its an advanced Plastic Material or a packaging. We know whether it will be linear were circular. Thats worth the work we are doing to advance diversity to bring young minds to think about it holistically. I think i will move on to my next question so that i can get another one in. If someone wants to amplify, please do so. Last month, the department of energy announced up to 14. 5 million dollars for R D waste to reduce plastics. How does your Research Group and others working on Chemical Recycling technology integrate a sustainable or green approach to your research in order to design ways to minimize or neutralize any potential harmful byproducts of the Chemical Recycling process. We work hard on this in the subset of Chemical Recycling. Really trying to understand the fundamentals of how you can take establish plastics and ones that we design on purpose to be efficiently chemically recycled. They require things like Temperature Or Light that allow you to turn plastics that are useful in there every Day Application efficiently back to the molecules from which they came, using the principles of green chemistry. If we can do that, those molecules can then generate virgin plastic that has the same benefit. Thank you, madam chair. I yield back. Great. With that, the congressman from the nice state of pennsylvania is recognized for five minutes. Thank you, madam chair. On behalf of the whole state, we would like to wish you a happy birthday today. To the witnesses, thank you for holding on this long. I just wanted to pick up where i think you were leaving off, which is our jurisdiction on this committee really is to try to move forward the Nations Research Agenda and help answer unanswered questions, particularly ones of a longer Term Nature that individuals might have to answer on their own. Would you mind just kind of summarizing or commenting on the state of knowledge about where we are going in composting and the breakdown of socalled biodegradable recyclable plastics . And maybe you can give me more specific insight into it. There are two or three big questions that we can really help answer in the next decade, so what are they . Thank you, congressman. This is an area i am quite passionate about and very interested in. I will reiterate what i said earlier about Bio Degradation, over what timeframe, under what conditions. This is where the basic research plays a key role. Its understanding exactly what happens. Lets say an industrial compost, as opposed to backyard compost, or in the environment, and how to differentiate the fundamental processes that go on in those different environments. You can understand and predict the lifetimes of these materials in the environment. The second important piece is what they break down to and how do we understand that we are not just generating smaller shards of plastic that are recalcitrant. Following it all the way through the Breakdown Process and understanding the physical and chemical phenomena are critically important. We have research thats really trying to understand those process hes. How do Microorganisms Breakdown . What ultimately results from Bio Degradation . I view this again as a piece of a solution to plastic waste, but it will come with infrastructure and clear Education And Understanding of one is meant by compost a bill and how the process is actually taking place. This is a very important area of contemporary research to understand what you might build into the plastic to have a breakdown under certain emissions and efficient ways. I love the idea of a Systems Approach where the design of molecules a value eighth performance, and of life scenarios, that allow complete Life Cycles to be understood and re. I think Chairwoman Bill will help advance toward that goal. Do other witnesses want to answer my question . Anything you would like to help us answer in the next decade or so . Quickly, i would encourage this committee, when they think about composting, i very often hear people thinking about composting as recycling. When we begin to pivot to what else, we have to ask ourselves, is the to do list for making Plastics Compost will even longer . Currently, 4 of the u. S. Population have access to that commercial composting. Thats significantly less than have access to traditional recycling. I want to make sure we are not pivoting to something, because the current problem seems hard, but instead, pulling back and saying how do we from the very concept make sure we have a good solution. We think of composting as very positive. I put the compost into my yard, but we are talking about really dealing with avoiding the litter. Its a lost resource. This is plastic that has energy and it, and we are just dissipating it in the environment to deal with a litter problem. I think we really have to look critically at what we want to make compost double. Its back to holistic solutions. , it will certainly help with that. I appreciate your insight. Madam chairwoman, i yield back. Thank you. What a nice note to begin to close the hearing out on, because its true. We have a tremendous piece of legislation and this hearing was the kick off of this legislative session to really make sure that we are on the right track. Hearing from stakeholders from across the spectrum, you being from the american chemistry council, and i will repeat the testimony, he is very dedicated to the all hands on deck approach. And the doctor who i feel like, you have a wealth of Knowledge And Dedication both at the school, which mr. Meyer referenced, just an american hero and so dedicated to our state of michigan, both sides of the state of michigan, and sometimes people confuse michigan and minnesota, but we know you are on the other side of the lake, a couple other sides of the lake. And we can debate who really is the land of many, many lakes. We are grateful for youR Dedicated research and your time today. And where we find ourselves is really the Tipping Point of something tremendous. We are moving from staggering statistics if you share that just 9 of our cycling, 9 of our plastics, is recycled. How do we increase that. How do we even begin to think about doubling that two sustainable systems . Moving from staggering statistics to sustainable systems is so important, because we hear about the individual Enthusiasm And Consumer enthusiasm, and even, as miss ross was referencing in her questions and what she was seeing in heR District in North Carolina with individual entrepreneurs and business leaders, we really do need a Systems Approach, and this also comes as a unique time as the United States is charting a path forward. A colleague from the state of pennsylvania, Congresswoman Susan wild, has come in for questions. Allow me to pause on my preamble and recognize her for five minutes of questioning. Thank you, madam chair. I am juggling three committees this morning, so we all know how that goes. I am just going to keep it short. This is a topic of great personal interest to me. And what i really will just throw out there to the doctor, a recent study concluded that large amounts of plastic were accumulated in the environment, even if we use every currently feasible effort to achieve an 80 reduction by 2040. You and other experts agree that designing materials for Recycling Billet he will be key for Waste Reduction. What steps do we need to take to ensure coordination between Product Design and options for and of Life Plastic Management . Thats my only question, because i know its a far ranging one. One of the things i recommended we emphasize in terms of the R D, in terms of the investment there, the research, is that we have industry participate with the scientists, with government, to look at what policies can help make innovations more implementable, or accelerate the implementation. And we really need to look at the Coal Creation of solutions. We are ensuring we will coordinate between Product Design and end of life. We need to make automobiles that involve those that are responsible for end of life for cycling infrastructure. The interdisciplinary Approach And Cocreation is important. And the other is we need to look at, europe really helped push the amount of waste in automobiles with their guidelines. Germany was mentioned. The European Guidelines to reduce the amount of residue, the amount of waste, those kinds of policies can also help accelerate solutions that are technological. I think thats important as well. Dee thank you, and i have to say, i had a personal experience not too long ago where i was on an island in the caribbean anne. Anne and it was a very rustic island. One of the things that struck me, theres a lot of places in the world that have a tremendous amount of trouble moving their trash, quite honestly, because of the ocean. I saw a little to no effort to recycle. They just had trouble getting trash off the island, let alone dealing with plastics and recycling. But it was tragic, because here i was in a beautiful place with just an abundance of plastic waste all over the place. We have to get to a place where the manufacturers are looking at how that end of life solution, that end of plastic life management, where there is some way other than just, especially because this is a global problem, and if we dont look at global solutions, we will never solve it. Thank you very much and thank you all. This has been very helpful, for the parts that i was able to participate in and listen to, i really enjoyed it, thank you. Madam chair, i yield back. Excellent. Congratulations to my colleague for the three hearings to make it in for this one, because your voice and viewpoints are still very important to us. We are going to bring the hearing to a close. We dont have any more questions. I do want to think our Science Committee Staff on both sides of the aisle. I am here in the Committee Room and its absolutely set up expertly with great professionalism. We were able to do this in a Hybrid Format as we start to kind of come back to the way things were, and thats never a light switch, as we have been learning in this pandemic, but we were able to achieve success and the goal of these hearings, and frankly, we are in a nice springboard to whats next and we are going to have to continue to leave the record open for two weeks for additional statements from members or additional questions that members may have of the witnesses. And i know, there were gonna conceded drawdown on the expertise of this great panel of witnesses. And, so at this time, the witnesses are going to be virtually excused. They will be excused, and a hearing is now adjourned. [inaudible conversations] the