Commentary on the National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution as it relates to traditionally marginalized groups in the US

The Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution, published in April by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), comes at a critical juncture for traditionally marginalized communities as municipal leaders reevaluate solid waste management systems to maximize waste diversion while tailoring programs to mitigate municipalities’ increased flood risks from heavy rain.

According to a 2022 NBC News article by Patrick Galey, the cost of flooding across the U.S. will hit $40 billion annually by 2050, with Black communities being at most risk.

A team of U.S.- and United Kingdom-based researchers writing in the journal Nature Climate Change say the U.S. faces a 26 percent increase in flood risk within the next 30 years.

Environmental justice advocates have commented that national climate mitigation strategies might not be able to meet the needs of the marginalized communities facing the greatest threat from climate change given their geographic locations.

According to a 2017 study on climate adaptation planning for Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities in the South, land use and ownership rights, employment and barriers to participation and inclusion in planning played significant roles in the formation of many Black communities. In most cases, the location of Black-majority communities in the southern coastal regions and the placement of inland communities in low-lying areas, particularly in urban areas, is rooted in discriminatory policies, such as redlining and segregation.

Many communities also face aging public infrastructure, including municipal sewage systems and buildings that make them more susceptible to flooding, heavy rainfall events and sea-level rise while also making flood management more difficult.

The public comment period is open for the Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution.

The EPA should prioritize the proposed focus on improving waste management infrastructure and capture systems by providing tools that will improve the functionality of waste diversion options and long-term plastic pollution and marine debris planning.

The EPA should consider rolling out programs focusing on climate vulnerabilities of traditionally marginalized communities, especially in coastal locations, and develop research that includes collaborative community engagement models and forward-thinking debris management planning, incorporating:

If the EPA’s National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution maintains focus on greater support of traditionally marginalized communities, it will give solid waste planners the tools to reform their management programs and better protect the health of the most climate-vulnerable coastal communities, thereby making the dream of an equitable plastic management strategy a reality.