U.S. Phasing Out Single-Use Plastics On Public Lands By 2032The Department of the Interior announced Wednesday it will
phase out the sale of single-use plastics on public lands, including in national parks, over the next decade, as federal agencies within the Biden administration work to tackle plastic waste on World Ocean Day.
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland issued a secretarial order that will ban the procurement, sale and distribution of
single-use plastics by 2032.The order also directs the department to find
sustainable alternatives to plastic, such as compostable or biodegradable materials.
Nearly two dozen national parks banned the sale of plastic water bottles in 2011, but former President
Donald Trump’s administration rescinded the ban in 2017. A study from the National Park Service found that prior to Trump’s reversal, the ban prevented nearly 2 million plastic bottles from being used and discarded in parks.
