U.S. Progress on Tackling Plastic Pollution

With Plastic Free July just around the corner, now is the perfect time to reflect on the progress we’ve seen across the United States in the fight against plastic pollution. While plastic pollution continues to flow into our ocean with a garbage truck’s worth every minute, we have seen state and local governments across the country work diligently toward impactful solutions that will combat this crisis and protect our ocean for generations to come.

Local Leadership

Local governments, such as cities and counties, have long been leaders in the fight against plastic pollution, stepping up to help phase out some of the most problematic types of plastic making their way into our ocean—and this year is no exception.

In Florida, Ocean Conservancy worked alongside partners to support a resolution in Miami-Dade County to eliminate single-use plastics and plastic foam (colloquially called “Styrofoam”) from county facilities, including large public areas such as Miami International Airport, Port of Miami and county parks. Miami-Dade County and its communities produce over 5 million tons of waste annually, more than any other county in the state. This policy will help reduce waste and is a powerful reminder of how local action can have a major impact on our ocean and waterways.

In California, Santa Cruz County has also made major headway by passing a first-of-its-kind sales ban on all filtered tobacco products. This would mean phasing out cigarettes with filters (or “cigarette butts”), which are the most common item polluting our beaches and waters as found annually by Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup® volunteers. Not only do cigarette butts release dangerous microplastics, but they also leach chemicals into the environment that are harmful to sensitive marine ecosystems. A 2023 report from the nearby Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary found that cigarette butts accounted for 23% of items collected on the sanctuary’s beaches. If this ban goes into effect in Santa Cruz County, it will have major benefits on the surrounding marine ecosystems and could inspire other local governments to take action.

Statewide Successes

This past year was packed with action on the state level to reduce plastic pollution at the source and hold plastic and packaging producers accountable for the waste they create. Oregon and California both passed “better bag bans” (SB 551 and SB 1053, respectively). These laws established new gold standards for bag bans by finally getting rid of all plastic bags at check-out, including thicker plastic bags that had previously been allowed under the guise that they were “reusable.” It’s estimated that Americans use 100 billion plastic grocery bags annually, and recent analysis by Ocean Conservancy found that plastic bag bans are effective at reducing plastic bag pollution. Not only will these laws help reduce plastic use and plastic pollution in these states, but they also show continued momentum in efforts to tackle problematic single-use plastics.

On the East Coast, Vermont tackled a different type of plastic pollution by passing a law to address pollution from plastic foam docks by requiring that they be designed in a way that prevents the plastic foam from being released into the environment (S 213). Plastic foam (also known as expanded polystyrene) is used for buoys, docks and other floating structures. Left unencapsulated, this foam gradually breaks down into microplastics that directly enter the surrounding marine environment, devastating the ecosystems and wildlife. Vermont’s new law is a commonsense approach to keeping plastic foam pollution out of the environment.

In just the last couple of months, two more states, Washington and Maryland, passed laws to establish extended producer responsibility (EPR)  for packaging (SB 5284, SB 901, respectively). These EPR programs hold producers of plastic and other packaging financially accountable for the waste created by their products while decreasing waste and increasing reuse and recycling. Not only does EPR save households and local governments money, but it also brings producers together to achieve better environmental outcomes. With these two new laws, there are now seven states across the country that have established EPR for packaging in the last four years. Once these laws are implemented, one in five Americans will be covered by an EPR program, resulting in significantly less pollution in our ocean.

What can you do?

While progress this year to tackle plastic pollution has been exciting, the reality is that there is much more work to be done throughout every level of government to address this crisis. The U.S. ranks as high as third when it comes to countries contributing to ocean plastic pollution—an important reminder that we need solutions here at home. Solving this crisis will take all of us collectively to come together. As we continue through the rest of 2025, we encourage you to:

•  Take action with Ocean Conservancy by reaching out to your state and federal representatives to ask them to take action on plastic pollution—this takes under two minutes and is a powerful tool for creating change.
• Join a cleanup: As we celebrate the 40^th year of Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, it’s more important than ever to help protect communities and wildlife in your area by cleaning up pollution and recording what you find through our Clean Swell app.
• Learn more about policy tools to help solve the plastics crisis through Ocean Conservancy’s Plastics Policy 101 report.