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Interview trying to chip away at the industry or present the industry in a negative way , but our industry is needed . Plastic is needed . It is an essential part of society and , because of that , despite some of these headwinds that may exist in the short term , for the long term , I ’ m very positive on the outlook for the plastics industry .
If there was one critical message , you ’ d like a reader to take from this piece , what would it be ? That you can love plastic and hate plastic waste . If all sides of the public policy debate surrounding plastics recognized and admitted that we need plastic , that plastic is essential and that we need to keep more of it in the circular economy and out of the environment , it would put us in a place where we can focus on solutions and increasing our recycling rates . That ’ s really what we should be focused on . Sometimes policymakers get distracted by hyperbolic statements and pie-in-the-sky approaches like stopping the production of plastic . It ’ s not the right approach and won ’ t help us achieve our shared sustainability goals . ■
www . plasticsindustry . org
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