The Biden administration on Friday (July 19) announced its strategy to phase out single-use plastics by 2035.

The new plan, titled ‘Mobilizing Federal Action on Plastic Pollution: Progress, Principles, and Priorities‘, represents the first government-wide initiative to systematically address plastic pollution by reducing pollution from plastic production, advancing work to explore alternative materials and processing methods, decreasing plastic waste generation, and improving sound waste management.

Developed by the Interagency Policy Committee on Plastic Pollution and a Circular Economy, this initiative supports US President Joe Biden’s Executive Order on Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs through Federal Sustainability, aiming for net-zero procurement by 2050.

The phase-out of single-use plastics will start with food service operations, events, and packaging to eliminate single-use plastics by 2027.

This is the first time the US government has formally acknowledged the severity of the plastic pollution crisis and the scale of the response that will be required to effectively confront it.