Hawaii-2019-SCR31-Introduced

WHEREAS, over the past few decades, both locally and globally, there has been an exponential rise in the consumption of plastic items, including a six hundred ten percent increase in raw plastic production since 1975; and

WHEREAS, plastic packaging accounts for more than half of the plastic waste in the world and Americans are among the highest per capita users of plastic packaging; and

WHEREAS, only nine percent of plastic produced is recycled and twelve percent is incinerated, with the rest ending up in landfills or in the environment, with much of the improperly disposed plastic eventually ending up in the ocean; and

WHEREAS, an additional eight million metric tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year, contributing to plastic islands like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world, which lies between Hawaii and California; and

WHEREAS, the production of plastic products contributes to climate change, and by 2050, is projected to account for twenty percent of global fossil fuel use; and

WHEREAS, single-use plastic products are especially detrimental for Hawaii's environment, flora, and fauna, as ninety-five percent of plastic packaging is discarded after its first single-use, eighty percent of ocean plastic pollution enters the ocean from land, and countless marine animals, birds, and corals are harmed from the ingestion of and the suffocation from plastic pollution; and

WHEREAS, single-use plastic products also present an exacerbating threat to the economy, with single-use plastics being major contributors to street and beach litter, causing intangible damage to the State's tourist reputation, as well as millions of dollars in stormwater management and cleanup efforts; and

WHEREAS, the cost of plastic pollution on marine litter alone is estimated at $13,000,000,000 per year, which includes the impact on fisheries, tourisms, and biodiversity; and

WHEREAS, the total social and environmental costs is pegged at a staggering $139,000,000,000, which includes costs from the impact on climate change, health, crops, the environment, and the cost of waste disposal; and

WHEREAS, a growing body of scientific literature has identified potential human health hazards from plastics, including that the incineration of plastic releases harmful dioxins that may be released into ambient air; single-use plastics like polystyrene and single-use plastic bottles may leach endocrine-disrupting and potentially carcinogenic chemicals with re-use; and microplastics may be ingested by marine animals and bioaccumulate and biomagnify up the food chain, bringing toxic chemicals into food sources; and

WHEREAS, feasible alternatives to plastics exist at cost-competitive levels; Hawaii has pledged its support for the Aloha+ Challenge, one of the pillars of which is solid waste reduction; and the Legislature has introduced multiple bills that aim to curb or eliminate plastic waste; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislature is urged to designate the Hawaii State Capitol building and its grounds as a single-use plastic free zone; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature is urged to convene a working group dedicated to finding solutions to reduce single-use plastics in the Hawaii State Capitol building and its grounds, as well as how to effectively execute the implementation of a single-use plastic free zone; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and members of the Hawaii State Legislature.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Designating the Hawaii State Capitol building and its grounds as a single-use plastic free zone

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	31
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019
STATE OF HAWAII