WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rob Benedict, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) Vice President of Petrochemicals & Midstream, today released the following statement on the recently reintroduced Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act.
AFPM welcomes the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) efforts in developing a Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution, but consistent with comments submitted to the Agency, we urge a revision of their strategy. To prevent plastic pollution, we encourage EPA to embrace policies that enable, not hinder, a circular economy for plastics where we use a range of technologies and strategies to recover post-consumer plastic and transform it back into usable materials.
Visit AFPM’s Hurricane and Weather Event Resource Center for more information on steps being taken to ensure the safety of our members’ facilities, their employees and the communities that surround them.
Publicly owned companies, like many U.S. refineries, have a fiduciary responsibility (which is a legal obligation) to act in the best interest of their shareholders, and that extends to how companies spend their earnings. Often, earnings are spent on a combination of the following: direct dividends, stock buy back programs, paying down debt and capital investment projects.