WASHINGTON, D.C. – This decision by the Canadian government to designate plastic manufactured items as “toxic” is unwarranted and not based in science.
One of the societal byproducts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an increased emphasis on technology to meet changing needs, and the fuel and petrochemical industries are no exception to that trend.
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.
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.