Rivertowns Activists Take Their Ambitious Plastics Recycling Campaign to Albany

Published 10 months ago10m ago • Bookmarks: 546 • Comments: 6

Plastics protesters from the rivertowns join hundreds of others in Albany

May 13, 2025

By Sue Treiman–

A pair of proposed laws that would make New York the state with the most comprehensive plastic recycling requirements in America got a Rivertowns boost last week from roughly 50 local activists.

Representing Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson and neighboring towns, the group joined several hundred fellow New Yorkers at the Plastic Rally and Advocacy Day on May 7^{th .}to urge passage of the new legislation. Together, the pending NYS Packaging Reduction and Recycling infrastructure act (PRRIA) and the companion Bigger Better Bottle Bill would shift the burden for remediating waste plastic packaging from consumers to the companies that sell their products in the containers. Both legislative initiatives appear to be poised for approval before the end of the current legislative session in June,

Support our Sponsors

PRRIA mandates that businesses with annual revenues exceeding $1 million reduce the amount of plastic packaging they use, improve their recycling infrastructure, help fund local waste recycling programs, and stop 17 deadly toxins in their manufactured plastic containers. The bills’ supporters insist that the strategies can save taxpayers $1.3 billion over the next 12 years, while diminishing the amount of potentially deadly particles released by plastics. These nanoplastics are considered harmful to people and the environment.

Some opponents of the legislative proposals, primary business and industry groups, contend that stricter rules increase consumer costs while harming businesses that provide thousands of jobs.

The issue is particularly relevant in Westchester County, the headquarters of one of the world’s top five plastic packaging users: PepsiCo. Another leading plastic waste generator, the Coca-Cola Company, operates a bottling and distribution facility in Elmsford, NY. The two beverage giants are among only 56 companies that account for half the world’s total plastic waste output.

Several recent scientific studies pointed to the risks posed by nanoparticles (microscopic bits of debris) generated when plastic degrades. “Plastic has been detected in our brains, blood, placenta, breast milk, testicles, heart, cholesterol plaques, kidneys and more,” says Hastings-on-Hudson family medical specialist Sandra Selikson, MD, who joined the Albany trip.

“We are exposing our most vulnerable—fetuses, newborns and children—to the plastic and chemicals that cause inflammation and toxicity and are increasingly being linked to more heart attacks, strokes, death, cancer (on the increase in young adults), infertility, endocrine
disruption, obesity, dementia, Parkinson’s Disease and more,” she adds.

The proposed legislation, sponsored by Pete Harckham (D, 40th Senate District) of northern Westchester, was originally submitted in 2023. Reintroduced this year, PRRIA compels large companies to ensure at least 30 percent of their plastic wastes will be recaptured over the next 12 years, with the ultimate goal of recycling 75 percent. A new state office will enforce the provisions.

The related Bigger Better Bottle Bill broadens the categories of beverage containers that must be recycled while doubling the bottle deposit fee to 10 cents. Sponsors predict the new policies will save taxpayers between $40 million and $100 million in annual waste management costs.

In recent weeks, emerging scientific research and a growing clamor for stronger waste controls have given plastic recycling campaigns new momentum. A recent Siena College poll revealed that close to three-quarters of New Yorkers support more powerful restrictions on single-use plastic waste. Citizen concerns, heightened by opponents’ efforts to weaken the new provision, lured hundreds to Albany for a day of activism last week.

“It makes me so angry that big companies knowingly jeopardize our health — with proven toxins, carcinogens, and endocrine disruptors –for their own profit. It is this anger that propels me to act,” says Harriet Cheney of Dobbs Ferry.

Cheney is an original member of the new Lower Westchester Chapter of Beyond Plastics, a national recycling advocacy group that emphasizes strong public involvement.

“We need to make our voices heard to counterbalance the paid lobbyists from the plastics, fossil fuel and corporate side,” says Holly Malekian of Dobbs Ferry, another chapter member and head of Dobbs Ferry’s Zero Waste citizen’s committee. “Unlike the paid lobbyists, we are all volunteers, motivated only by concern for the health of our families and communities,” she says.

Staffers in New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, (D, 35th Senate District) and Assemblywoman Mary Jane Shimsky, (D, District 92) offices met with the Westchester activists. “It was inspiring to see so many people working towards a good cause,” says 15-year-old Maisie VanNess. She and fellow Dobbs Ferry High School freshman Cleo Reisinger, 14, consider plastic recycling essential to their survival. “Simply put, I want to live,” says Reisinger. Both teens are Sustainable Dobbs Ferry members.

“The good news is that we now have a majority of Assembly cosponsors, and the bill passed the Senate last year,” says Malekian.

If it survives both houses, the proposals will need a final nod from Governor Kathy Hochul.

Read or leave a comment on this story...

Support our Sponsors