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An unexpected Trump administration focus on health concerns about chemicals in plastics and on microplastics, and bipartisan support for a bottle bill in Texas, was the focus of this month’s Plastics in Politics Live. Recording below. 

Both developments are not what you might expect from Republican-led governments in Washington and Austin, but they show how in some cases, plastics policy issues are moving in some untraditional ways, said Steve Toloken, assistant managing editor. 

Toloken described a recent chemicals health conference where Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he wants HHS and agencies in its control, like the Food and Drug Administration, to look more seriously at whether the chemicals used in plastics contribute to chronic diseases in the United States.

The episode also covered a proposal for a bottle bill in Texas, led by Republican state legislators.

The measure passed out of committee on a bipartisan vote, and while it’s not likely to pass this year, advocates see growing melding of interests from businesses that need more recycled material supplies and environmentalists who want more recycling.

“It just kind of showed how much I think the industry desire for recycled materials is changing what’s possible around some of these state-level debates,” Toloken said.