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Page 2 <br />H.B. N0.13\6 <br />1 to the plastic waste problem. Since the 1990's, the plastiM <br />2 industry has been funding an increasing number of public service <br />3 announcements and commercials to encourage consumers to recycle. <br />4 The goal of this messaging was to convince consumers that their <br />5 plastic waste could be recycled and encourage them to take <br />7 manufacturers could continue to produce more without any <br />8 responsibility for the environmental impacts of their actions. <br />9 Recycling became the means by which the plastic industry has <br />10 placed the burden of plastic waste onto local governments and <br />11 taxpayers. For Hawaii and many other states, most of the <br />12 plastic collected for recycling is shipped to other countries <br />13 for recycling or disposal. China was previously the biggest <br />14 buyer of recyclables worldwide, but recently implemented new <br />15 restrictions for imported waste. As a result, Hawaii's counties <br />16 are left with fewer and more expensive options for recyclablell <br />17 <br />leading <br />to even more <br />of these materials <br />ending <br />up in landfills. <br />18 <br />The <br />legislature <br />additionally finds <br />that, <br />following a <br />19 lawsuit filed by several environmental organizations in the <br />20 <br />State, <br />the Environmental <br />Protection <br />Agency ruled that <br />Kamilo <br />21 <br />beach <br />on Hawaii Island be <br />listed as <br />"impaired" under <br />the Clean <br />2021-0546 HB HMSO-1 <br />