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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES -m- <br />THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021 <br />STATE OF HAWAII H. B. NO. <br />A BILL FOR AN ACT <br />RELATING TO PACKAGING WASTE. <br />ii. <br />BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII: <br />1 SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the State has a duty <br />2 to protect the environment, economy, and public health. <br />3 Globally, only nine per cent of all the plastic ever produced <br />4 has been recycled. The other ninety-one per cent is in <br />5 landfills, has been incinerated, or is dispersed throughout the <br />6 environment. Our oceans are now awash in at least one hundred <br />7 fifty million tons of plastic waste, an amount that researchers <br />8 say will soon surpass the weight of all the fish in the sea. <br />9 Plastic micro -particles, which can introduce toxins into our <br />10 bodies, are present in the air we breathe, the water we drink, <br />11 and the food we eat. The World Wildlife Fund recently <br />12 commissioned a study that found we ingest an average of five <br />13 grams of plastic every week, the equivalent of a credit card. <br />14 There is not enough research to determine the impacts of plastic <br />15 ingestion on human health. <br />16 The legislature further finds that the plastic industry has <br />17 misled the public to believe that recycling is a viable solution <br />2021-0546 HB HMSO-1 <br />