The story of manufacturing in this country is often told through steel, energy or technology. However, one industry that rarely features in that story underpins all of them. That industry is plastics, and it’s also going to be a crucial part of the next chapter of that story
From medical equipment and clean water systems to vehicle parts and defense materials, this sector sustains regional economies and supports hundreds of thousands of American families. Its productivity drives exports, fuels innovation and reinforces the industrial base that makes America resilient.
Plastics are not a niche material. They are central to modern life and modern manufacturing. For instance, they make cars lighter and more efficient, reduce energy use in buildings, and enable breakthroughs in medicine and renewable energy.
According to the American Plastic Makers’ economic and automotive reports, the U.S. plastics industry employs nearly 700,000 Americans and generates billions in wages and economic output. In the automotive sector alone, plastic has helped reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel efficiency, cutting costs for consumers and reducing emissions. Plastics provide convenience to our daily lives and are critical infrastructure for a cleaner, stronger and more efficient economy.
Despite this slew of benefits, some activists and foreign delegates have pushed for an outright ban on plastics as world leaders negotiate a global treaty. That rhetoric may play well in international forums, but it ignores economic and environmental reality.
A global ban would devastate U.S. manufacturing, erase good-paying jobs, and push production to nations with weaker environmental standards. The U.S. can’t afford to let competitors dictate the terms of a material that touches nearly every sector of our economy.
Abandoning plastics altogether would be devastating. Instead, American plastic manufacturing should lead not just how they’re made and reused, but also how they’re recycled.
How recycling can boost American leadership
That leadership is already emerging through innovative technology methods in recycling that breaks used plastics down into their original molecular components, allowing them to be remade into new, high-quality materials.
This technology can transform waste into feedstock, cut landfill use, and strengthen domestic supply chains. It’s an area where American manufacturing is already ahead and where investment could unlock tens of thousands of new jobs.
While the world may use more plastic than we do, we can define what we do with it next. We can make sustainability an American export and redefine how the world thinks about materials and manufacturing.
But to seize that opportunity, Washington must align policy with innovation.
Regulators should modernize outdated rules that misclassify innovative plastic recycling methods as waste disposal instead of manufacturing. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can accelerate investment simply by formally recognizing these recycling methods as a manufacturing process and the plastics produced through it as recycled content. That clarity would unleash private capital, scale innovation, and strengthen America’s circular economy.
Congress should create consistent national standards. Right now, a patchwork of state rules makes it difficult to source and process recycled plastics, even as demand continues to grow. Federal legislation can streamline the system, provide long-term certainty for industry, and ensure a stable domestic supply chain for U.S. manufacturers.
If the U.S. fails to modernize its policies, other nations will define the rules, the technologies, and the markets of the future. If we lead, we can align environmental progress with economic power while keeping them both rooted in American hands.
Therefore, we need policymakers to move to increase domestic plastic production and fully unleash American manufacturing innovation.
First, lawmakers must modernize outdated regulations on recycling. They should acknowledge new and innovative forms of recycling and affirm greater regulatory certainty for recyclers.
Second, Congress can pass smart federal legislation to establish national standards for plastic recycling. National standards, rather than the previously mentioned patchwork of state laws, would help clarify definitions of what is considered recycling and recycled content, and it would help expand recycling infrastructure in American communities.
America can rebound as a manufacturing powerhouse. And since we are already so dependent on plastic, we also have an opportunity to rebound in a sustainable manner by refocusing our efforts on using recycled plastic.
If Congress moves, we can ensure that domestic manufacturers have the confidence and certainty to use a greater supply of recycled materials. This will unleash a new era of American manufacturing while advancing a more circular and sustainable economy.
