The General Services Administration is soliciting public insights on the use of plastic in packaging and shipping to help inform future rulemaking to reduce single-use plastics while limiting liability and burden on industry and logistics partners.
GSA plans to use public comments to establish reporting mechanisms and requirements to reduce single-use plastics in packaging used for delivering products under contracts, according to an advance notice of proposed rulemaking published Thursday.
Interested stakeholders are invited to respond to several questions, including their organization’s experience in using environmentally preferable packaging and their views on the differences between a paper- and aluminum-based packaging and packaging based on single-use plastics.
The agency also wants to know about regulatory, market, cost and statutory barriers to selecting environmentally preferable packaging; factors to consider when developing a timeline to implement regulatory changes in reducing single-use plastics; measures to help contractors transition to environmentally preferable packing and packaging; and ways to verify compliance with reduced or eliminated plastic content.
Comments are due Sept. 6.
