Media Contact: Cassandra Casados-Klein
[email protected] | 713.623.1457
HOUSTON – Today, Houston City Councilmember Letitia Plummer launched her ‘100 Day Challenge’ – a bold plan to reduce and ultimately eliminate the use of single-use plastics within City Council chambers and offices. This campaign joins the City of Houston’s efforts to curb plastic use and advance real, lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis.
Despite nearly 40 years of recycling initiatives, only 4–6% of plastic waste in the U.S. is actually recycled. So-called “advanced” recycling methods—like pyrolysis and gasification—are not only expensive and energy-intensive but also release toxic emissions, posing serious risks to human and environmental health. Meanwhile, microplastics are contaminating our air, water, and food supply, carrying toxic chemicals that threaten the health of Houstonians.
Air Alliance Houston’s Executive Director, Jennifer Hadayia, had this to say.
"Air Alliance Houston thanks Councilmember Plummer for championing this plastic-free initiative and taking bold action for our city. From creation to disposal, plastics pollute our air, fuel the climate crisis, and threaten the health of communities. As part of our campaign against toxic “chemical recycling,” we’re calling out these false solutions that do little to reduce plastic waste and instead create more pollution for our Earth and our neighborhoods."
In Houston, the Recycling Collaboration’s “All Plastics” experiment has put surrounding communities at risk by storing plastic waste at an unpermitted facility that has failed multiple fire inspections. This failed approach underscores the urgent need for sustainable, community-centered solutions.
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Media contact: Cassandra Casados-Klein [email protected], 713 623 1457
About Air Alliance Houston
Air Alliance Houston is a non-profit organization working to reduce the public health impacts of air pollution and advance environmental justice through applied research, education, and advocacy. For more information and resources, please visit www.airalliancehouston.org.