HI SR23

Urges the State Capitol Management Committee to designate the Hawaii State Capitol building and its grounds as a single-use plastic free zone.

Cites that raw plastic production has increased 610 percent since 1975, with only 9 percent of plastic recycled and 12 percent incinerated, while the rest ends up in landfills or the environment.

Notes that 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean annually, contributing to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch located between Hawaii and California.

Identifies health hazards from plastics including harmful dioxins from incineration, chemical leaching from single-use plastics, and microplastics bioaccumulating in the food chain.

States the annual cost of marine plastic pollution is estimated at $13 billion, with total social and environmental costs estimated at $139 billion annually.