S. 3127 · 118th Congress

Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2023

Introduced on Oct 25, 2023 by Jeff Merkley (D-OR). 11 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Oct 25, 2023): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Oct 25, 2023
Cosponsors
11
0 from the other party
Policy area
Environmental Protection
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

A bill to amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act to reduce the production and use of certain single-use plastic products and packaging, to improve the responsibility of producers in the design, collection, reuse, recycling, and disposal of consumer products and packaging, to prevent pollution from consumer products and packaging from entering into animal and human food chains and waterways, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Administrative law and regulatory procedures
  • Advisory bodies
  • Agricultural conservation and pollution
  • Air quality
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Aviation and airports
  • Civil actions and liability
  • Climate change and greenhouse gases
  • Community life and organization
  • Congressional oversight
  • Consumer affairs
  • Cosmetics and personal care
  • Ecology
  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Environmental health
  • Environmental regulatory procedures
  • Food industry and services
  • Food supply, safety, and labeling
  • Government information and archives
  • Government trust funds
  • Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
  • Health promotion and preventive care
  • Industrial facilities
  • Industrial policy and productivity
  • Licensing and registrations
  • Low- and moderate-income housing
  • Manufacturing
  • Marine pollution
  • Oil and gas
  • Pollution liability
  • Poverty and welfare assistance
  • Public participation and lobbying
  • Public-private cooperation
  • Racial and ethnic relations
  • Railroads
  • Retail and wholesale trades
  • Soil pollution
  • Solid waste and recycling
  • State and local finance
  • State and local government operations
  • State and local taxation
  • Trade restrictions
  • User charges and fees
  • Water quality
  • Worker safety and health

Summary

The Congressional Research Service has not summarized this measure yet.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Jeff MerkleyD-ORSponsor

Democrats · 10

Independents · 1

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Oct 25, 2023Introduced in Senate
  2. Oct 25, 2023 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. PPG INDUSTRIES INC.10 reports
    $710K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: PPG INDUSTRIES, INC.$8.6M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  2. PLASTICS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION, INC.9 reports
    $200K reported (all issues)
  3. AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL5 reports
    $28.4M reported (all issues)
  4. AMERICAN COATINGS ASSOCIATION INC.5 reports
    $120K reported (all issues)
  5. FLEXIBLE PACKAGING ASSOCIATION5 reports
  6. GRAPHIC PACKAGING INTERNATIONAL, LLC5 reports
    $204.2K reported (all issues)
  7. Greif, Inc.5 reports
    $209.6K reported (all issues)
  8. Newman & Company5 reports
  9. Ocean Conservancy5 reports
    $830K reported (all issues)
  10. Paper Recycling Coalition5 reports
    $200K reported (all issues)
  11. PaperWorks Industries, Inc.5 reports
    $42.1K reported (all issues)
  12. Pratt Industries (USA), Inc.5 reports
    $332.9K reported (all issues)
  13. S.C. JOHNSON & SON, INC.5 reports
    $396.9K reported (all issues)
  14. Sierra Club5 reports
    $970K reported (all issues)
  15. OCEANA, INC.4 reports
    $647K reported (all issues)
  16. THE COCA-COLA COMPANY4 reports
    $4.7M reported (all issues)Federal contractor: THE COCA-COLA COMPANY$2.5M in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  17. Friends of the Earth1 report
    $50K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2023, 2024.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 7, 2026 · loaded Oct 7, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.