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Sustainable Plastics

American Consumers Suffer from Environmental Double Standards

In reporting on progress toward sustainable plastics, the Japanese firms of Toyota and Honda are clearly ahead of Ford, GM, and DaimlerChrysler. With the U.S. government lagging behind Japan and the European Union in terms of recycling requirements and elimination of toxic chemicals, the North American automakers are following suit. We see this distinction emerging within the automakers themselves. For example, GM's leading activities on sustainable plastics are happening within its European subsidiary, Opel. And GM even acknowledges the difference: "Over the last decade, for example, our European subsidiaries have been progressively increasing the content of recycled plastics in their vehicles. During 2001, more than 30,000 tons of recycled [plastic] materials were incorporated in new Vauxhall and Opel vehicles, six times more than in 1991" (GM Environmental Report, 2002, p.108).

The lack of global environmental commitments among the automakers reflects the environmental double standards that are imposed, especially with products, on nations without strong consumer and environmental laws. In the past, these double standards have typically emerged between developed and developing nations. This report card reveals that the U.S. is increasingly being treated as a developing nation. As American environmental laws fall behind those of Japan and Europe, corporations are slower to adopt more environmentally advanced products and materials in the U.S.

We predict that the activities toward sustainable plastics of all automakers selling in the U.S. will continue to lag behind activities in Japan and the European Union.