ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — A new report claims that corporate lobbyists opposing the proposed Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (S1464/A1749) outnumbered supporters 4-to-1 in the state legislature. Amazon, McDonald’s, ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola, and other corporations allegedly lobbied hard to defeat it, making it the most lobbied bill in the last two months of the legislative session.
Blair Horner, senior policy advisor for the New York Public Interest Research Group, called it a “classic story of power politics where the wealthy and powerful use their immense resources to block what’s in the public’s best interest.”
Beyond Plastics released the report, “Follow the Money: The David vs. Goliath Battle to Pass the New York Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act,” on Tuesday. It tallied 107 companies or organizations registered to lobby against the bill, and 23 registered to pass it.
Records from the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government showed that 21 of the top 50 lobbying firms in a City & State New York article were hired to oppose the bill in May and June 2025, as session wound down. Only one was retained to lobby in support.
Opponents include fossil fuelers like Exxon Mobil and Shell, chemical companies like Dow, and brands focused on consumables, like Kraft Heinz and Coke. The American Chemistry Council, for example, funneled $250,000 through a third-party committee on an ad campaign against the bill in the past year.
Lobbying expense reports don’t require companies to disclose money spent on specific bills, so the report doesn’t calculate total opposition funding. “A big firm may be lobbying on dozens of unrelated bills, and there’s no way to tease out with precision how much was spent on each bill,” said Beyond Plastics president and a former EPA official Judith Enck on Tuesday at a virtual press conference discussing the report. “So, I think that is another reform that is needed.”
The State Senate passed the bill two years in a row, with a 33 to 25 vote in 2025. It has 32 co-sponsors in the upper chamber, including the prime sponsor, Democratic Senator Pete Harckham, who chairs the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee.
To pass in the Assembly, only 76 Assemblymembers have to vote in favor. Sponsored in the lower chamber by Democratic Assemblymember Deborah Glick—chair of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee—the bill has 77 other Assembly co-sponsors.
It already passed through four committees in the Assembly, but was mysteriously never called for a vote on the floor despite apparently having enough votes. So, when the legislature convenes in January for the next legislative session, the bill is supposed to have a head start by skipping the committee step. Advocates like Enck want Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to vote on the bill early in the session.
A Siena poll from April 2025 cited by Beyond Plastics found that 73% of registered voters in New York support the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. That includes 80% of Democrats, 62% of independents, and 60% of Republicans. Support was also consistent statewide, with 72% of New York City residents and 73% of suburban and upstate residents in favor.
The legislation from Harckham and Glick would change how goods are packaged, reduce waste, and lower costs for local taxpayers. It includes or requires:
- Incremental 30% reduction in single-use packaging over 12 years
- Seventy-five percent of remaining packaging must be reusable or recycled by 2052
- Phasing out the 17 most harmful chemicals and materials used in packaging—including those touching food or beverages—like PFAS, lead, mercury, cadmium, PVC plastic, formaldehyde, and bisphenols
- Not counting chemical recycling technology as “real recycling”
- A fee on packaging paid for by companies that sell packaged products, thereby funding local waste reduction and recycling efforts
- A new Office of Inspector General for oversight and compliance
Proponents say New York’s landfills are filling up as incinerators in underserved communities pollute the air, releasing greenhouse gases. They point to plastic build up in the human body:
Opposing lobbyists have claimed the unrealistic legislation would increase costs on store shelves, costing New Yorkers $730 per year. But Beyond Plastics said they don’t have any data supporting that claim. They pointed to an analysis that figured a possible $0.25 increase per week for consumers. Over 52 weeks, that’s $13 per year. That formula from a Columbia University professor was only based on the packaging fee, not the reduction in packaging or toxic chemicals.
Take a look at the report below:
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