Watch: A conversation on plastic pollution and the circular economy

The big picture: On Thursday, September 21, in Columbus, Ohio, Axios reporters Tyler Buchanan and Alissa Widman Neese hosted conversations examining policies and proposals aimed at reducing plastic pollution, accelerating recycling practices and advancing the circular economy.

• Guests included Ohio State Sen. Bill DeMora (D), Sustainable Columbus deputy director Alana Shockey and Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio executive director Joe Lombardi.

Sen. Bill DeMora explained how he calls attention to environmental policy issues and their repercussions.

• On convincing his colleagues and the public that environmental policies matter: "People got to start realizing that climate and climate change is the number one issue facing all of us…my job is to call them out when they do stuff like want to frack in state parks and bills that we just heard earlier this week."

Alana Shockey explained how recent federal climate-focused policies are helping local governments accelerate their climate goals.

• On federal grants for local governments: "This is, I think, one of the exciting moments for us with the IRA and the BIL coming out of the federal government. It's really changed the opportunity that local governments have to lead on climate."

Joe Lombardi explained what steps need to happen to expand recycling in Ohio.

• On recycling items versus throwing them into the trash: "I do believe that, number one, 70% of consumers want their packaging to be recyclable and they do support companies that are sustainable. So we have to keep that in mind as we throw stuff into our trash or whether we throw it into our blue bin."

Sponsored content:

In the View from the Top sponsored segment, Craig Cookson emphasized the opportunity Ohio has to improve recycling practices.

• "Here in Ohio, there is a huge opportunity to recycle. So if you took just 50% of the plastics that are going to landfill right now in Ohio, instead built businesses through advanced recycling, mechanical recycling here in Ohio, you could add $420 million in additional economic output every year."

Thank you to the American Chemistry Council for sponsoring this event.