[leafmeal]

If you factor in the cost of any government managed trash cleanup, it might. Basically require producers to cover all of the costs required to get the trash disposed of properly. Filtering micro-plastics out of the ocean? Add it to the plastic tax. Health costs from birth defects caused by certain plastic exposure? Add it to the tax for those plastics.

I think the market works amazingly as long as there's government to line the incentives up right.

[Dylan16807]

I think disposing properly would mostly be a few more public trash cans and a ban on exporting plastic and trash to get fake-recycled. Which would not cost very much.

[honkycat]

The USA is not the problem, it is SEA. Most of our trash ends up in landfills, which is much preferable to the ocean.