A tractor moves garbage at the Colonie landfill.

The world is awash in garbage, and much of that garbage is plastic.

The evidence is everywhere. Just look at the growing, plastic-dominated mountains at the Albany or Colonie landfills. Or glance at the trash that so often mars the sides of Interstate 787 and other roadways. Or, worst of all, walk along a beach where the plastic polluting our oceans washes ashore.

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The only way to alleviate the problem is to create less plastic garbage, and that's what the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act aims to do.

The legislation, which just passed in the state Senate and awaits a vote in the Assembly, would mandate new packaging regulations on many of the companies that provide our food and........

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