In the 1967 classic, “The Graduate,” Dustin Hoffman gets pulled aside for the ultimate one-word advice about his future: “Plastics.” It was a prophetic view of the entire nation’s economic future.
In President Trump’s speech to Congress on March 4th, he did not shy away from talking about his tariff plan. Tariffs are controversial, pitting the concepts of free trade against fair trade, but one thing is virtually certain in the coming months – there’s going to be a run on products made in America.
Given the amount of toys made in China, it stands to reason that American toy makers are seeing a historic uptick in orders since the announcement of the tariffs. A New York Post headline read: “US toy factories slammed with orders after Trump tariffs on China, Mexico imports.” It seems that the 20 percent duty on Chinese-made goods and the 25 percent tariff on Mexican and Canadian products are directing demand in the US, especially toward a small group of toy manufacturers including 3D printing farms that can make products domestically for companies that typically manufacture overseas. One company, Pye Games, operates 560 3D printers and is openly touting not only “made in the USA,” but also “no tariffs.”
Colorado has a number of innovative, local manufacturers like Kodo, a maker of STEM toys and games for kids, and Apogee, a model rocket company. In addition to such small businesses, Colorado is also home to multiple Lockheed Martin facilities and hundreds of medical device companies. What do toys, satellites, and medical equipment all have in common?
Plastic.
As a former executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, I have spent much of my career seeking common sense ways to protect America’s great outdoors for future generations, including several years on the board of the Great Outdoors Colorado program. The State’s reputation for protecting its most precious natural treasures, and its ever-growing number of parks, wildlife refuges, and open spaces, has fueled a remarkable tourism boom for decades, and especially over the past ten years.
In 2023 alone, tourists and travelers spent more than 36 million nights in Colorado, with 5 million of those nights booked by vacationers who visited the state to enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, camping, fishing, and skiing. Those activities are vital to the economy because they require specific outdoor gear. Think about tents and backpacks, sleeping bags and climbing equipment, fishing gear and waders, kayaks and skis – and the vast array of equipment and specialized clothing required for skiing.
Plastic.
Twenty-six percent of all U.S. manufacturing is supported by plastic products, and American manufacturers exported more than $68 billion of plastic material and products globally in 2023. As a student of natural resources policy, I have been watching the plastic manufacturing sector closely for a long time, and I am encouraged to see more than $11 billion in announced investments in domestic recycling since 2017. Vast quantities of plastics are still not recycled, so these new investments foreshadow a new emphasis on wise use and reuse. With these investments and innovative technologies like advanced recycling, experts believe that we will divert billions of pounds of plastic from landfills in the coming years. That will be good not only for the environment, but also for the economy.
Contrary to unfortunate conventional wisdom, conservation and sustainability do not have to curb economic growth, violate constitutional freedoms such as property rights, or push unrealistic political agendas. As people interact with the environment for commercial purposes, plastic serves as a good example of a holistic, strategic, and common-sense approach to conservation. In fact, we need plastic for wind turbines, solar panels, water conservation equipment, and home insulation for energy efficiency as much as we need it for ranching, logging, and mining, all of which can be done responsibly and sustainably and in ways future generations can be proud of.
Plastic is not the enemy of conservation – it can be a critical tool for protecting our environment, creating jobs, and keeping Colorado’s economy strong. It is also important to remember that the regulatory framework under which American plastic manufacturers operate is the most stringent in the world, ensuring the safety of the products and the methods of producing them.
Plastic manufacturing supports thousands of jobs in Colorado, directly or tangentially, and the state’s economy, from tourism to aerospace, depends on it. As we continuously work to find innovative solutions for conserving natural resources, policymakers should remember that plastic is an integral part of that picture.
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