Beyond Plastics is a project of Bennington College’s Center for the Advancement of Public Action. The group promotes campaigns against plastic products in multiple states, and trains student activists.1 Beyond Plastics has opposed conventional plastic recycling,2 opposed recycling plastic into energy to produce electricity,2 opposed replacing traditional plastic products with supposedly biodegradable substitutes,3 opposed using plastic PVC pipes to replace lead water pipes,4 and opposed the continued production and use of hydrocarbon energy sources, such as oil, natural gas and coal.5 Beyond Plastics has supported bans on plastic shopping bags,6 laws that require reducing the use of paper shopping bags, 6 and lawsuits filed by Democratic state attorneys general against petroleum and plastic producers.7 8
The founder and first president of Beyond Plastics is Judith Enck, a former EPA official in the Obama administration.9 Enck has publicly opposed the use of emissions-free nuclear energy, including as the executive leading Beyond Plastics.10 11 12 The staff and advisory board of Beyond Plastics have been affiliated with at least seven nonprofit advocacy groups—such as the Sierra Club and 350.org— that are opponents of nuclear energy. 1 13 14
Beyond Plastics and the Center for the Advancement of Public Action have received support from donors with a history of giving to left-leaning climate advocacy, such as Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Endeavor Foundation. 15 16
Background
Beyond Plastics, located in Bennington, Vermont, was created in 2019 as a project of Bennington College’s Center for the Advancement of Public Action. The group promotes the perception that plastic pollution is a “growing environmental crisis,” advocates for prohibitions on the use and manufacture of plastic products and seeks to “train students to become leaders in the anti-plastics movement. . .” The group has promoted its policy agenda in multiple states. 1 9
In a 2021 report the nonprofit analyzed and criticized every stage of the plastic production process, from creation of new plastic products to recycling them into new products and fuel. It was titled “The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change.” In the forward, Beyond Plastics president Judith Enck said: “Plastic is the new coal.” 17
Center for the Advancement of Public Action
As of January 2025, Beyond Plastics was listed as one of six projects run by the “Environment and Public Action” initiative of Bennington College’s Center for the Advancement of Public Action (CAPA). The Environment and Public Action initiative was listed as one of five distinct CAPA initiatives, with the others being “Activating Democracy,” “Art in the Public Realm,” “Human Rights and Peacebuilding,” and “Building Regenerative and Resilient Communities.” The distinct emphasis and funding committed to the five initiatives, and the subordinate projects of each initiative, is not clearly stipulated by the CAPA and Bennington College websites. The main CAPA website stipulates that it exists “to educate undergraduate students in public action; to be a catalyst, convener, and creative space for social change; and to design solutions to the urgent social, political, and environmental problems of our time.” 18 19
As of January 2025, Judith Enck was listed as a professor at CAPA. Enck was scheduled to teach a spring 2025 online class for CAPA entitled “Beyond Plastic Pollution.” Enck was also one of five persons profiled on the “People” page of the CAPA website, listed as a “senior fellow.” 20 21
An April 2024 news release linked from the CAPA main website was titled “Learning to Take Public Action: Endeavor Environmental Action Fellowships 2024.” The release reported that 14 Bennington students working “under the direction of Judith Enck,” participated in internships with left-wing climate advocacy groups such as Food and Water Watch, New York Communities for Change, and state affiliates of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Riverkeeper. 22
The April 2024 news release included a subsection titled “Pulling the Levers of Power” in which some of the interns recounted their success in influencing policymakers. The release claimed the intern placed with New York Communities for Change “followed an influential lawmaker to a speaking engagement and held signs quietly to ensure the audience knew that he was falling short on a promise to divest from a major polluter.” 22
Policy and Advocacy
Beyond Plastics has promoted federal, state and local policies to impede the creation, use, substitution, recycling, and disposal of plastic products.
Opposition to recycling plastic into energy
Pyrolysis for plastic is the process of using heat to break down discarded plastic and recycle into other plastic products or fuels. 23 24 The process is also known as “advanced recycling” and “chemical recycling.”25 Beyond Plastics has repeatedly opposed the advanced recycling of discarded plastic into liquid fuels, and in an October 2023 report proposed a prohibition on the creation of hydrocarbon fuels from plastic. 26
Another form of recovering energy from plastic is “waste-to-energy,” burning it for industrial purposes, or to create heat to spin electricity turbines. This too has been opposed by Beyond Plastics. 27 28
In March 2022, Beyond Plastics criticized plastic waste reforms proposed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and state Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D) because the proposal defined “recycling in a way that would allow for the burning of plastics” and lacked other mandates against the use and production of plastic. 29
In December 2022, Beyond Plastics joined with other nonprofits to encourage New York state lawmakers to reject a bill that would have regulated advanced recycling plants as manufacturing plants rather than waste facilities. The Beyond Plastics news release declared the term “advanced recycling” to be an “Orwellian” inaccuracy. 30
In December 2023, at the urging of Beyond Plastics, the city government of Youngstown, Ohio, voted to establish a one-year moratorium against a proposed pyrolysis plant that would have converted discarded tires, plastic and electronic waste into gas, and then burned the gas to provide electricity and heat. In a news release praising the moratorium, a Beyond Plastics representative said the nonprofit was “committed to working with the community and other communities to ensure that this type of facility is never built.” 25 31
Also in December 2023, Beyond Plastics opposed the development of a syngas facility in West Virginia. The plant would have used pyrolysis to recycle the seven most common forms of plastic waste into a hydrocarbon gas that could be burned in place of natural gas or coal to create electricity. The nonprofit’s news release stated they and their allies would fight against the facility “for as long as it takes.”32
In August 2024, Beyond Plastics sent a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, asking her to withdraw a $182.6 million loan guarantee that would have permitted plastic to be burned in place of coking coal by a steel mill in Gary, Indiana. “Plastic is not the new coal,” said a Beyond Plastics representative, in a news release addressing the controversy. 33
In a September 2024 news release, Beyond Plastics criticized ExxonMobil for recycling discarded plastic into energy. 8
“The majority of the plastic waste is turned mostly into fuel that will later be burned,” said Judith Enck, in a news release. “The scheme uses existing equipment at ExxonMobil’s massive Baytown, Texas, petroleum refinery, which processes millions of tons of new fuel every year into mostly fuel and other products, including plastics.” 8
Support for plastic prohibitions
Beyond Plastics has promoted and praised local, state and federal prohibitions against the use of plastic packaging and other plastic products.
In November 2020, Beyond Plastics praised New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) for signing a new law that banned single-use plastic bags, created the phase out of paper bags at large grocery stores, and prohibited polystyrene foam in the food and restaurant industries. The Beyond Plastics news release claimed the law was the “strongest law in the country to reduce single-use waste” and that no other state had yet gone so far as to phase out paper bags. 6
In January 2022, Beyond Plastics praised New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) for signing a bill that banned the use of plastic packing peanuts and required sharp increases in the recycled content of plastic products. 34
In May 2024, Beyond Plastics sent a letter to New York state lawmakers, encouraging them to pass legislation that would mandate a 50 percent reduction in the use of plastic packaging. 35
Opposition to PVC pipes and other products
Beyond Plastics has opposed the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and products made from it, such as PVC piping and gift cards. In multiple Beyond Plastics news release, president Judith Enck has encouraged the Environmental Protection Agency to ban PVC. 36 37 38 39
Beyond Plastics has opposed using PVC plastic pipes to replace old water pipes made from lead.
In late 2023 the Environmental Protection Agency issued an edict requiring the replacement of all remaining lead water pipes in the United States. In a Beyond Plastics news release, Judith Enck asked the EPA administrator to “take that one step further and advise local governments not to replace lead service lines with PVC plastic pipes.” 4
During Thanksgiving 2022, Beyond Plastics encouraged retailers to stop selling holiday gift cards. 40
“There is no excuse for businesses to continue selling PVC gift cards when safer, more sustainable alternatives are readily available,” said Judith Enck. “We also urge consumers not to buy them.” 40 41 4
Opposition to conventional recycling
Beyond Plastics has opposed conventional recycling of plastic on the grounds that it is ineffective and perpetuates the creation and use of plastic.
In May 2022 the nonprofit released “The Real Truth About the U.S. Plastics Recycling Rate,” which concluded that only 6 percent of discarded American plastic was recycled. 2
“The plastics industry must stop lying to the public about plastics recycling. It does not work, it never will work, and no amount of false advertising will change that,” said Beyond Plastics president Judith Enck, introducing the report. “Instead, we need consumer brand companies and governments to adopt policies that reduce the production, usage, and disposal of plastics.” 2
“We strongly support recycling and urge everyone to keep recycling paper, cardboard, metal, glass and some limited plastics,” said Enck in December 2022. “However, the vast majority of plastics are not recyclable—the U.S. plastic recycling rate is just 5% according to the Department of Energy. In light of the clear failure of most plastics recycling over many decades, the plastics industry is now promoting so-called ‘chemical recycling’—which primarily means melting plastics down to create fossil fuels.” 30
Opposition to biodegradable plastics
Some end users of plastics—such as restaurants and food packaging firms—have responded to plastic criticisms by purchasing alternative plastics that are not made from petroleum or other hydrocarbons. Beyond Plastics has criticized the use of these so-called “biodegradable” plastics.
In July 2024, Beyond Plastics released a report titled “Demystifying Compostable and Biodegradable Plastic.” 3
“The lack of regulations around bioplastics allows companies to present their products as more environmentally friendly than traditional plastic without meeting any standards for safety, toxicity, climate change impacts, or how long it takes for them to degrade,” said Beyond Plastics founder Judith Enck. “This report combats the often misleading promotion of bioplastics by providing a close look at the benefits and harms of products on the market today.” 3
Support for state lawsuits against energy and plastics firms
Beyond Plastics has encouraged lawsuits by state governments against energy firms and the plastics industry.
In November 2023, Beyond Plastics issued a news release praising New York attorney general Letitia James for filing an “unprecedented and much needed lawsuit” against PepsiCo. The lawsuit claimed damages against the beverage company for plastic litter created by customers who had failed to dispose of it properly. 7 42
“The responsibility for paying for the damage caused by this pollution should be shouldered by the polluter, not by New York State’s taxpayers,” said Beyond Plastics president Judith Enck. “Congratulations to Attorney General James for being a bold river protector. I call on other Attorneys General to consider similar lawsuits to protect scores of other rivers around the nation that are impacted by plastic pollution.” 7
In September 2024, Beyond Plastics praised California attorney general Rob Bonta for filing the “the single most consequential lawsuit filed against the plastics industry.” Bonta’s lawsuit against ExxonMobil alleged the energy firm had been misleading Californians about the efficacy of plastic recycling. 8
Opposition to Nuclear Energy
For a list of known anti-nuclear nonprofits and background on the movement, please see: Opposition to Nuclear Energy.
Beyond Plastics founder Judith Enck has repeatedly opposed nuclear energy and many of the nonprofits and individuals connected to Beyond Plastics are known opponents.
Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2023 accounted for 19 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. 43 44 An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. 45
In April 2024, while she was president of Beyond Plastics, Enck was quoted in a newspaper report regarding New York Gov. Kathy Hochel (D) and the potential for nuclear energy in the state. Enck told the newspaper that “the governor even speculating on nuclear power in New York is trouble.” 46
In October 2024 Enck used her X/Twitter account to promote an anti-nuclear essay posted at CounterPunch, a left-wing news and opinion journal. The essay’s headline was “The New Nuclear Push: New Package, Same Lies,” and Enck reposted/repeated it without further elaboration or commentary. The commentary criticized American and European political leaders for considering an expansion of nuclear power, and claimed the movement was being driven by “nuclear power zealots.” 11 47
In a February 2018 commentary for a public radio affiliate, she criticized Trump administration Energy Secretary Rick Perry for “attempting to prop up the failing coal and nuclear industries” and wrote that she liked Perry better “when he was a contestant on dancing with the stars.” 12
Enck is a past president of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an opponent of nuclear power. 48 49 The staff and advisory board of Beyond Plastics also have work histories with known anti-nuclear nonprofits such as 350.org 13 the Sierra Club,14, Clean Water Action,50 the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, 51 Seventh Generation Advisors,52 and Grassroots Environmental Education. 53
Personnel
As of January 2025, the Beyond Plastics website listed 14 staffers and 15 advisory board members. Many of the individuals had backgrounds in left-of-center climate and policy advocacy. 1
Judith Enck
Judith Enck is the founder and first president of Beyond Plastics, a position she began after working as a regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration. Before that she was an environmental advisor to Eliot Spitzer (D), both when he was the attorney general of New York and later the state’s governor. Enck has also worked for left-leaning climate advocacy nonprofits such as New York Public Interest Research Group and Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. As of January 2025, she was a visiting fellow and instructor at Bennington College’s Center for the Advancement of Public Action. 9 48 54 55
Bill McKibben
As of January 2025, Bill McKibben was listed on the Beyond Plastics advisory board. He is the founder of 350.org. 13
Ramon Cruz
As of January 2025, Mr. Cruz was listed as an advisory board member for Beyond Plastics. Until 2023 he was the president of the Sierra Club and has also worked with or consulted for the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council. 14 56
Eve Fox
Ms. Fox became the digital director for Beyond Plastics in 2019 and was still listed in the position as of January 2025. She previously worked for M&R Strategic Services, a consulting firm catering to left-leaning policy groups; Oceana, a left-leaning climate policy nonprofit; and founded her own consulting firm. 57
Melissa Valliant
Ms. Valliant was listed as the communications director of Beyond Plastics. She previously managed the plastics campaign for Oceana. 58
Dawn L. Henry
Ms. Henry, an environmental lawyer, was listed as the senior advisor to Beyond Plastics. She drafted the prohibition on plastic bags that was adopted by the U.S. Virgin Islands. 59
Nyah Estevez
Ms. Estevez was listed as a community organizer for Beyond Plastics with prior employment at the New York Public Interest Research Group. 60
Johnathan Berard
Mr. Berard was listed as the policy director for Beyond Plastics. He has also worked as the Rhode Island director for Clean Water Action and is credited with authoring the state’s prohibition on plastic bags. 50
Dr. Ana Isabel Baptista
Dr. Baptista was listed as a member of the Beyond Plastics advisory board and an environmental policy professor at The New School. As of January 2025, she was also listed as a board member of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. 51
Robin Caiola
Ms. Caiola was listed as an advisory board member for Beyond Plastics. She is a development consultant, professional photographer, and as of January 2025 was listed as the chair of the board for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. 61
Kirstie Pecci
As of January 2025, Ms. Pecci was an advisory board member for Beyond Plastics, the executive director of Just Zero, and a former attorney for the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group. 62
Leslie Tamminen
As of January 2025, Ms. Tamminen was listed as the education and environmental programs director for Seventh Generation Advisors and as an advisory board member for Beyond Plastics. She is also a former staff attorney for Heal the Bay. 63 52
Monica Wilson
Ms. Wilson was identified as an advisory board member of Beyond Plastics and the associate director of Global Alliance for Incineration Alternatives. 64
Patti Wood
Ms. Wood is the founder Grassroots Environmental Education and was listed as a board member of Beyond Plastics. 53
Funding
As of January 2025, Bennington College’s website did not provide budgets nor indications of the annual funding for Beyond Plastics or the school’s other left-leaning advocacy programs. Reliable donors to left-leaning climate advocacy have independently reported supporting these programs.
The Endeavor Foundation
In January 2020 Bennington College announced a $290,000 commitment from the Endeavor Foundation “to launch The Endeavor Foundation Environmental Changemaker Fellowship Program, which includes funded internships for Bennington students to work in nonprofits with a focus on environmental justice.” 15
Endeavor has been a funder of other left-leaning advocacy groups. In 2023 it reported grants to $200,000 to the New Economy Coalition, $110,000 to Make the Road New York, $200,000 to the Climate Reality Project (formerly the Alliance for Climate Protection) and $750,000 to the Brennan Center for Justice. 65
“We are so pleased to launch this program and expand our fellowship model to include critically needed fellowships in environmental action,” said Isabel Roche of the grant from Endeavor. “They are a natural extension of Bennington’s distinctly experiential approach to learning and our commitment to empowering students in their pursuit of solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.” 15
Roche was credited in the 2020 news release as the interim president of Bennington. 15 In its 2021 IRS filing, Endeavor listed “Isabel Roche O’Brien” as the “executive director of special programs.” 66 In the 2023 IRS filing from Endeavor, Isabel Roche O’Brien’s salary and other compensation were reported at just shy of $270,000. 67
In the 2021 and 2022 IRS reports, Endeavor pledged $150,000 in future payments to Bennington’s Endeavor Foundation Environmental Action Fellowship Program. 66 68 In the 2023 report Endeavor reported a $75,000 grant to Bennington’s Beyond Plastics project and $72,500 to Bennington’s Endeavor Foundation Environmental Action Fellowship Program. 67
An April 2024 news release from Bennington College’s Center for the Advancement of Public Action promoted the policy activism engaged in by CAPA interns benefitting from the Endeavor Environmental Action Fellowships. The interns were working under the direction of Beyond Plastics president Judith Enck. The news release quoted Endeavor director of programs Ashley Kidd praising the students via a Zoom connection. 22
Bloomberg Philanthropies
The 2022 IRS filing from Bloomberg Philanthropies listed a $300,000 grant to Bennington College, which included a grant description that read “Accelerate transition to clean energy.” In September 2022, left-leaning billionaire Michael Bloomberg announced his charitable foundation had created a “Beyond Petrochemicals” project and would provide $85 million in funding for nonprofits that promoted local resistance to plastic production facilities. Judith Enck of Beyond Plastics praised the Bloomberg commitment, calling it “extraordinary.” 69 16
Beyond Plastics has also thanked Bloomberg Philanthropies for providing funding to support “Chemical Recycling: A Dangerous Deception,” an October 2023 report jointly produced with another NGO. 70
Other left-leaning donors
In its 2019 IRS filing the Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust listed a $75,000 grant to Beyond Plastics. 71 In the 2023 IRS filing the Spitzer trust listed a $35,000 donation to Beyond Plastics. 72
In IRS filings for 2021, 2022 and 2023 the Rockefeller Brothers Fund paid grants combined totalling $150,000 ($50,000 for each year) to Beyond Plastics. The 2023 report also pledged an additional $50,000 for future payment, presumably to be paid in 2024. 73
In 2022 and 2023 IRS filings the Schmidt Family Foundation provided grants totaling $120,000 for Bennington College. Grant descriptions for both years stipulated the funding was for “advancing sustainable materials.” 74
In July 2024, Beyond Plastics produced a report titled: Demystifying Compostable and Biodegradable Plastic: Do Safe and Sustainable Options Exist? The report thanked the Long Ridge Foundation for funding the report. The director of the Long Ridge Foundation, as of 2023, was Nancy Anne Burnett, and several board members listed in the nonprofit’s 2023 IRS filing are also named “Burnett.” Also known as Nancy Packard Burnett, Ms. Burnett is the founder of the Long Ridge Action Fund, an advocacy nonprofit that supports left-leaning groups. 75 76 77
References
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- “Environmental Groups Urge Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm Not to Use Inflation Reduction Act Money to Promote Plastic Burning.” Beyond Plastics. August 26, 2024. Accessed January 29, 2025. https://www.beyondplastics.org/press-releases/groups-urge-doe-not-to-make-plastic-new-coal
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- “100 Environmental Justice Communities Across USA Write to Speaker Heastie and Senator Stewart Cousins to Reduce Plastic Packaging by 50% and Protect Their Health.” Beyond Plastics. May 31, 2024. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.beyondplastics.org/press-releases/ej-leaders-urge-nys-to-pass-prria-05-31-24
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- “New Report Raises Questions About Safety of Using PVC Plastic Pipes for Drinking Water.” Beyond Plastics. April 18, 2023. Accessed January 30, 2025. https://www.beyondplastics.org/press-releases/beyond-plastics-pvc-plastic-pipes
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