In one area where data were available, bottled drink sales at military exchanges nearly doubled to about 50 million annually in 2021-2023 over 2019-2020 levels. Image: Rich Carey/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe Defense Department is struggling to get a handle on single-use plastics for reducing them under a 2021 executive order that directed agencies to reduce single-use plastics, even though the department already had some initiatives in place, the GAO has said.
Officials from the military services and other DoD components GAO interviewed were “unsure how to identify single-use plastics within DoD, measure any reductions, and establish roles and responsibilities for responding to the implementing instructions. These officials stated that they typically wait for department-wide guidance before acting in response to executive orders and any instructions to ensure that their actions align with department-wide goals,” a report said.
DoD has not issued such guidance in response to the order and 2022 implementing instructions, it said, adding that the department uses single-use plastic bags, product packages, shrink wrap, disposable containers and more in settings including commissaries and exchanges, dining facilities, hospitals, logistics and procurement.
It said that sustainability programs at DoD predating the executive order addressed issues such as stressing reusable dishware and cutlery at some dining facilities, refurbishing and reusing some single-use medical devices and general educational efforts.
“However, GAO found that DoD has limited visibility into the results and challenges of component-level efforts,” it said. Officials told GAO that they “did not routinely track the quantities of single-use plastics used by their organizations, and that accordingly, they could not measure any reductions or establish any goals.”
In one area where data were available, bottled drink sales at military exchanges nearly doubled to about 50 million annually in 2021-2023 over 2019-2020 levels.
“Issuing department-wide guidance on which plastics to reduce—including associated goals, roles, and responsibilities for components—would better position DoD to reduce its single-use plastic waste, as envisioned by the executive order’s implementing instructions,” said the report, ordered by a defense spending law.
It said DoD agreed with recommendations to collect information on the results of prior initiatives, to issue department-wide guidance specifying goals, roles and responsibilities, and to review and evaluate components’ efforts.
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