Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman, D-Queens, in her commentary, "New York's recycling technology is due for an upgrade," April 22, attempts to defend "advanced recycling" of waste plastics as a solution to the current plastics pollution disaster in New York and beyond.

I'm saddened that our legislators have been bamboozled by the plastics and fossil fuel industries. This is part of a nationwide push to gut regulations on plastic burning facilities before we know how destructive they are. Investing in facilities that convert waste plastic to fuel allows the plastics industry to keep making more single-use packaging. Do people really need shrink-wrapped broccoli and greeting cards enshrouded in plastic sleeves thrown out as soon as they get home?

This technology is energy- and pollution-intensive. Isn't it time the packaging companies that profit from making all this single-use plastic take on the cost of managing it responsibly at the end of its life? New York needs a strong extended producer responsibility law like the one proposed by Assemblyman Steve Englebright, D-Long Island. His bill would require plastic producers to pay for the disposal of plastic waste, disincentivizing the plastic industry's planned production ramp-up.