barger-the plastic plague

8/16/2019 Barger-The Plastic Plague

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Stephanie Barger, Executive Director

Earth Resource Foundation

Campaign AgainstCampaign Against

the Plastic Plaguethe Plastic Plague


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CAPPCAPP’’ss Mission:Mission:

As a result of the harmful impact of plastic onAs a result of the harmful impact of plastic on

global ecosystems, economies, and publicglobal ecosystems, economies, and public

health, immediate action must be taken tohealth, immediate action must be taken to

eliminate single use throwaway plastics.eliminate single use throwaway plastics.

Change must be established in the consumerChange must be established in the consumer

lifestyle through education, citizen action, andlifestyle through education, citizen action, andbusiness accountability.business accountability.


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Just one word… Plastics!


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Petroleum plastics are long-chain

carbon polymers

Polyethylene

Petroleum plastics are long-chain carbon polymers


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Marine Pollution BullMarine Pollution Bull

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86%86% of oceof ocedebris isdebris is

plasticplastic


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Where do marine plastics

come from?

! 80% is from land-based sources

- careless littering- trash cans & collection vehicles

- drainages from plastic production facilities

! Storm run-off is the primary transport to aquatic & marine environments


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6 X’s as much

as

North Pacific central gyre

Moore et al., 2001


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8

Orange

County

Beach

Debris

• Plastic resin pellets

• Foamed plastics

• Hard plastics

• Cigarette butts


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Escaping

“nurdles”

9


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What the albatross ate….


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Marine Mammal Commission

267 different species found entangled in or

ingesting marine debris


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Plastic Resins


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Plastic recycling? Closed Loop?


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Plastic Resins

V or PVC – Reynolds wrap, floor tiles, shower

curtains, hoses, medical tubing, pipes, window

frames. Not recycled .

HDPE – milk, juice & shampoo bottles. Recycled i

lumber, flower pots, pails, traffic cones, trash ca

PET or PETE – water, soda, sports drink & beer

bottles, catsup bottles. Recycled into cleaning

product bottles, luggage, carpets, polar fleece, c

seats.


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PP – yogurt & margarine containers, medicine

bottles, straws. Not recycled.

LDPE – Saran Wrap, Glad Wrap, bread bags,squeeze bottles, diaper liners. Not recycled .

PS – “styrofoam” – coffee cups, egg cartons,

meat trays, CD jackets. Not recycled.

Other – all others resins or mixtures. Not recycl

Plastic ResinsPlastic Resins


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Since they don’t biodegrade, how

do we get rid of plastics?

" Land-filled - 55%" Recycled – 30%

" Incinerated – 15%

Municipal Solid Waste

US EPA 2001

Since they don’t biodegrade


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0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

Packaging Consumer &Institutional

Short-LifeElectronics

Diapers Trash Bags Retail Bags Adhesives,Inks, Coatings

OtherPSPPLDPE, LLDPEPVCHDPEPET

m i l l i o n p o u n d s

Single-Use & Short-Life Thermoplastics, 2002

American Plastics Council, Earth Circle

55% of Plastics Are Fast Track Trash


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Plastics generation and recovery

1960 - 2001 (US EPA)

05

1015202530

1 9 6 0

1 9 7 0

1 9 8 0

1 9 9 0

2 0 0 0

million

tons

gen. recov.


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California has the lowest deposit

of any Bottle Bill state

0

5

10

Deposit

(cents)

M i c h i g a n

N

e w Y o r k

M a s s .

O r e g o n

M a i n e I o w a

V e r m o n t

C o n n .

D e l a w a r e

C A 2 0 0 3

C A 2 0 0 4

19


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#1 PETE Bottle Bill bottles not recycl(CA DOC)

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

1 9 8 8

1 9 9 0

1 9 9 2

1 9 9 4

1 9 9 6

1 9 9 8

2 0 0 0

2 0 0

Billion

Bottles


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93 Billion Plastic H2O Bottles Land-

filled in US in 2002

reach moon & back 38 x’s

circle equator 371 x’s

2,222 times the length of theNile

line Interstate 80 (NY to SF)3,196 x’s

span length of CA 11, 556 x’s

Orange County Register 12/03


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Is bottled water safer?

The nation’s two

top-sellerscome from

municipal water

sources!


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" virgin resins (#2 or #4)" health laws & business economics

limit recycled content

" at most 10-20% are recycled# infrastructure lacking

# none curbside/ supermarket

is minimal

# no “closed loop”

# land-filled or littered

**average family uses 700 per year**

Life of a Plastic Shopping BagLife of a Plastic Shopping Bag


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Plastics

recycling doe

not occur in

closed loop!

Myths about plastics

recycling…$ Curbside collection hastaken care of recycling

$ Plastics that go into recycle

bins get recycled

$ Chasing arrows means a

container is recyclable

$ Plastics packaging is madefrom oil refineries waste

$ There is a closed loop on

plastics recycling

Reality…


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Economics of Plastics Disposal in

California

% ?? millions paid by local gov’ts (public) for

collection & disposal fees and to clean beaches,

waterways and streets of plastic debris.

% ?? billions paid by state/local gov’ts to comply

with new EPA TMDL requirements for

impaired waterways in CA (e.g. LA River andBallona Creek Watershed).


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26 (Pelouse Water Conservation Network)26

average price of one

liter of Aquafina 1,7411,741 times the average

US Public drinking waterprice of $17.70 per 1,000cubic feet

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$1.09


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Disposables Burst on the

scene in the 50’s.

•1955 Life Magazine:

–Save time

–Go for convenience

–Use-once-and-toss

–Why feel guilty?

•First throwaways mainly pa

“Throwaway Livin

Photo Credit: Peter Stackpole, Aug 1, 1955 (Getty Ima

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Our “Throw Away Society”

Generated MSW = 4.4 lbs/person/d

Recycled = - 1.3 lbs/person/dDiscarded MSW = 3.1 lbs/person/d

= 1,132 lbs/ person/

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 200


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A globalA global

problem!problem!

Manila Bay, Philip


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3 key solution concepts

Producer

Responsibility

SustainabilityPrecautionary

Principle


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Plastic shopping bag solutions

Abroad

Ireland - 15 cent tax

Sweden - 5 cent tax

Bangladesh & parts of India - complete ban

S. Africa & Taiwan - regulate bag thickness

US

Major supermarkets - none


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Solutions#

Legislation- Consumer Responsibility

…Enforce curbside recycling

…Tax plastic containers

- Producer Responsibility…Polluter Pays Laws

#Reform plastic industry policy

- Increase recycled content

- Refillable plastic bottles

- Plastic bottles with non-removable lids

- Ban multiple resins or metal/plastics mixtures

- Revise chasing arrows symbol


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What can you do now?

# BYOB

#Filter water at

home# Support

development of

biodegradablealternatives

# Return packing

peanuts

#Write your

congresspersons

# Recycle

## PRE-cycle PRE-cycle


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Thich Nhat HanhBuddhist Zen Master

“Mindful consumption”“Mindful consumption”


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Curtis EbbesmeyerMarine Debris Expert

“Ranking environmentalproblems on a scale of one to

10, I would rank oil spills as aone. Plastic is a nine.”


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WeWe’’ll eventually eat everythingll eventually eat everything

we throw into the seawe throw into the sea……....


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Teaching environmental responsibility

where you live, work and play

Earth Resource Foundation

www.earthresource.org

949-645-5163

barger-the plastic plague

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