About Plastics

Campaign Against
the Plastic Plague
Stephanie Barger, Executive Director
Earth Resource Foundation

About Plastics

CAPPs Mission:
As a result of the harmful impact of plastic on
global ecosystems, economies, and public
health, immediate action must be taken to
eliminate single use throwaway plastics.
Change must be established in the consumer
lifestyle through education, citizen action, and
business accountability.

Just one word Plastics!

Just one word Plastics!

Petroleum plastics are long-chain

carbon polymers
Petroleum plastics are long-chain carbon polymers

Polyethylene
4

Marine Pollution Bulletin

86% of ocean
debris is
plastic

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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 Xs as much

6 Xs as much
as
North Pacific central gyre
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Moore et al., 2001

Orange County Beach Debris

Plastic resin pellets

Foamed plastics
Hard plastics
Cigarette butts

Orange
County
Beach
Debris

Escaping nurdles

Escaping
nurdles

What the albatross ate.

What the albatross ate.

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Marine Mammal Commission

Marine Mammal Commission

267 different species found entangled in or
ingesting marine debris

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Plastic Resins

Plastic Resins

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Plastic recycling? Closed Loop?

Plastic recycling? Closed Loop?

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Plastic Resins

Plastic Resins
PET or PETE water, soda, sports drink & beer
bottles, catsup bottles. Recycled into cleaning
product bottles, luggage, carpets, polar fleece, car
seats.
HDPE milk, juice & shampoo bottles. Recycled into
lumber, flower pots, pails, traffic cones, trash cans.
V or PVC Reynolds wrap, floor tiles, shower
curtains, hoses, medical tubing, pipes, window
frames. Not recycled.
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Plastic Resins

Plastic Resins
LDPE Saran Wrap, Glad Wrap, bread bags,
squeeze bottles, diaper liners. Not recycled.
PP yogurt & margarine containers, medicine
bottles, straws. Not recycled.
PS styrofoam coffee cups, egg cartons,
meat trays, CD jackets. Not recycled.
Other all others resins or mixtures. Not recycled.

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Since they dont biodegrade, how

do we get rid of plastics?
Since they dont biodegrade

Land-filled - 55%
Recycled 30%
Incinerated 15%
Municipal Solid Waste
US EPA 2001
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55% of Plastics Are Fast Track Trash

55% of Plastics Are Fast Track Trash

30,000

Single-Use & Short-Life Thermoplastics, 2002

million pounds

25,000

20,000
Other
PS
PP
LDPE, LLDPE
PVC
HDPE
PET

15,000

10,000

5,000

0
Packaging

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Consumer &
Institutional

Short-Life
Electronics

Diapers

Trash Bags

American Plastics Council, Earth Circle

Retail Bags

Adhesives,
Inks, Coatings

Plastics generation and recovery

Plastics generation and recovery

1960 - 2001

(US EPA)

gen.

recov.

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2000

1990

1980

1970

1960

30
25
million 20
15
tons 10
5
0

California has the lowest deposit of any Bottle Bill state

California has the lowest deposit

of any Bottle Bill state
10

Deposit
(cents)

19

Mi

ch

iga

n
Ne
wY
ork
Ma
ss.
Or
eg
on
M
ain
e
Iow
a
Ve
rm
on
t
Co
nn
.
De
law
ar
e
CA
20
03
CA
20
04

#1 PETE Bottle Bill bottles not recycled

(CA DOC)

3.5
3
2.5
Billion 2
Bottles 1.5
1
0.5

20

02
20

20
00

19
98

96
19

4
19
9

19
92

0
19
9

19

88

93 Billion Plastic H2O Bottles Landfilled in US in 2002

reach moon & back 38 xs
circle equator 371 xs
2,222 times the length of the
Nile
line Interstate 80 (NY to SF)
3,196 xs
span length of CA 11, 556 xs

Orange County Register 12/03

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Is bottled water safer?

The nations two
top-sellers
come from
municipal water
sources!

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Life of a Plastic Shopping Bag

Life of a Plastic Shopping Bag

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
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**average family uses 700 per year**

hs about plastics recycling

Myths about plastics

recycling
Curbside collection has
taken care of recycling
Plastics that go into recycle
bins get recycled
Chasing arrows means a
container is recyclable
Plastics packaging is made
from oil refineries waste
There is a closed loop on
plastics recycling
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Reality
Plastics
recycling does
not occur in a
closed loop!

Economics of Plastics Disposal in

California
?? millions paid by local govts (public) for
collection & disposal fees and to clean beaches,
waterways and streets of plastic debris.
?? billions paid by state/local govts to comply
with new EPA TMDL requirements for
impaired waterways in CA (e.g. LA River and
Ballona Creek Watershed).
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$1.09 average price of one
liter of Aquafina
1,741 times the average
US Public drinking water
price of $17.70 per 1,000
cubic feet
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(Pelouse Water Conservation Network)

Throwaway Living

Throwaway Living
Disposables Burst on the
scene in the 50s.
1955 Life Magazine:
Save time
Go for convenience
Use-once-and-toss
Why feel guilty?
First throwaways mainly paper

Photo Credit: Peter Stackpole, Aug 1, 1955 (Getty Images)

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Our Throw Away Society

Generated MSW = 4.4 lbs/person/day
Recycled = - 1.3 lbs/person/day
Discarded MSW = 3.1 lbs/person/day
= 1,132 lbs/person/yr
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2001
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A global problem!

A global
problem!

Manila Bay, Philippines

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3 key solution concepts

Precautionary
Principle

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Sustainability

Producer
Responsibility

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

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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

What can you do now?

BYOB
Filter water at
home
Support
development of
biodegradable
alternatives
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Return packing
peanuts
Write your
congresspersons
Recycle
PRE-cycle

Mindful consumption
Mindful consumption

Thich Nhat Hanh

Buddhist Zen Master

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Ranking environmental problems

Ranking environmental
problems on a scale of one to
10, I would rank oil spills as a
one. Plastic is a nine.
Curtis Ebbesmeyer
Marine Debris Expert
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Well eventually eat everything we throw into the sea..

Well eventually eat everything

we throw into the sea..

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Ranking environmental problems

Earth Resource Foundation

www.earthresource.org
949-645-5163
Teaching environmental responsibility
where you live, work and play

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