Plastics: What, Why, Where
1955
“THROWAWAY LIVING”
What’s Made of Plastic?
Annual
Plastic
Use per
Person
INDIA
4.4 LBS (2 kg)
EUROPE
132 LBS (60 kg)
U.S.
176 LBS (80 kg)
BIODEGRADEABLE PLASTICS
Bioplastics are not the answer.
•Require INDUSTRIAL COMPOSTING to biodegrade
(140° and fed microbes)
•Cannot contaminate ‘regular’ plastics recycling if mixed in
•“Renewable source material;” but often geneticallymodified and shipped long distances.
•Do not biodegrade
in water or when
littered, acts like
‘regular’ plastics
and photodegrades.
E IS NO ‘AWAY’,
it all goes somewhere.
Where does our
plastic go?
Unaccounted
for 25%
Recycled
Durable
Goods 20%
(California Integrated Waste Management Board, “Plastics White Paper”
Landfill
50%
The “missing” 25%
Los
Angeles
River
Rick Loomis
Los Angeles Times
Plastics
at Sea
5 Gyres: Where Plastic Accumulates
Thousands of marine mammals and sea birds die every
year after ingesting or being tangled in plastic marine litter.
All of this debris on the right (more than a halfpound of plastic) was removed from the stomach
of an albatross on remote Midway Island in Hawaii
Plastic particles attract
chemicals in the ocean
This pellet could
have up to
1 million times
the chemical
concentration than
the water around it
Scripps Institute estimates that fish off the West Coast of
The United States ingest 12,000 TONS of plastic per year.
This Rainbow Runner had 17 pieces of plastic in its stomach.
Support Policy Reductions
Ten states have a bottle recycling bill and 100+ cities have a
Plastic bag ban or fee-based ordinance for checkout bags.
= decreased litter and increased recycling
Support Policy Reductions
2013/14 California Statewide Legislation:
Three Plastic Checkout Bag Bills – enviro community
seems to be rallying around SB 405
SB 529 (Leno) Fast Food Packaging, which would move
fast food chains away from foamed polystyrene and
other nonrecyclable/noncompostable plastics,
AB 521 could be one of the first Extended Producer
Responsibility bills enacted to help prevent plastic
pollution.
AB 1142 is proposed to ban smoking at state parks.
STAY TUNED
1: Support local
bag bans and
statewide
legislation
2: Help document
Plastic pollution
3: Get Involved w/
RAP Committee
Bill Hickman
rap@surfrider.org