Plastic Debris – Rivers to Sea

Plastic Debris – Rivers to Sea Redondo Beach, California September 7-9, 2005 Pat Franklin Executive Director Container Recycling Institute Stopping Plastic Beverage Bottle Debris at the Source Container Recycling Institute 2005

Introducing…the one-way, throwaway can . . . 1930 Container Recycling Institute 2005

FACT: There were no plastic beverage bottles in the 1930’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, and very few in the 1970’s and 80’s. FACT: In 2005 Americans will drain more than 50 billion single-serving PET plastic beverage bottles . . . an estimated 40 billion will end up landfilled or littered.. Container Recycling Institute 2005

Beverage Container Sales: 1973-2003(in billions) Sources: Aluminum Association,Glass Packaging Institute, US EPA, US Department of Commerce, American Plastics Council, Beverage Marketing Corporation. Container Recycling Institute 2005

PET Carbonated Soft Drink Bottle Sales: 1992 - 2004 Billions of Units Source: American Plastics Council Container Recycling Institute 2005

Container Recycling Institute 2005

A moment of refreshment . . . an eternity of waste! Container Recycling Institute 2005

Hawai’i 2002 Container Recycling Institute 2005

A stream in Maryland 2005 Container Recycling Institute 2005

Beverage Container Debris Picked up during 2004 International Coastal Cleanup # of Items Source: 2004 International Coastal Cleanup, The Ocean Conservancy Container Recycling Institute 2005

Beverage Containers as Percent of Total Debris Collected: 2004 International Coastal Cleanup 28% 72% Source: 2004 International Coastal Cleanup, The Ocean Conservancy Container Recycling Institute 2005

Plastic Beverage Bottles as a Percent of Total Debris: Potomac Watershed Cleanup 2004 The 108,575 recyclable plastic bottles (10,000 pounds) collected during the 2004 spring cleanup accounted for 30% of all bagged trash collected. Source: Alice Ferguson Foundation, 2005 Container Recycling Institute 2005

Beverage Containers as a Percent of Waterway Debris in Kentucky: 2000 Beverage containers, carriers, tops and pull tabs represented 50% of total waterway debris in SWaCK Study 44% Source: Litter in Kentucky, A View from the Field, Solid Waste Coordinators of Kentucky (SWaCK) 2000.

How can we reduce beverage container debris in waterways? • Litter taxes • Recycling programs • Container deposit laws Container Recycling Institute 2005

Litter Taxes Litter taxes fund litter pickups and public relations campaigns… an approach that’s like mopping up the floor while the sink is overflowing, instead of turning the spigot off. Container Recycling Institute 2005

After 35 years and millions of dollars in public relations campaign expenses…… Iron Eyes Cody is still crying! Container Recycling Institute 2005

Recycling Programs Bin there…done that! Despite tremendous growth of curbside recycling in the 1990’s beverage container debris has actually increased. Container Recycling Institute 2005

Curbside Recycling has not Curbed Beverage Container Coastal Debris Estimate Sources: Ocean Conservancy, U.S. Bureau of the Census, BioCycle. * Note: 2000 curbside access rate is an estimate based on prior year. Container Recycling Institute 2005

Container Deposit Laws Oregon Vermont Michigan Maine Iowa Connecticut Massachusetts Delaware New York California Hawaii Container Recycling Institute 2005

Litter Reduction After Passage of Container Deposit Legislation Container Recycling Institute 2005

Beverage Containers as a Percent of Coastal Debris in States with no CDL 2004 18%: national average 11%: average in CDL states Source: CRI calculations based on 2004 International Coastal Cleanup data Container Recycling Institute 2005

Beverage Containers as a Percent of Coastal Debris in States with CDL • Michigan, with a 10-cent deposit, has the lowest percentage of beverage container litter of all eleven CDL states • With the exception of New York, all 7 CDL states were well below the national average of 18% Source: CRI calculations based on 2004 International Coastal Cleanup data Container Recycling Institute 2005

Beverage Bottle & Can Debris Collected during International Coastal Cleanup in U.S. (1996, 1998, 2000 & 2004) Source: CRI calculations based on date from the International Coastal Cleanup Note: 2004 data for states that collected more than 5,000 total items CA, CT, FL, GA, HI,IL, IN, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN,MO, NE, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, VA, WA, WI, Guam, PR,VI, Container Recycling Institute 2005

Refundable Deposits Work • They provide a disincentive to litter. • They provide an incentive to recycle and to pick up bottles and cans that are littered • They stop litter at the source. Container Recycling Institute 2005

Wecan do something about beverage container debris today! Container Recycling Institute 2005

They will thank us tomorrow! Container Recycling Institute 2005

Visit us on the web at: www.container-recycling.org and www.bottlebill.org Container Recycling Institute 1601 N. Kent Street, Suite 803, Arlington, VA 22209 TEL: 703.276.9800 • FAX: 703.276.9587 Email: container-recycling@container-recycling.org CRI is a nonprofit research and public education organization that studies and promotes alternatives for reducing container and packaging waste. Container Recycling Institute 2005

Plastic Debris – Rivers to Sea