Marine Debris & Plastic Source Reduction Toolkit For
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February 2015 Prepared by the Product Stewardship Institute, Inc. (PSI) with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 2 Marine Debris & Plastic Source Reduction Toolkit for Colleges & Universities Prepared by the Product Stewardship Institute, Inc. with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 Grant Number 00T98301WS February 2015 iii Acknowledgements PSI prepared this toolkit for the EPA Region 9 Marine Debris Team as part of our project requirements under Grant 00T98301WS. We would like to thank the many individuals from the University of California campuses at Santa Barbara, San Diego, and San Francisco, as well as the University of California Office of the President, who contributed their time, effort, and expertise to this project. We would also like to thank the following organizations for their contributions: Plastic Pollution Coalition, California Product Stewardship Council, Clean Water Fund California, and As You Sow. Finally, we would like to thank the County of Santa Barbara Public Works Department, San Diego Environmental Services Department, and San Francisco Department of the Environment for their input on source reduction policies. iv Table of Contents Introduction............................................................................................................. 1 Step One: Determine Your Campus’s Plastic Footprint ..........................................5 Section I: Background Information ................................................................................................6 Basics About Your Campus ................................................................................................................. 6 Recycling and Composting Opportunities ......................................................................................... 6 Summary of Existing Efforts on Campus ............................................................................................ 8 Initial Review of Sources of Plastic ......................................................................................................9 Section II: Which Disposable Plastics Are Used On Campus? ........................................................ 10 Visual Inventory: Disposable Plastic Found on Campus ................................................................... 10 Surveying Stormwater Catch Basins ................................................................................................. 12 Section III: Which Disposable Plastics Do We Buy, Use, and Throw Away on Campus? .................12 Procurement Inventory: Sources of Disposable Food Service Plastic ............................................. 12 Section IV: What Does This Information Mean for Our Campus? ................................................. 14 Step Two: Create a Source Reduction Plan ........................................................... 15 Guidelines to creating a source reduction plan ............................................................................ 16 Source reduction plans in action: Case Studies .............................................................................21 Case Study 1: University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) ...........................................................23 Case Study 2: University of California San Francisco (UCSF) ...........................................................33 Case Study 3: University of California San Diego (UCSD) ................................................................. 41 Source Reduction Resources ........................................................................................................49 Best Management Practices ............................................................................................................. 49 Campus Water Bottle Filling Stations .............................................................................................. 49 Reusable To-Go Containers ................................................................................................................ 51 Reusable To-Go Cutlery ...................................................................................................................... 51 Vendors of Compostable and Recyclable Food Service Ware and Bags ......................................... 51 Step Three: Change Campus Procurement Practices ...........................................55 Guide to Integrating Plastic Source Reduction Into Procurement Systems ................................56 Procurement Resources ............................................................................................................... 61 Sample Bid Specifications .................................................................................................................. 61 Sample Leasing Agreements .............................................................................................................65 Step Four: Establish Source Reduction Policies ....................................................67 Policies Influencing Consumer Behavior .......................................................................................68 Voluntary Policies .............................................................................................................................. 68 Mandatory Policies ............................................................................................................................ 68 Procurement Policies ...................................................................................................................69 Voluntary Policies .............................................................................................................................. 69 Mandatory Policies............................................................................................................................ 69 v Real-Life Policy Examples ..............................................................................................................71 Model Policy Language ................................................................................................................. 73 1. Model Ordinance Banning Sale of Drinking Water in Single-Serve PET Bottles ..........................74 2. Model Ordinance Banning Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Foam-based Disposable Food Service Ware by Food Vendors ............................................................................................75 3. Model Ordinance Banning Single-use Carry-out Bags .................................................................77 4. Model Ordinance for Regulating Take-out Food Packaging ...................................................... 80 5. Model Ordinance Requiring Re-Usable Food Service Ware For Restaurants Serving Food And Beverages For On-Site Dining .........................................................................82 vi Did you know? According to the Ocean Conservancy, six of the top 10 contributors to marine debris are single-use, or disposable, plastic products. They include food and beverage container caps and lids, beverage bottles, plastic bags, food wrappers, flatware (i.e., cups, plates, and cutlery), and drinking straws. Known as “food service ware,” such single- use plastic utensils and containers pose a threat to marine environments because they do not fully break down or decompose. When littered, or caught by the wind, these items get washed into stormwater drains that empty into streams, rivers, bays, and other waterways. Believe It When You “Sea” It Over the years, plastic food service ware products have Also, while plastics do not degrade, they do break contributed to the formation of what is known as the down into smaller pieces. These pieces then act Great Pacific Garbage Patch—an enormous swath of like sponges, absorbing chemical contaminants in floating plastic debris and plastic particles in the Pacific the water around them, such as polychlorinated Ocean. Also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, this biphenyls (PCBs), chlorinated pesticides like “island” of plastic is caused by large currents that meet dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and other toxins. and form a whirlpool-like system, known as gyres. The When animals ingest these plastic pieces, mistaking Great Pacific Garbage Patch is formed by one of five them for food, these toxic compounds then enter their large gyres and poses a major environmental health bodies and, in turn, make their way up the food chain— problem that continues to grow. In fact, since the all the way to humans. discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, similar The problem is far more profound than just a few trash vortices have been found in four other ocean patches of unsightly litter on local shorelines. Marine gyres, including the North Atlantic Gyre and the Indian debris affects our ocean and its food chains, which Ocean Gyre. Plastics have also been carried by similar sustain human life. currents into the Great Lakes. Marine debris can impact aquatic species and habitats in a number of ways. As debris accumulates, light levels may be reduced in underlying waters, thereby depleting oxygen levels. These changes can undermine the ability of both open water and benthic (ocean bottom) habitats to support life.1 Animals may also mistake these floating pieces of plastic for food, which, when ingested, cause severe bodily damage and lead to eventual starvation. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more than one-third