U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

32–933 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019

S. HRG. 115–385 

CLEANING UP THE OCEANS: HOW TO REDUCE 

THE IMPACT OF MAN-MADE TRASH ON THE 

ENVIRONMENT, WILDLIFE, AND HUMAN 

HEALTH 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON 

ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming, Chairman 

JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma 

SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

ROGER WICKER, Mississippi 

DEB FISCHER, Nebraska 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota 

JONI ERNST, Iowa 

DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska 

RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland 

BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon 

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, New York 

CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey 

EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts 

TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois 

CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland 

RICHARD M. RUSSELL, Majority Staff Director 

MARY FRANCES REPKO, Minority Staff Director 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Barrasso, Hon. John, U.S. Senator from the State of Wyoming .......................... 1 

Carper, Hon. Thomas R., U.S. Senator from the State of Delaware ................... 3 

Sullivan, Hon. Dan., U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska ............................... 5 

Whitehouse, Hon. Sheldon, U.S. Senator from the State of Rhode Island ......... 6 

WITNESSES 

Baillie, Jonathan, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist, National 

Geographic Society ............................................................................................... 10 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 12 

Responses to additional questions from: 

Senator Barrasso ....................................................................................... 25 

Senator Carper .......................................................................................... 26 

Response to an additional question from Senator Markey ........................... 28 

Response to an additional question from Senator Merkley .......................... 28 

Response to an additional question from Senator Whitehouse .................... 29 

Dooley, Hon. Cal, President and CEO, American Chemistry Council ................ 32 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 34 

Responses to additional questions from: 

Senator Barrasso ....................................................................................... 39 

Senator Carper .......................................................................................... 42 

Senator Whitehouse .................................................................................. 43 

Karas, Bruce, President of Environment and Sustainability, Coca-Cola North 

America ................................................................................................................. 46 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 48 

Responses to additional questions from: 

Senator Barrasso ....................................................................................... 53 

Senator Carper .......................................................................................... 56 

Response to an additional question from Senator Markey ........................... 57 

Responses to additional questions from: 

Senator Merkley ........................................................................................ 57 

Senator Whitehouse .................................................................................. 58 

Law, Kara Lavender, Research Professor of Oceanography Sea Education 

Association ............................................................................................................ 61 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 63 

Responses to additional questions from: 

Senator Barrasso ....................................................................................... 76 

Senator Carper .......................................................................................... 78 

Response to an additional question from Senator Markey ........................... 79 

Responses to additional questions from: 

Senator Merkley ........................................................................................ 80 

Senator Whitehouse .................................................................................. 81 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL 

Article, David Nield: Plastic Pollution is Now Spreading from Ocean Food 

Chains Into Land Animals, Thanks to this Insect, ........................................... 116 

Statement, Jack Cooper: Animal Food Packaging Initiative ............................... 119 

Statement, Chelsea M. Rochman: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary 

Biology ................................................................................................................... 122 

Page

IV 

Statement, Tommy Wells: Government of the District of Columbia ................... 125 

(1) 

CLEANING UP THE OCEANS: HOW TO REDUCE 

THE IMPACT OF MAN-MADE TRASH ON THE 

ENVIRONMENT, WILDLIFE, AND HUMAN 

HEALTH 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2018 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS, 

Washington, DC. 

CLEANING UP THE OCEANS: HOW TO REDUCE THE IMPACT OF MAN-MADE TRASH ON THE ENVIRONMENT, WILDLIFE, AND HUMAN HEALTH 

Wednesday, September 26, 2018 

U.S. Senate 

Committee on Environment and Public Works 

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m. in room 

406, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Barrasso (chairman of the committee) presiding. 

Present: Senators Barrasso, Carper, Inhofe, Boozman, Wicker, 

Fischer, Rounds, Ernst, Sullivan, Cardin, Whitehouse, Gillibrand, 

Booker, and Van Hollen. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BARRASSO, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF WYOMING 

Senator BARRASSO. I call this hearing to order. 

Today the Committee will examine the issues of man-made trash 

that is polluting the oceans, also known as marine debris. 

While marine debris can range from metals, glass, rubber, paper, 

and textiles, the vast majority of marine debris is plastic. 

Plastic plays an incredibly important role in our lives. As a doctor, I have seen firsthand how plastic can be indispensable in the 

field of medicine and healthcare. Similarly, plastic is crucial in virtually every aspect of modern society and economy, including the 

field of environmental protection. This doesn’t mean, of course, that 

plastics should end up in our rivers, in our lakes, in our streams, 

and in our oceans. 

It is estimated that around 8 million metric tons of plastic waste 

ends up in the world’s oceans each year. While some of this plastic 

is dumped directly into the ocean, like discarded fishing nets, most 

of the plastic flows from rivers. 

Experts believe that about 90 percent of all plastic pollution 

flows into the oceans from just ten rivers, eight of which are in 

Asia. It is estimated that Asia contributes to about 80 percent of 

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all ocean plastic. Specifically, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, 

Thailand, and Vietnam are responsible for more plastic pollution 

than the rest of the world combined. 

By now, many Americans have heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This is an area in the Pacific Ocean where currents 

have concentrated plastic and other man-made trash. It now stands 

as the world’s largest concentration of marine debris. 

Similar debris concentrations exist elsewhere throughout the 

world. In fact, plastic has been found in almost all corners of the 

ocean. 

Plastic takes at least 450 years to degrade completely; sometimes 

much longer than that. In the meantime, the debris will continue 

to entangle and kill marine wildlife, as well as threaten human 

health. If little is done to stem the accumulation of plastic in the 

ocean, experts believe that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the 

ocean than fish, as measured by weight. 

Earlier this summer, National Geographic dedicated its June 

issue to this problem. It is a remarkable cover where it looks like 

it is an iceberg, but actually it is an upside-down plastic bag. And 

I don’t know is responsible for this, but Senator Whitehouse and 

I both had this on our desks in our offices and pointed to this as 

he and I were talking about another issue. 

I think it is a remarkable effort by National Geographic to display in picture form something that we know is a major problem 

affecting—— 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. 

[Comment made off microphone.] 

[Laughter.] 

Senator BARRASSO. I defer to my colleague from Rhode Island. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Isn’t this bipartisanship? 

[Laughter.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Here is a visual demonstration. 

Senator BARRASSO. Well, it says, ‘‘Some people see ocean plastic 

as a looming catastrophe worth mentioning in the same breath as 

climate change.’’ I have it from the plastic standpoint. I am glad, 

Jonathan, that you, Dr. Baillie, National Geographic’s Executive 

Vice President and Chief Scientist, are able to join us here today. 

Environmentalists aren’t alone in recognizing this problem. Plastic manufacturers also acknowledge we need to address this problem. 

Earlier this summer, another one of our witnesses today, Cal 

Dooley, announced that he would extend his tenure atop the American Chemistry Council, as he said, to ‘‘fight the spread of mismanaged plastic waste and help lay the foundation for a sustained 

global industry effort to address it.’’ Thank you. 

Likewise, Coca-Cola, which is also represented here today and 

one of the world’s biggest producers of plastic bottles, has taken 

steps to confront the problem. In January this year, Coca-Cola announced that it would ‘‘help collect and recycle a bottle or can for 

every one it sells by 2030.’’ 

Today the Committee will want to hear what more can be and 

should be done. Specifically, we want to know what private industry, what local and State governments, what the Federal GovernVerDate Aug 31 2005 10:43 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\_EPW\DOCS\32933.TXT VERNE
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ment, and what international institutions should help do to address the crisis. 

I would like to point out that today’s hearing follows one that 

Senator Sullivan held as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife in May 2016. It also follows the efforts, 

as well, as those of Senator Whitehouse to pass the Save Our Seas 

Act, which I understand is under consideration as we speak. 

I want to thank them for their leadership on this issue. 

I am going to give each of you an opportunity to say what you 

would like, a few words, about that after I turn to Ranking Member Carper. This issue is very important to the Ranking Member, 

to whom I now turn for his opening comments. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. THOMAS R. CARPER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF DELAWARE 

Senator CARPER. Thanks so much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you 

very much for holding this hearing. 

I really want to say to Sheldon and to Dan, thank you for your 

wonderful leadership. Thank you for demonstrating how we can 

work across the aisle on really important issues. I think we are 

going to make some real progress, including today. So, thank you 

both. 

This is actually a timely issue for us in Delaware. Every year for 

31 years we have done something called the Annual Delaware 

Coastal Cleanup. We start just north of Ocean City, Maryland all 

the way up to Pennsylvania, about 100 miles, and we pick up 

trash, all kinds of trash. This is a photograph that was taken at 

Fox Point State Park, not too far from actually Martha and I live 

in Wilmington. 

We had a lot of kids who showed up. There were scouts and 

there were people who were just there for a good time and, frankly, 

for a good cause, and we netted about four tons of trash going up 

and down the Delaware coast on Saturday. 

You might not believe the types of items we cleanup. No, you 

probably would believe it. From tennis balls, plastic water caps, lip 

balm containers, a metal baseball bat, and a whole lot more. Four 

tons is a massive amount of marine debris, and that is just from 

one cleanup weekend along Delaware’s 100-mile coast. 

Those numbers pale in comparison to the amount of trash in our 

oceans. As the Chairman has already mentioned, the infamous 

Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the largest mass of marine debris 

floating in the ocean, is over 300 times the size of Delaware and 

nearly the size of Alaska. 

If you were able to lift Alaska up off the face of the earth and 

put one end of it on the U.S.-Canadian border, the other end would 

stretch all the way to Mexico. Imagine that. There is a massive marine debris floating in the ocean that is that big. 

As we all know, all this debris has serious impacts on our water 

quality, on our wildlife, on our food chain, and while the extent of 

its impacts are not fully known, we know that hundreds of species 

interact with plastics. Plastic consumption can harm wildlife and 

all states of life. Recent research suggests it can also decrease reproduction rates. We also know that tiny plastic particles called 

4 

microplastics may be present in our drinking water and in the food 

that all of us consume. 

Cleanup efforts like the Delaware Coastal Cleanup provide 

hands-on opportunities for citizens of all ages to learn about this 

global problem and to contribute to the solution. Not just talk 

about it, not just worry about it, but to do something about it. 

However, most environmental experts agree that stopping debris 

from ending up in our waters in the first place is more of an urgent 

priority. 

We thank all of our witnesses for coming today. We are going to 

hear about potential solutions from our esteemed panel this morning. 

As Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Bipartisan Senate Recycling 

Caucus, along with my Republican partner, Senator John 

Boozman, I want to mention recycling is one such solution. 

Delaware is a little State. It doesn’t have a whole lot of space for 

landfills, so we had to get serious not too long ago about recycling. 

As Governor, I signed two executive orders to improve and promote 

recycling. The first established a citizens’ workgroup on recycling 

to evaluate recycling in our State. The second established a goal of 

a 30 percent diversion rate for recyclables from Delaware’s solid 

waste stream. 

Delaware’s recycling activities continue to grow with the implementation of the universal recycling law in 2010, which eventually 

led to curbside recycling collection for all single-family households 

and commercial businesses. These practices work for both our environment and for our economy. 

I am proud of our State’s work, but while Delaware has made 

some strides, good strides, other States struggle. I will just say it 

is a mixed bag. I think we were late to the game. Other States 

were a little bit ahead of us. But we are making great strides now. 

Some other States and communities, frankly, aren’t doing their 

share; they are not doing enough. Maybe we can inspire them. 

In many places it is cheaper to dispose of recyclable materials in 

landfills. These items can then make their way into our waters, unfortunately. This problem worsened when China announced earlier 

this year that it would no longer accept plastic waste from other 

countries to convert into new plastic-containing products. 

Why is that a big deal? Because China was previously taking 30 

percent of U.S. plastic waste for recycling. We, as a Nation, will 

need to invest in better waste management and recycling infrastructure to address challenges like this. We also need to find creative ways to finance these investments. Further, we may want to 

consider proposals to incentivize the use of recyclable plastics for 

manufacturing purposes. 

All that said, the Federal Government cannot undertake this effort alone. In the last several years, corporations and industry partners have stepped up and really led the way. Good for you. 

To our witnesses today testifying on behalf of these partners, we 

are truly grateful for your work and for the commitments that you 

have already made to recycling and help prevent debris from entering our oceans. 

Agreeing on solutions and figuring out how to implement them 

will not be easy, but I am encouraged by the strong bipartisan supVerDate Aug 31 2005 10:43 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\_EPW\DOCS\32933.TXT VERNE
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port and leadership of our two colleagues from Alaska and from 

Rhode Island. With their continued resolve and with the help of the 

rest of us, I believe we can put our heads together, put our hands 

together and make a real difference on this issue, and I look forward to doing so. 

Thank you one and all. 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you, Senator Carper. 

Senator Sullivan, anything you would like to say? 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DAN SULLIVAN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ALASKA 

Senator SULLIVAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Carper, for holding this very important hearing today. This is 

important for the Country, for the world, for Rhode Island, for New 

Jersey. It is certainly important for my State, Alaska, which has 

more coastline than the rest of the lower 48 States combined. 

The prevalence of marine debris on our shores is a chronic issue. 

As noted, this marine debris results from a number of man-made 

sources, including derelict fishing gear, poor solid waste management practices, major storm events, and everyday litter. 

But, as the Chairman mentioned, this is a preventable issue. Of 

the plastics that enter the oceans from land, more than half comes 

from just five developing countries. In Asia, ten river systems, 

eight in Asia and two in Africa, contribute almost 90 percent of 

land-based ocean plastics. To me, this presents a huge opportunity 

to curb this issue at its source globally. 

I want to emphasize what has already been stated, but for the 

media covering this hearing, hold your breath. This is a fiercely bipartisan issue. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator SULLIVAN. It does happen here. Matter of fact, it happens quite a lot. Senator Whitehouse, I am going to talk about all 

the great work he has done. Senator Booker also has been a huge 

champion of this. 

To just give you a little sense of the work that has been done, 

this past year, Senator Whitehouse and I have engaged early and 

often with the EPA, the Commerce Department, the U.S. Trade 

Representative’s Office, the State Department, the American Delegation to the G7, other countries in the G7, countries in the G20; 

and what has resulted is a growing strong commitment to pursue 

marine debris prevention goals through future international trade 

agreements and development aid agreements. 

This is an important step forward, actionable step to impact 

curbing this man-made plight on our oceans that we all agree is 

a big problem. 

Last Congress, Senator Whitehouse and I, in this Committee, as 

Chair and Ranking Member of the Wildlife Subcommittee, held a 

hearing on the issue of marine debris. Much of which came out of 

that hearing is now in our Save Our Seas Act, the SOS Act, which 

I am happy to report we think is going to be hot-lined and passed 

today, we hope, in the Senate. 

It has already passed once. The House liked it so much they 

added a bunch of other elements to it, and we are going to try to 

repass it again here in the Senate today. 

6 

This bill would serve to strengthen the Federal response capabilities to marine debris disasters, combat land-based marine debris 

resources, and encourage interagency coordination in stemming the 

tide of ocean plastics and, importantly, encourage the Trump Administration to pursue international agreements with regard to 

this challenge. And I think, talking to the senior members of the 

Administration, they are already there, so we are hopeful this is 

going to become law soon. 

Senator Whitehouse and I are also talking about an SOS 2.0 bill, 

and I know Senator Booker is interested in that as well. It is my 

hope that this hearing will help provide ideas and momentum for 

the goals on what we think would be a good followup bill. 

Finally, again in the spirit of bipartisanship, last night I had the 

honor of presenting the International Conservation Caucus Foundation, the ICCF, Teddy Roosevelt International Conservation 

Award to Senator Whitehouse at an annual gala event. Although 

to make sure it stays a little partisan, I was glad to note that this 

was an award named after one of America’s great Republican presidents. 

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for holding his hearing and giving me an opportunity to speak on this issue. We look forward to 

a very good, robust discussion today. 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you, Senator Sullivan. 

Congratulations, Senator Whitehouse. The floor is yours. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Thank you, Chairman Barrasso. I will 

note that Senator Sullivan, my friend and colleague, was quite restrained last night in his comparisons of the relative size of his 

State and mine, which I thought was a kindness certainly appreciated by the Senator from Rhode Island. 

Let me first thank you, Chairman, for holding this hearing. You 

and the Ranking Member have been very great to work with. I appreciate your focus on this. It is, I think, a really productive opportunity for us and I am grateful to you. 

I want to also thank you and the former Chairman, Senator 

Inhofe, sitting beside you, because both of you have been able to 

overcome the disability of living in landlocked States in order to 

take a very positive interest in the marine debris problem. 

I want to particularly thank Senator Inhofe, who became an 

original co-sponsor of the SOS bill that Dan and I worked on. I appreciate his support and leadership for it. Senator Inhofe is a powerful legislator, and when he puts his shoulder behind something, 

it tends to happen, so I give him a lot of credit for his support for 

our Save Our Seas bill. 

Senator Sullivan has been an incredible partner in all of this, 

and I want to pay a lot of respect to him for his work. We wouldn’t 

have even had the original hearing had Senator Sullivan not been 

able to successfully negotiate with the Commerce Committee, particularly the Fisheries Subcommittee of the Commerce Committee, 

to allow this to go forward, because there are turf issues involved. 

Fortunately, the chairman of the Fisheries Subcommittee of the 

Commerce Committee is also Dan Sullivan, so he was able to have 

7 

that conversation with himself and reach an agreement to go forward in the Environment and Public Works Committee and have 

that hearing. It is from that hearing that the interest of Senator 

Inhofe and others was provoked, and from that hearing that the 

SOS bill went forward. 

We do expect that it will pass the Senate by unanimous consent 

again today, with some of the additions that our friends who see 

a bill moving want to take an opportunity to add things to. That 

has been what has slowed it down. It has not been a lack of enthusiasm for the underlying bill; it has been other people saying, wow, 

something good is happening, let’s see if I can get my thing on it. 

So it has been a very, very positive experience and Dan’s leadership has been phenomenal not only legislatively, but also with 

pushing really hard on the Administration to make this a policy 

priority in the Administration. He has been harassing the trade 

representative, the White House, the Department of Commerce. He 

has been very, very energized, and I appreciate that very much. 

I also want to express my appreciation to our former colleague 

in Congress, Cal Dooley, who is here for the American Chemistry 

Council, and I would like to put into the record the press release 

that the American Chemistry Council put out when it announced 

the extension of Mr. Dooley’s tenure. 

The reason I want to put it into the record is that in one small 

page it has four separate mentions of how important the American 

Chemistry Council thinks solving the marine debris problem is and 

very strong personal statements of commitment and determination 

by Mr. Dooley, so I think that puts us in a very good opening position. 

Senator BARRASSO. Without objection, submitted. 

[The referenced information follows:] 

8 


32933.067

Dooley to Remain at ACC Through the End of2019 

WASHINGTON (June 11, 2018)- The American Chemistry Council (ACC) today announced 

that Cal Dooleyhas agreed to delay his retirement and extend his tenure as President and CEO 

through 2019. In April, Dooley announced his intention to retire at the end of2018. The decision 

to delay retirement comes after ACC's Annual Meeting which took place June 4th through June 

6th in Colorado Springs, CO, where the board of directors agreed that the chemicals and plastics 

industry must take a global leadership role to reduce and ultimately eliminate plastic waste. 

"Cal's leadership at ACC has been essential to the industry's success in recent years. As ACC 

mcmberscmbark on an effort to reduce and eliminate plastic waste in the years to come, the ACC 

officers felt strongly that Cal's experience and leadership were essential to aligning the global 

industry around a coordinated strategy," said Bob Patel, ACC Chairman and Chief Executive 

Officer ofLyondeliBasell. "With a little arm twisting and agreement from his gracious wife 

Linda, we were able to convince Cal to stay on to lead the development of this critical etiort." 

"The global chemicals and plastics industry has an imperative to fight the spread of mismanaged 

plastic waste that is increasingly littering our rivers, oceans and landscapes. While plastic 

products provide countless health, safety, lifestyle and sustainability benefits, those benefits 

cannot be tully realized unless we take swift and aggressive actions to make the most of all 

resources and leverage technology to dramatically increase rates of reuse, recycling and recovery 

of all plastic products," said Dooley. "Ending plastic waste is an issue of personal, as well as 

professional interest, and I am excited to help lay the foundation lor a sustained, glohal industry 

effort to address it." 

Korn Ferry International was retained to conduct the search for Dooley's replacement when his 

retirement was announced in April 2018. With Dooley's annow1cement today, Korn Ferry's 

etiorts have been suspended, but they will resume their search in mid-2019. 
9 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. We clearly need to do things to clean up 

our oceans and to clean up the rivers; there are a few of them that 

are flowing this into our oceans. We have a map here of some of 

the places around the world which are the top 10 sources, as you 

will see. They focus on the Pacific, which is one of the reasons that 

Senator Sullivan has been so strong on this and Senator Murkowski has pledged to work on this through our Oceans Caucus as 

well. 

Senator Carper showed the beach cleanup in Delaware. We do 

beach cleanups in Rhode Island as well. We do our beach cleanups 

with trash bags. Senator Sullivan and Senator Murkowski have 

beach cleanups in Alaska where they have to use front-end loaders, 

dumpsters, barges because they are on a very, very burdened Pacific coast. 

So, it is a few countries and it is a few rivers that are the main 

sources, and we can do a lot to try to clean that up through trade 

policy treaties and simple public shaming and friendly persuasion. 

We also need to work, and this is where the American Chemistry 

Council will come in so strongly, on trying to find ways to actually 

have plastic biodegrade in the oceans. It breaks down into smaller 

and smaller bits, but it doesn’t actually biodegrade into natural elements. It can do that often in a landfill because the composting 

heat will help it break down, but in the ocean that doesn’t happen; 

and we need to do research in order to find products that will allow 

that to happen without undercutting the fundamental value of 

plastic, which is that it lasts a bit. 

We need to worry about entanglements and try to help our fishermen cleanup the oceans as they are out there. We see too much 

marine life dying from ghost fishing gear that still sweeps the 

ocean and kills, but with no gain to anyone because nobody ever 

recovers it. 

Finally, I think we need to understand the consequences for 

human health of plastic at the micro level beginning to get into the 

human diet in a way that the human species has never experienced 

before through our long history. We have eaten a lot of things 

through our long history, but it has all been stuff that fundamentally came back to certain natural elements. To have microscopic 

plastic now in our diet is something new that we need to undertake 

health research into. 

So, I appreciate this going forward and I thank very much my 

friend, Senator Sullivan, for what a superb leader and partner he 

has been on this, and I look forward to working with him productively on SOS 2.0, along with all who are present here today. 

Thank you. 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you very much, Senator Whitehouse, 

for your leadership. 

Thank you, Senator Sullivan. 

We now will hear from our witnesses. Today we are joined by 

four: Dr. Jonathan Baillie, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist of the National Geographic Society; Hon. Cal Dooley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Chemistry Council; Mr. Bruce Karas, who is Vice President of Environment & Sustainability at Coca-Cola North America; and Dr. Kara Lavender 

10 

Law, who is Research Professor of Oceanography at the Sea Education Association. 

I want to remind the witnesses your full written testimony will 

be made part of the official hearing record today. Please keep your 

statements to 5 minutes so we will have plenty of time for questions. 

I look forward to hearing the testimony and I would like to begin 

with Dr. Baillie. 

STATEMENT OF JONATHAN BAILLIE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF SCIENTIST, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY 

Mr. BAILLIE. Good morning. Thank you, Chairman Barrasso, 

Ranking Member Carper, and the distinguished members of the 

Committee. I would like to thank you for holding this timely hearing on cleaning up the world’s oceans. I would also like to congratulate Senator Whitehouse on his award last night. Congratulations. 

The Committee’s leadership on this global crisis is critical, and 

I am grateful to have the opportunity to share my expertise as a 

representative of National Geographic. 

I am going to talk about the scale of the crisis; then I am going 

to discuss the implications for wildlife, for people, and for the economy; and then I am going to close discussing what National Geographic is doing and what we can do better as a Nation. 

The use of plastics is rapidly increasing throughout the world 

and is now a major threat to the environment, to marine species, 

human health, and the economy. As you can see on this map, over 

here and over here, the problem of plastics is global, is visible, and 

it is harmful. But it is also solvable. 

Today there are 9.2 billion tons of plastics in this world, and annually we are producing about 500 million tons of plastics, 40 percent of which is just used once and then discarded. There is estimated to be about 150 million tons of plastics just floating around 

our oceans and our marine environment, and no one knows really 

how long it takes for these plastics to biodegrade. Of course, it depends on the particular plastics, but estimates range between 450 

years to never. 

This leaves our world with an ever-increasing amount of plastic 

waste. It is a problem we can no longer ignore. 

Research indicates that hundreds of marine species consume 

plastic or become entangled in it. The animals confuse plastic bags 

or small plastic fragments for food, and it is absolutely devastating 

to see a sea bird fly in and feed it chick plastic waste unknowingly. 

Species face entanglement in plastic packaging such as six-pack 

rings, as well as ghost nets, fishing nets that have been cut loose 

or are simply lost. 

And we know that plastics have already entered the food chain. 

Microplastics have been found in 114 aquatic species, more than 

half of which we actually consume. Organic pollutions also fasten 

on to these plastic particles. And then there are nanoplastics. 

Now, this is concerning, as the full implications are unknown. 

We, however, do know that plastics are linked to everything from 

weight gain to brain development impairment in humans. 

11 

Now, ocean plastic waste is also a threat to our economy. The 

ocean supports over 28 million American jobs. One in six U.S. jobs 

is marine-related. And coastal areas account for 85 percent of the 

U.S. tourism revenue. 

I could give you many more statistics, but it is clear that unchecked plastic pollution poses a major threat to this important 

component of the U.S. economy. 

Now, National Geographic is stepping up. We are using our combined power of our cutting-edge science and exploration and our 

storytelling to draw attention to this critical issue and to help people understand all over the world what they can do. 

In May 2018, we launched Planet or Plastic?, which has already 

been referred to. This is a multiyear initiative that is focusing on 

the plastic crisis and how we can stop single-use plastics entering 

the oceans. We also give out many awards to explorers around the 

world, many of which are working on this particular issue, explorers like Heather Koldewey, who is working in the Philippines to 

help remove these ghost nets from the oceans and have them 

turned into carpet tiles. It is innovations such as this that we find 

very encouraging. 

Can we please play the film? 

[Video played.] 

Mr. BAILLIE. That is just one of our amazing explorers. Heather 

said there is hope, but not without major change, and that change 

has to start right here, right now, in the United States. 

We are one of the most developed Nations in the world, and we 

have to ask ourselves why are we sending over half our plastic 

recyclables overseas instead of developing our own robust recycling 

capability? Why do we continue to use multilayer plastics like disposable coffee cups that can’t be recycled? And why are we creating 

recycling standards that reduce confusion and address the fact that 

91 percent of recyclable plastic is not being recycled? 

Now, while federalism and regulations make addressing this 

issue challenging, we must shift how our Nation manages plastic 

design and recapture, a task that only the U.S. Federal Government is able to take on. To support this, National Geographic 

would like to offer to convene a summit in Washington, DC. to 

bring together policymakers, to bring together industry leaders, 

and to bring together other stakeholders to have a critical discussion about how the U.S. can take a leadership position in this 

space. 

Now, imagine a future where we don’t address this solvable 

issue. Imagine a future with billions of tons of plastics floating 

around the oceans, the impacts on species, the impacts on people 

and the economy. This is unthinkable. It is time for us to address 

this head-on. It is time for bold decisions and bold action. And it 

is time for the United States to take a leadership position to demonstrate best practice and to continue to drive innovation. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Baillie follows:] 

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WRITTEN TESTIMONY OF DR. JONATHAN BAILLIE 

Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist 

National Geographic Society 

Before the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works 

"Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash on the 

Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health?" 

26 September 2018 

Chairman Barrasso, Ranking Member Carper, and distinguished members of the Committee, I 

would like to thank you for holding this timely hearing about cleaning up our world's oceans. The 

Committee's leadership on this global crisis is critical, and I am grateful for the opportunity to 

share my expertise on behalf of National Geographic and to assist with your mission. 

As my testimony will further demonstrate, understanding and addressing how man-made trash 

reaches and impacts our oceans is a top priority for National Geographic. Our world's oceans 

are deeply impacted by human activities, including overfishing, man-made pollutants, and 

beyond. 

Due to its widespread and consistently increasing use, plastic is one of the top threats to the 

environment, marine wildlife, human health, and the economy. Whether it takes the form of 

abandoned fishing nets or litter making its way into our oceans, and whether the pieces are 

large or small, the world's unchecked use of plastics has sparked a global crisis. 

PLASTICS: A GLOBAL CRISIS 

There are about 9.2 billion tons of plastic in the world today. And nearly 500 million tons of 

plastic continue to be produced annually. 

About 40 percent or roughly 180 million tons- of this annual total is only used once before 

being discarded. This leaves more than 6.9 billion tons, or over 75 percent of the plastic existing 

globally, as plastic waste. 

Unlike most other consumer materials, no one knows how long it takes plastic to biodegrade 

completely, with estimates ranging from 450 years to never. This leaves our world with an everincreasing amount of plastic waste. 1 

1 Laura Parker, "Plastic: We made it. We depend on it. We're drowning in it." National Geographic, June 2018, 40-69. 
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An estimated 150 million tons of plastic are currently circulating in our marine environments2 

And a 2015 study found that between 5.3 and 14 million additional tons of plastic enter the 

ocean each year. 3 

Due to plastic's relatively recent introduction, more research into its impact on our oceans is 

needed. However, some alarming consequences have already been identified. 

Impact of Plastic Debris on Marine Wildlife• 

Photo by Brian Skerry, National Geographic 

There is a large body of evidence demonstrating that plastic debris is often deadly to marine 

wildlife. Unfortunately, the durability of plastic ensures that its presence in marine ecosystems is 

persistent at all levels, ranging from large marine mammals to the smallest krill. 5 

Research indicates that at least 700 marine animal species have consumed or become 

entangled in plastics. They face entanglement in plastics such as "ghost nets" -fishing nets 

2 Oceans Caucus Foundation. "Marine Debris." Published March 15, 2015. http://www.ocfoundation.us/theissues/marine-debris 

3 Jenna Jambeck et al, "Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean," Science 347, no. 6223 (2015): 768-771. 

http://science.sciencemag.org/contentl347/6223n68 

"Natasha Daly, "A Toll on Wildlife," National Geographic, June 2018, 80-84. 

5 Amanda Dawson et al, "Turning microplastics into nanoplastics through digestive fragmentation by Antarctic krill," 

Nature Communications 9, Article number 1001 (2018). https://www.nature.comlarticles/s41467-018-03465-9 
14 


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that have been left or lost in the ocean by fishermen - or six pack rings. The animals confuse 

plastic bags or smaller plastic fragments with food. Plastics of all sizes are tied to everything 

from digestive track blockages to immediate death6 

Plastic debris not only exists in forms that we can see, such as bottles and plastic bags, but is 

also broken down into much smaller pieces by light exposure, ocean drift, and marine organism 

digestion. These micro plastics -or pieces smaller than one-fifth of an inch - linger for 

centuries7 Scientists have already found microplastics in 114 aquatic species, more than half of 

which are consumed by humans8 

In addition, microplastics cause physiological issues in marine species. Pollutants that wash off 

the land and into the sea adhere to microplastics, causing problems ranging from organ damage 

to reproductive abnormalities in the marine organisms that consume them.s 

We do not yet understand the full implications of plastic debris on marine wildlife. However, 

National Geographic and scientists around the world are working every day to better understand 

this issue. 

Impact of Plastic Debris on Humans 

Photo by Randy Olson, National Geographic 

6 Elizabeth Royte, "A Threat to Us?" National Geographic, June 2018, 84-87. 

1 1bid. 

8 GESAMP, "Sources, fate and effects of microplastics in the marine environment: part two of a global 

assessment' (Kershaw, P.J., and Rochman, C.M., eds). (IMO/FAO/UNESCO-IOC/UNIDO/WMO/IAEA/UN/ 

UNEP/UNDP Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection). Rep. 

Stud. GESAMP No. 93 (2016): 220. 9 Elizabeth Royte, "A Threat to Us?" National Geographic, June 2018, 84-87. 
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Research has demonstrated that many of the fish and shellfish humans eat are consuming 

microplastics. It has also tied plastics to issues ranging from weight gain to brain development 

impairment. 

We do not yet know at what quantity human consumption of microplastics will have adverse 

effects and how other factors such as food preparation affect microplastic toxicity. 10 However, 

we do know that microplastics have entered our food chain. 

Scientists are expressing additional concern about the potential impact of nanoplastics on 

human health. Nanoplastics are less than 100 billionths of a meter in size and are created as 

microplastics continue to degrade. Their miniscule size makes them impossible for scientists to 

trace in the seafood humans consume. However, scientists worry that these tiny nanoplastics, 

which can penetrate cells and move into tissues and organs, pose a risk to humans. 

Despite the scientific questions that remain at the micro- and nanoscales, the impact of marine 

plastic is evident at the macroscale. Oceans and coastal ecosystems provide an irreplaceable 

benefit to the U.S. economy. Our oceans support over 28 million American jobs. In fact, 

between the fishing, boating, tourism, recreation, and ocean transport industries combined, one 

in six U.S. jobs is marine-related. Additionally, U.S. consumers alone spend over $55 billion on 

fishery products, and coastal areas account for 85 percent of U.S. tourism revenue. 11 

Scientists are still in the early phase of studying how extensively the global plastic crisis has 

impacted and will continue to impact our world. However, they have already demonstrated that 

plastic pollution poses a tremendous threat to our oceans, the marine wildlife that inhabits them, 

and the U.S. economy. 

My Background on the Issue 

Prior to joining National Geographic in 2016, I spent 20 years at the Zoological Society of 

London (ZSL) working on projects focused on threatened species and their habitats in over 50 

countries. 

While at ZSL, I helped develop the Living Planet Index, Sampled Red List Index, and Wildlife 

Picture Index. I also worked with a network of 8,000 scientists to produce the first International 

Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species using quantitative 

criteria to assess extinction risk. I then partnered with IUCN to produce the first list of the 100 

most threatened animals, plants, and fungi and co-chaired the IUCN Regional Red List working 

group and the IUCN Special Survival Commission Pangolin Specialist Group. 

I led the ZSL team that founded the EDGE of Existence program, which focuses on 

Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species and supporting young 

10 Ibid. 

11 U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service. "What 

does the ocean have to do with human health?" https:/loceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ocean-human-health.html 
16 


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scientists around the world working to protect animals facing extinction. While at ZSL, I also 

founded the Conservation Technology Unit and the Business and Biodiversity Programme. 

I helped initiate United for Wildlife, a collaboration of seven of the most influential conservation 

organizations working to address illegal wildlife trade at scale. Under this collaboration, I led the 

development of the award-winning digital conservation leadership training platform, the Rhino 

Impact Investment, and the development of technology for nature. 

It was also during this time that I co-led the first large-scale retail activism project to focus on 

ocean conservation: Project Ocean. The partnership between ZSL and Selfridges, a chain of 

high-end department stores in the United Kingdom, highlighted the unthinkable prospect of the 

world's major fisheries collapsing by 2050. 

The retail platform provided the opportunity for conservationists from ZSL to reach a wider 

audience and have a global impact. Twenty-two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) 

dedicated to environmental and sustainable issues embraced the initiative, leading to public 

discussions between political figures at Selfridges on World Oceans Day 2011. Project Ocean 

culminated with a long-term joint project between Selfridges and ZSL: a 50-hectare, or 124-

acre, marine protected area in the Philippines, aiming to safeguard fish species and their coral 

reef ecosystem. 

The success of this initiative demonstrated the effect that public awareness initiatives can have 

on major global problems. Now, as National Geographic's Executive Vice President and Chief 

Scientist, I have access to an unparalleled media megaphone to address the issues facing our 

oceans today. 
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Planet or Plastic? 

June 2018 issue of National Geographic Magazine 

For 130 years, National Geographic has pushed the boundaries of exploration to further our 

understanding of the planet and empower us all to create a healthy and sustainable future for 

generations to come. We do this by investing in bold people and transformative ideas and 

sharing what we learn with audiences around the globe. Our ultimate goal is to achieve a planet 

in balance, one that provides for humanity and the untold millions of other species with which 

we live. 

Today, our brand reaches millions of people of all ages in 172 countries every month. National 

Geographic publishes in 37 languages, our broadcast channels air in 43 languages, and our 

social media channels reach 436 million. 

Through the power of our scientific research and storytelling, the integrity of our brand, and the 

reach of our global media platforms, we are uniquely positioned to engage with the public, to 

educate and raise awareness, and to build consciousness and help drive change. 

In May of 2018, National Geographic launched Planet or Plastic?, a multiyear initiative aimed at 

raising awareness about the global plastic waste crisis and reducing the amount of single-use 

plastic that enters the world's oceans. The initiative was showcased in the June 2018 "Planet or 
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Plastic?" issue of National Geographic magazine and across our digital platforms to educate our 

audiences about the crisis and to show them how to take accountability for this global 

emergency. 

We're encouraging our audiences to pledge to take small, attainable steps, such as using 

reusable shopping bags, skipping straws, carrying a reusable bottle, and properly disposing of 

trash. We are demonstrating that when we work together, we can reduce single-use plastics 

and make a lasting impact on the global plastic crisis. 12 

As of last month, our Planet or Plastic? education initiative had already generated over 938 

million content views across our digital platforms. And our worldwide reach has prompted 

47,000 people to take the pledge to reduce single-use plastics. 

INVESTING IN CHANGE 

National Geographic's commitment to addressing this issue goes beyond storytelling. It also 

includes grants to support hundreds of National Geographic Explorers. Through the power of 

our grants program, these bold individuals are changing the world by furthering the collective 

understanding of our planet and empowering the global community to generate solutions for a 

healthier and more sustainable future. 

Stopping Plastic Pollution at its Source" 

Inland plastic can travel many miles to enter our world's oceans. A combination of direct 

dumping of waste into rivers and litter flowing from land to local waterways during rainstorms 

creates an unintentional plastic waste conveyor system. The waste from local waterways feeds 

into larger tributaries and rivers that ultimately transport the inland waste into our oceans. Via 

this mechanism, polluted rivers deliver a significant portion of the millions of tons of plastic that 

enter oceans annually. 14 

Through our grants program, we are partnering with scientists and innovators who are working 

diligently to find ways to keep plastics from ever reaching the ocean. To better understand how 

plastic waste flows to the ocean in the first place and to prevent it from ending up there, National 

Geographic Explorers will be journeying from the source of the plastic in the rivers to the ocean. 

Their goal: to understand the types and pathways of plastic in a river system and to provide 

science-based information that will engage citizens and help policymakers, businesses, and 

NGOs implement solutions to this growing crisis. 

"National Geographic. "Planet or Plastic?" ht!ps://www.nationalgeographic.com/environmentlplasticpledge/ 

13 National Geographic. "Plastics: Source to Sea." https://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/ocean-plastics/ 

14 Laura Parker et al, 'What Happens to the Plastic We Throw Out," National Geographic. 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/the-journey-of-plastic-around-the-globe/ 
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Improving Plastics Waste Management'' 

Approximately 80 percent of marine debris comes from land-based sources. 16 Improved solid 

waste management reduces the amount of plastics entering the oceans annually. 

Award-winning National Geographic Explorer and environmental engineer Jenna Jam beck has 

researched marine debris since 2001 and has raised awareness via her research on plastic 

waste leakage into water systems. In her 2016 testimony before the Senate Committee on 

Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, Jam beck 

pointed to plastic pollution's economic and environmental impact as well as the ability to combat 

widespread plastic pollution via well-researched and culturally appropriate strategies. 17 

Today, Jam beck advances her work on finding scientifically supported and culturally relevant 

solutions with funding from National Geographic's grants program. She works in Vietnam- a 

country with an often-informal solid waste management system -to better understand and 

improve waste management, and to ultimately reduce the quantity of plastics entering water 

systems via local partnerships and education. 

Cleaning Up Plastic Fishing Gear Pollution" 

National Geographic Explorer Heather Koldewey works with ZSL to help communities clean up 

ocean plastic as part of the National Geographic Ocean Plastics Initiative. Through 

interdisciplinary research and conservation action at the interface between communities and the 

environment, Koldewey drives real change in the communities she touches. 

Today, Koldewey works in the Philippines and beyond to combat ocean plastics, starting with 

ghost nets. Abandoned fishing gear comprises around 10 percent of all plastic trash in the 

oceans. More than 705,000 tons of fishing nets are lost yearly, according to the United 

Nations,19 and nearly half the weight of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch's surface debris is 

fishing gear. 

Abandoned fishing gear is directly connected with a disproportionately large number of marine 

wildlife fatalities. World Animal Protection estimates that more than 100,000 large whales, sea 

lions, and seals are killed every year by fishing gear, in addition to an "inestimable" number of 

sea birds, turtles, and fish. 

15 National Geographic. "Grants Across the Globe: Working With The Independent Waste Collector Community In 

Vietnam To Reduce Leakage Of Plastic To The Ocean." https:f!www.nationalgeographic.org/grantslwhere-weworkl A 1228097?filter=activity _ status:AII&q=Jenna%20Romness%20Jambeck 16 Oceans Caucus Foundation. "Marine Debris." 

17 Marine Debris and Wildlife. Impacts, Sources and Solutions: Hearing before tile U.S. Senate Committee on 

Environment and Public Works, 114th Gong. (2016) (written testimony of Jenna R. Jambeck, Ph.D., Associate 

Professor of Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Georgia). 18 Laura Parker, ''These Communities Turn Discarded Fishing Nets Into Carpets," National Geographic, Published 

June 13, 2018. h!!ps ://news. nationalgeographic. com/20 18106/heather-koldeway-explorer -nets-plastic-philippinesocean-cu!ture/?beta=true 

19 Eric Gilman et al, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded 

gil/nets and trammel nets: Methods to estimate ghost fishing mortality, and the status of regional monitoring and 

management, 2016, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper No. 600, Rome, Italy. 
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Koldewey saw this critical issue as an opportunity for partnership. By developing Net-Works, a 

collaboration between global carpet tile manufacturer Interface, Inc. and ZSL, she developed a 

successful community-based supply chain for retrieving and discarding fishing nets. Net-Works 

partners with coastal communities to collect discarded fishing nets, convert them into nylon 

yarn, and sell them to Interface to create carpet tiles. So far, the initiative has collected and 

recycled 208 tons of discarded fishing nets, removing these dangerous threats to marine wildlife 

from our oceans and empowering local communities with economic opportunity20 

Partnership for Change" 

National Geographic is also partnering with Sky Ocean Ventures to create the largest global 

media campaign to reduce plastic litter in the ocean. We've committed $10 million to bring our 

scientific expertise, grants, and media reach to the partnership. 

The partnership will make grants available to proposals that will measurably reduce plastic 

pollution before it reaches the ocean, including improved recycling, waste management, 

stakeholder engagement, and more. It will also convene a series of Innovation Challenges, 

uniting the best international minds around technologies designed to reduce plastic waste and 

its impact on oceans. Additionally, the partnership will create an event series engaging industry 

leaders, corporations, institutions and foundations around the issue of marine plastic pollution. 

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR U.S. LEADERSHIP 

Our planet is at a crossroads. World plastic production is increasing exponentially. In 1950, 2.3 

million tons were produced. In 1993, 162 million tons were produced. And in 2015, 448 million 

tons were produced 22 As plastic production grows, so does the threat plastic waste poses to 

our oceans and the wildlife and economies that depend upon them. 

However, as Laura Parker wrote in the June National Geographic magazine cover story, 

plastics have been a boon to humanity. They helped the Allies win World War II, "eased travel 

into space, and revolutionized medicine ... In airbags, incubators, helmets, or simply by 

delivering clean drinking water to poor people in those now demonized disposable bottles, 

plastics save lives daily."23 

Now, it's a matter of learning to balance the potential provided by plastic with the threat plastic 

waste poses to our world. We know that the ocean's currents ensure that marine plastic 

pollution will never be just one nation's problem. Any plastic waste that is introduced to the 

system will impact wildlife and economies around the globe. 

20 Zoological Society of London. "Asia: Net-Works." https:/lwww.zsLorglconservationlregionslasialnet-works 

21 National Geographic 2018. "Sky and National Geographic Work Together to Fight Ocean Plastic." 

http ://press. nationalgeographic. com/20 18/04/16/sky-and-national-geographic-work-together-to-fight-ocean-plastic/ 22 National Geographic. "1 0 Shocking Facts About Plastic." https:/iwww.nationalgeographic.com/environmenUplasticfacts/ 

13 Susan Goldberg, "The Plastic Apocalypse," National Geographic, June 2018, 6. 
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This is why National Geographic launched the Planet or Plastic? initiative and why we are 

dedicated to encouraging consumers to end their reliance on the single-use plastics. 

National Geographic is committed to continuing to raise international awareness through our 

media and education arms and to better understanding and addressing the issue through 

research and community partnership. We are working with corporations, NGOs, and other 

institutions around the world to eliminate single-use plastic and promote recyclability. 

However, addressing this issue will require true global partnership. In this process, it's important 

to remember that our work must start with evaluating our own practices. 

With Planet or Plastic?, we hope to do nothing less than transform consumer behavior- and 

we're starting at home. To kick off this multiyear initiative, National Geographic is conducting an 

internal audit of our headquarters in Washington, D.C., to assess how our own operations and 

supply chain use plastic. From the plastic wrappers in which our magazines were formerly 

distributed to the materials we use in our cafeteria, we're identifying and eliminating single-use 

plastics. 

Now, it's time for the United States to do the same. The United States is one of the most 

developed nations in the world. So why aren't we addressing this issue head-on? Why are we 

relying on sending our plastic recyclables overseas instead of developing a robust recycling 

capability of our own? And why do we continue to use plastics that can't be recycled at all? 

U.S. Plastic Waste 

Today, an estimated 94 percent of Americans have access to recycling. However, our nation 

lacks standardization on which materials are considered recyclable and what community 

collection practices look like24 This contributes to this shocking metric: In the United States, 91 

percent of recyclable plastic is not actually recycled25 

Additionally, more than half of plastic waste that is recycled in the United States has been 

exported to hundreds of countries around the world because our own recycling sector is under 

resourced. Historically, China has been responsible for recycling 45 percent the world's plastic 

and paper products. 

However, this year, China stopped accepting recycling from abroad. This is related to the fact 

that many countries, including the United States, transitioned to single-stream recycling. Singlestream recycling was designed to streamline recycling and reduce consumer burden by allowing 

all recyclables- from paper to plastic to glass to go into the same bin. However, this 

streamlining process means that much of the waste reaching China is too contaminated with 

non-recyclables to provide China with the profit margin needed to continue processing the 

world's recyclables. As a result, estimates predict that 122 tons of potentially recyclable plastic 

24 Drew Desilver, "Perceptions and realities of recycling vary widely from place to place,'' Pew Research Center, 

Published October 7, 2016. http://www. pewresearch .org/fact-tank/20 16/1 0/07 /perceptions-and-realities-of-recyclingvary-widely-from-place-to-place/ 

25 Faye Flam, "The Recycling Game Is Rigged Against You," Bloomberg, Published June 27, 2018. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-27/plastic-recycling-is-a-problem-consumers-can-t-solve 
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will be diverted from Chinese recycling facilities, likely ending up in landfills. 26 However, the 

global shortage in recycling capabilities is only one piece of the issue. 

Some plastics are too difficult to recycle in the first place. Due to their prevalence in our daily 

lives, multilayer plastics, which are used in products ranging from disposable coffee cups to 

snack packaging, are particularly problematic. Multilayer plastics incorporate materials such as 

paper or aluminum, tightly stacking thin layers of the materials alongside plastic and making the 

separation and processing of these materials nearly impossible. While material production 

advancements make these multilayer plastics cheap, readily available, and utilitarian, the nonrecyclable nature of these single-use materials is a major contributor to the global plastic 

crisis27 

Unfortunately, this means that our nation's plastic waste footprint is an issue that consumers 

and individual organizations cannot solve alone. It requires a shift in how our nation as a whole 

manages plastic design and recapture, a task that only the U.S. federal government is able to 

take on. 

Model Nation and Innovation 

I understand that federalism and regulation concerns make addressing this issue challenging. 

However, we cannot stymie the global plastic crisis without U.S. federal government 

involvement. 

The U.S. government can play a stronger role in addressing the global plastic crisis by 

convening conversations with industry leaders and encouraging them to present solutions and 

commit to targets. The United States is a global leader in innovation. Our government 

continuously invests in American ingenuity. Now, it must invest in solutions to the global plastic 

crisis through private sector and entrepreneurial innovation around better material design and 

recapture. 

Only the federal government is positioned to implement the solutions developed by private 

sector leaders at a nationwide scale. But as part of our Planet or Plastic? initiative, National 

Geographic would like to offer our support to U.S. policymakers as they address this issue. 

On behalf of National Geographic, I would like to offer to convene a summit in Washington, 

DC , to bring together policymakers, industry leaders, and other essential stakeholders for a 

critical discussion about how the United States can lead in this space. The Planet or Plastic? 

Summit will ensure that the right voices are in the room as we look at the current state of plastic 

waste in the United States and, in turn, how to advance the American recycling industry, move 

away from non-recyclable and single-use plastics, and find better alternatives to plastic where 

possible. And equally importantly, National Geographic wants to bring our powerful storytelling 

to bear to amplify the results of this conversation and to raise awareness of what the United 

States is doing to address the global plastic crisis. 

Amy Brooks, Shunli Wang, and Jenna Jambeck, "The Chinese import ban and its impact on global plastic waste 

trade," Science Advances Vol. 4, no. 6 (2018). http://advances.sciencemag.org/contentl4/6/eaat0131 27 Lilly Sedaghat, "7 Things You Didn't Know About Plastic (and Recycling)," National Geographic, Published April 4, 

2018. https://blog. nationalgeographic. org/20 1810410417 -things-you-didnt -know-about-plastic-and-recycling/ 
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While the plastic crisis has no boundaries, the U.S. government must first take its own steps to 

protect the oceans and marine wildlife upon which one in six American jobs depend. 28 Perhaps 

the time has come to examine the feasibility of a federal regulatory approach that would provide 

minimum standards on plastic use and recycling. The approach could provide incentives and 

mandates carrots and sticks- for states to adopt the right recycling protocols and provide 

national standards for plastic import, manufacturing, and use. 

It's a bold solution, but this crisis requires one. It's time to stop the plastic pollution that got us 

into this mess in the first place and to step up and be a true global leader on this issue. 

78 U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service. "What 

does the ocean have to do with human health?" https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ocean-human-health.html 
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APPENDIX 

World Map Display of Plastic Waste in Oceans via National Geographic 

"Drowning in Plastic," National Geographic, June 2018. 55-57. 

https //www. dropbox. com/sh/gdcr7 416n8gpfxl/ AAAHejRDyj9XCPnAu KvSBc3Za ?di=O&p 

review=OO MAP+plastics grfx map.jpg 

Recent Editorial Co-Authored by Jonathan Baillie 

Jonathan Baillie and Ya-Ping Zhang, "Space for Nature," Science 361, no. 6407 (2018): 

1051. http://science.sciencemaq.org/content/361/6407/1 051 
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Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works 

Hearing Entitled, "Cleaning Up the Oceans: 

How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash on the 

Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health?" 

Chairman Barrasso: 

September 26,2018 

Questions for the Record for 

Dr. Jonathan Baillie 

Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist 

National Geographic Society 

1. Experts seem to agree that stopping the flow of debris into the ocean is a bigger priority 

than cleaning up the debris already in the ocean. Is this an assessment that you agree 

with? If not, why not? 

Yes, l agree. Studies have found that approximately 80 percent of marine debris comes from 

land-based sources. While stopping the flow of plastic debris from land into waterways and 

cleaning up the debris that already pollutes the world's oceans are important from an 

environmental and economic standpoint, addressing the origins of plastic pollution would 

provide a major boost to combating this issue. 

2. We know that five countries in Asia bear much of the responsibility for the increase in 

ocean plastic. That does not mean that we in the United States do not have a critical role 

to play. What additional steps can local and state governments as well as the federal 

government take to address this problem? 

The U.S. government can play a stronger role in addressing the global plastic crisis by convening 

conversations with industry leaders and encouraging them to present solutions and commit to 

targets. The federal government has an advantage in that it maintains the capability to implement 

solutions developed by the private sector on a nationwide scale. I suggest that the federal 

government explore a federal regulatory approach that would provide minimum standards on 

plastic use and recycling. Local and state governments ean also examine and address their waste 

management practices to stymie the paths by which plastics flow from land in their jurisdiction 

into waterways. 

3. On January 24, 2018, the Financial Times published an article, by Clive Cookson, 

entitled, "The problem with plastic." It explained that: 

"While the personal-care industry is phasing out microbeads, concern is growing 

about another ubiquitous micropollutant: plastic fibres. Analysis shows these to 

be present in streams, rivers, lakes, and seas worldwide, as well as household 

drinking water. Their main source seems to be clothing and textiles made from 

synthetic fibres, which become detached in washing machines and are not filtered 

out by water-treatments plants.'' 
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Do you agree with this assessment? If so, how do we begin to address this issue? 

We know that microplastics such as plastic fibers have already entered our food chain and that 

pollutants adhering to these microplastics can cause issues like organ damage and reproductive 

abnormalities in the marine organisms that consume them. We also know that as microplastics 

degrade, they become nanoplastics, which have the ability to penetrate cells and move into 

tissues and organs. Per GESAMP, potential avenues of addressing the fiber issue could 

specifically involve enhanced washing machine filters or other new technologies that would limit 

the release ofthese microplastics during washing, such as lauudry detergent additives and textile 

finishing treatments. 1 

In addition, there are companies that are looking into design-based solutions. For example, some 

fleece manufacturers are working to design materials that shed fewer fibers. 

4. What regions of the world are the least studied when it comes to plastic pollution? 

Plastic use and the problem of plastic waste have grown exponentially in a very short period of 

time. While there are regions of the world that may be less studied, the National Geographic 

Society is focusing initially on areas where plastic use is high and where high levels of plastic 

waste are seeping into the environment. 

In fact, National Geographic is already taking steps to study plastic pollution in several of these 

areas by investing in the work of our scientists and explorers. Through our grants program, we 

partner with scientists and innovators who are working diligently to find ways to keep plastics 

from ever reaching the ocean. 

For example, National Geographic Explorer Jenna Jam beck works in Vietnam, which has an 

often-informal solid waste management system, to better understand and improve waste 

management. Explorer Heather Koldewey works in the Philippines to help communities clean up 

ocean plastic as part of the National Geographic Ocean Plastics Initiative. 

We have found that even highly remote areas like the uninhabited Henderson Island in the 

Pacific can play host to what is estimated to be the highest concentration of debris anywhere 

in the world. Further research could and should be conducted around the world on the plastic 

crisis. This is a global issue that affects the world's connected waterways and oceans. 

Ranking Member Carper: 

5. Stopping the t1ow of marine debris into the ocean and mitigating its impacts are not 

problems that can be solved overnight. Long-term, thoughtful, and collaborative solutions 

are necessary in order to address the full scope of the issue. Solutions that have been 

discussed included: improving recycling; incentivizing the use of recycled materials in 

the global supply chain; developing more biodegradable alternatives; and changing 

1 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/marine/good-cnvironmcntal-status/descriptorl 0/pd!IGESAMP _ microplastics%20full%20study .pdf 
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manufacturing protocols. What steps can this Committee and the Congress take now to 

advance these potential solutions here in the United States? 

The federal government should explore a federal regulatory approach that would provide 

minimum standards on recycling and the recyclability of plastic products. The approach could 

provide incentives and mandates- carrots and sticks for states to adopt the right recycling 

protocols and provide national standards for plastic import, manufacturing, and use. Only the 

federal government is able to implement change now on a nationwide scale. 

6. Now that China has implemented its "Green Fence Policy," a ban on importing plastic 

waste, our market for these materials in the United States is flooded. China previously 

accepted 30 percent of our plastic waste. Local municipalities are now having even more 

trouble breaking even when collecting and recycling this waste. In your opinion, what are 

the best ways for the United States to address this new challenge? 

Many countries, including the United States, use single-stream recycling. Single-stream 

recycling was designed to streamline recycling and reduce consumer burden by allowing all 

recyclables- from paper to plastic to glass- to go into the same bin. However. this 

streamlining process means that much of the waste reaching China is too contaminated with nonrecyclables to provide China with the profit margin needed to continue processing the world's 

recyclables. Many of the recycling facilities in the United States are facing the same issue now. 

Our nation lacks standardization on which materials are considered recyclable and what 

community collection practices look like. This contributes to this shocking metric: In the United 

States, 91 percent of recyclable plastic is not actually recycled. 

This can be addressed via a three-pronged approach: 

I. The United States must streamline its recycling standards and practices to 

reduce contamination. I understand that federalism and regulation concerns make 

addressing this issue challenging. However, an effort on this scale is something that 

only the federal government- with the help of participatory stakeholders can 

manage. Our nation must explore a federal regulatory approach that would provide 

minimum standards on plastic use and recycling. The approach could provide 

incentives and mandates- carrots and sticks tor states to adopt the right recycling 

protocols and provide national standards tor plastic import, manufacturing, and use. 

2. We must move away from non-recyclable plastics that have no value to the 

recycling industry. The U.S. government can play a stronger role in addressing the 

global plastic crisis by convening conversations with industry leaders and 

encouraging them to present solutions and commit to targets. The United States is a 

global leader in innovation. Our government continuously invests in American 

ingenuity. Now, it must invest in solutions to the global plastic crisis through privatesector and entrepreneurial innovation around better material design and recapture. 

3. We must educate consumers about what is recyclable and how it should be 

recycled. Once recycling practices are standardized, the United States will need to 

engage in a nationwide education campaign to raise awareness, highlight recycling 
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myths versus facts, and ensure consistency in our nation's consumer recycling 

practices. National Geographic is committed to using our media reach to aid in this 

education process. 

Senator Markey: 

7. For the past 25 years, China has imported 45 percent of the world's plastic waste, over 

l 00 million tons every year. From the United States, about 3,700 shipping containers of 

recycling went to China on a daily basis. That changed this past January, when China 

closed its borders to 24 categories of solid waste, leaving the United States and Europe 

without a market for much of our plastic trash. Municipal waste managers in the United 

States may now have to put recyclable plastic in landfills as falling prices and lack of 

demand for rccyclables could also lead to recycling centers closing. 

a. Does the closing of China's borders to many kinds of plastic waste force a 

fundamental shift in the U.S.'s recycling economy? 

Yes, China's decision to stop accepting plastic recyclables from abroad requires a major shift in 

our nation's recycling economy. In addition to the three essential steps l outlined in question 6, 

we need to improve the design of plastics in the United States to ensure that they are recyclable 

in the first place. 

One way to do this is by reducing our reliance on multilayer plastics, used in products ranging 

from disposable coffee cups to snack packaging, as they are particularly problematic. Multilayer 

plastics incorporate materials such as paper or aluminum, tightly stacking thin layers of the 

materials alongside plastic and making the separation and processing of these materials nearly 

impossible. While material production advancements make these multilayer plastics cheap, 

readily available, and utilitarian, the non-recyclable nature of these single-use materials is a 

major contributor to the global plastic crisis. We must find recyclable alternatives to multilayer 

plastics as well as better substitutes for single-use plastics wherever possible. 

b. Will this increase the risk of more U.S. plastic ending up in the oceans in addition 

to landfills? 

Yes, a global analysis of all plastics ever made showed that only 9 percent were recycled. The 

vast majority (79 percent) accumulated either in the environment or in landfills. Estimates 

predict that 122 tons of potentially recyclable plastic will be diverted from Chinese recycling 

facilities. 2 In all likelihood, this break in the global recycling system will lead to an additional 

influx of marine plastic pollution in our oceans. 

Senator Merkley: 

8. In your testimony, you spoke about the need for U.S. leadership on marine debris. What 

are the most important policy steps the United States should be taking to address marine 

debris on an international scale? 

2 https:/ /news.nationalgeographic.com/20 17/07 /pi astic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment/ 
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Much of my background on this issue comes from my decades of experience as a scientist and 

from leading advocacy projects that convened a variety of business, conservation, and nongovernmental organization (NGO) stakeholders in order to enact meaningful change on a large 

scale. Through this lens, and as I've outlined above, I believe the United States should explore 

methods for advancing the American recycling industry, moving away from single-use plastics, 

looking for plastic alternatives, where possible, and providing incentives and mandates for states 

to adopt the right recycling protocols and provide national standards for plastic import, 

manufacturing, and use. 

Senator Whitehouse: 

9. During your testimony, you offered to convene a summit of essential stakeholders in 

Washington, D.C., to discuss U.S. leadership in this area. Do you see a role for the 

federal government in this discussion? What other sectors and stakeholders will be 

involved? 

The federal government has a vital role to play in this process as a convener of conversations 

with industry leaders in order to encourage them to present solutions and commit to targets to 

address the crisis. Members and senators, as well as their staff, on and beyond the committees of 

jurisdiction are important participants in the ongoing dialogue to resolve this issue. Industry 

leaders, NGOs, and other organizations are also key components of this process. 

10. National Geographic magazine's recent marine debris issue punctuated the crisis with 

poignant photos and articles. What role do these stories and images play in encouraging 

change and support for marine debris solutions? 

At National Geographic, we take our role in addressing this issue very seriously, whether 

through scientific research or storytelling. Our global reach across numerous media channels 

allows us to engage and educate audiences on issues affecting a planet we all share. By raising 

public consciousness and consumer awareness, National Geographic helps shine a light on global 

issues like plastic pollution. Increased public awareness leads to individuals making changes in 

their own lives and expanding those choices among their family, friends, and communities. 

Poignant storytelling and striking images are effective tools in illustrating issues that may 

otherwise go overlooked, and the global plastic crisis is a perfect example of that. 

11. What misconceptions remain among the general public about marine debris? 

A common misconception among the general public is that the biggest issue we face is the type 

of marine debris that we can see, such as bottles and plastic bags. Awareness is often low about 

the risk imposed by plastics breaking down into much smaller pieces by light exposure, ocean 

drift, and marine organism digestion. These microplastics- or pieces smaller than one-fifth of 

an inch- linger for centuries. Scientists have already found microplastics in 114 aquatic 

species, more than half of which are consumed by humans. In addition, mieroplasties cause 

physiological issues in marine species. Pollutants that wash off the land and into the sea adhere 
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to microplastics, causing problems ranging from organ damage to reproductive abnormalities in 

the marine organisms that consume them. 

Research has demonstrated that many of the fish and shellfish humans eat are consuming 

microplastics. It has also tied plastics to issues ranging from weight gain to brain development 

impairment. We do not yet know at what quantity human consumption ofmicroplastics will have 

adverse effects and how other factors such as food preparation affect microplastic toxicity. 

However, we do know that microplastics have entered our food chain. 

Scientists are expressing additional concern about the potential impact of nanoplastics on human 

health. Nanoplastics are less than 100 billionths of a meter in size and are created as 

microplastics continue to degrade. Their miniscule size makes them impossible tor scientists to 

trace in the seafood humans consume. However, scientists worry that these tiny nanoplastics, 

which can penetrate cells and move into tissues and organs, pose a risk to humans. 

12. National Geographic launched its Planet or Plastic? campaign this summer. The 

initiative asks people to pledge to reduce their use of single-use plastics. 

a. How many people have taken the pledge so far? 

As of November I, 2018, our Planet or Plastic? education initiative had already generated more 

than 972 million content views across our digital platforms. And our worldwide reach has 

prompted more than 91,000 people to take the pledge to reduce single-use plastics. 

b. How will Nat Geo track the effect of this campaign on plastics reduction? 

National Geographic is sharing metrics on its Planet or Plastic:' pledge campaign online at 

www.nationalgeographic.com/environmentlplasticpledge. Our goal is to prevent 1 billion items 

from reaching the ocean by 2020, and we are using our global media platform to provide updates 

on the campaign, share resources, and help inspire others to reduce their use of single-use 

plastics. 

In addition, we will be advancing education initiatives, citizen science efforts, and innovation 

challenges. We will also be developing a global framework to enable better selection and siting 

of interventions. Finally, we will be hosting convenings and will continue to shine a light on 

plastic pollution through our unparalleled storytelling and global media platforms. 

c. What role can these voluntary campaigns play in changing consumer and 

producer or retailer behavior? 

These campaigns can play a large role in changing consumer, producer, and retailer behavior. 

For more than 130 years, National Geographic has sought to further our understanding of the 

planet and empower us all to create a healthy and sustainable future for generations to come. 
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By leveraging our brand, we are able to reach millions of people in 172 countries and educate 

them on this issue. We are also able to share tips for consumers to take actionable steps in order 

to reduce plastic waste. 

13. How do voluntary actions by corporations and individuals support marine debris 

reduction? 

About 40 percent of the nearly 500 million tons of plastic produced annually is only used once 

before being discarded. Voluntary actions by corporations and individuals can play a major role 

in reducing this number. 

This is why to kick off our multiyear Planet or Plastic? initiative. National Geographic is 

conducting an internal audit of our headquarters in Washington, D.C., to assess how our own 

operations and supply chain use plastic. From the plastic wrappers in which our magazines were 

formerly distributed to the materials we use in our cafeteria, we're working to identify and 

eliminate single-use plastics. Actions such as these are an essential first step toward the broader 

nationwide and international reform needed to combat the global plastic crisis. 

14. As we work on the next iteration of the Save Our Seas Act, do you have any additional 

recommendations or comments you would like to share to inform our development of this 

bill? 

The Save Our Seas Act is a powerful piece oflegislation. I am glad to see that Congress is taking 

bipartisan steps to address the global plastic crisis and understands the need to improve 

international waste management practices to reduce the influx of plastics into our world's 

oceans. 

I recommend a companion piece of legislation that would focus not only on reforming 

international plastic waste management, but also on addressing what the United States can do 

within our nation's borders. This legislation could further study the impacts of plastics- at both 

the micro and macro scales- on our waterways; invest in private-sector and entrepreneurial 

innovation around better material design and recapture in the United States; and provide 

incentives and mandates- carrots and sticks tor states to adopt the right recycling protocols 

and provide national standards tor plastic import, manufacturing, and use. 
32 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you so much for your testimony and 

your leadership on this. 

Mr. DOOLEY. 

STATEMENT OF HON. CAL DOOLEY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, 

AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL 

Mr. DOOLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the 

Committee. I am delighted to be joining you all. 

ACC represents a diverse set of companies engaged in the U.S. 

business of chemistry, and the chemical industry is at the forefront 

of developing the innovations, the technologies, and the products 

that are essential to advancing global environmental sustainability. 

If you look at the increased fuel efficiency in our vehicles, they 

are really a function of the plastics and the composites that are 

contributing their light-weighting. 

When we look at the enhanced energy efficiency of our built environment, our homes, our offices, and our factories, it is the products of chemistry that are increasing their energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Even when we look at the plastic 

packaging that is reducing the weight of consumer products, that 

is reducing emissions. 

So, there is a lot of really positive contributions that the products 

of chemistry are making to enhance sustainability. Unfortunately, 

we have too many plastics that are entering into the environment 

where they clearly do not belong. 

As many of you already noted, the first step to ending plastic 

waste in the environment starts with understanding the sources. 

Twenty countries account for 83 percent of plastic waste entering 

into the ocean. The largest sources are rapidly developing economies, mainly in Asia, where basic plastic waste management infrastructure has not kept pace with the rise in demand for consumer 

goods. 

Studies by The World Bank and McKinsey have identified that 

the most cost-effective investments to reduce plastic waste in the 

environment are the implementation of waste collection infrastructure and improved processing of collected waste in source countries. 

ACC applauds the efforts of Senator Sullivan and Senator 

Whitehouse for leading efforts to secure the passage of the Save 

Our Seas Act. It is a good first step. 

But ACC and our value chain partners are excited about the opportunity to provide private sector support that would complement 

a bigger, bolder, and more effective Save Our Seas Act 2.0. 

There is a unique opportunity to build bipartisan congressional 

and Administration support for increasing the U.S. global leadership in advancing policies that will significantly reduce man-made 

waste from entering into the environment. 

We would encourage your consideration of policies that would include encouraging The World Bank and international development 

banks and USAID to prioritize waste collection and management. 

According to the International Solid Waste Association, waste management accounts for only .3 percent of development aid assistance. 

We also would encourage promotion of public-private partnerships and business-led efforts to fund waste management in the developing world. We encourage the Department of Defense and other 

33 

agencies to fund waste management pilot projects at their facilities, 

particularly in the Asia Pacific region, to transform plastic waste 

into fuels, feedstocks, and infrastructure materials. 

In addition to policies designed to reduce waste in the developing 

world, there are domestic policies that can enhance waste management systems in the U.S. and also contribute to the development 

and implementation of new technologies that can capture the value 

in plastic waste. Plastic waste has more captured energy than coal, 

and many of ACC’s companies are investing in developing technologies that can unlock the captured energy, transforming non-recycled plastics into alternative fuels and feedstock materials for 

new manufacturing. But current regulations do not specifically recognize these emerging technologies as recycling, which is an impediment to capturing the value of plastic waste. 

Some specific opportunities to address this issue include: providing guidance to States recognizing pyrolysis and gasification facilities which take waste plastics and convert them back to chemicals or fuels as manufacturing and not hazardous waste facilities; 

revise EPA’s guidelines for the assessment of environmental performance standards and equal labels for Federal procurement to 

prefer products and services that utilize recovered plastics as recycled content; partner with the Department of Energy and Department of Transportation and other appropriate agencies to research 

opportunities that utilize plastic waste and innovative construction 

materials in transportation and water infrastructure projects nationwide; and, finally, designating fuel derived from plastic waste 

as a renewable fuel. 

We have a great opportunity to create a global public-private initiative to eliminate man-made waste in the environment. ACC and 

our partners in the plastic value chain are committed to working 

with you and environmental organizations to identify the policies 

and the most cost-effective investments of public and private resources that will eliminate man-made waste from entering into the 

environment. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Dooley follows:] 

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merican' 

Chemistry 

ouncil 

American Chemistry Council 

Statement for the Record 

Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works 

"Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash on the 

Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health" 

September 26, 2018 

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is pleased to submit this Written Testimony to the 

Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works regarding the September 26,2018 hearing, 

"Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash on the Environment, 

Wildlife, and Human Health." 

While marine debris is a huge problem, it is also a solvable one. ACC, together with America's 

Plastics Makers(~). are committed to ending plastic waste in the environment. We are proud to 

have partnered with governments, NGOs, and the private sector to deliver sustainable solutions 

to marine debris. Hundreds of projects are underway or already completed. but we know that 

there is much more to be done. 

ACC represents a diverse set of companies engaged in the U.S. business of chemistry, a $768 

billion enterprise that is helping to solve the biggest challenges facing our country and the world. 

Chemistry touches 96 percent of all manufactured goods. and the usc of plastics in modem 

automotive, building and construction, and food packaging industries is helping to create a more 

sustainable society. 

• Automotive: Today's plastics make up 50 percent ofthe volume of new cars but only 10 

percent of the weight. Lighter cars arc more fuel efticient, and as a result, emit fewer 

C02 emissions. 

Building und Construction: Architects and designers rely on plastics to help maximize 

energy efficiency, durability and performance of our homes, offices, and schools. 

Food Packaging: Plastics help keep our food fresh and clean with less packaging while 

reducing food waste. Reducing food waste is important because EPA estimates that more 

food reaches Iandt! IIs and incinerators than any other single material in our everyday 

trash, constituting 22 percent of discarded municipal solid waste. 

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Although plastics provide important benefits to society, plastics and other trash don't belong in 

our waterways or the environment. That's why ACC and our members are actively engaged in 

concrete, well-researched, and sustainable actions to reduce litter and prevent marine debris. 

The tirst step to ending plastic waste in the environment starts with understanding the sources. A 

number of scientific studies have concluded that plastic litter in the ocean is the result of poor or 

insufficient waste management and lack of sufficient collection. recycling and recovery facilities 

infrastmcture in rapidly developing countries. 

Twenty countries account for 83 percent of the mismanaged plastic waste available to enter the 

ocean. 1 The largest sources arc rapidly developing economics, mainly in Asia. where basic waste 

management infrastructure has not kept pace with the rise in demand for consumer goods. Over 

half of land-based plastic waste leaks from just five countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines. 

Thailand, and Vietnam. 

Ocean Detritus I Much of the world's mismanaged plastic waste ends up fouling global waters 

0 

u.s.a 

03 

Landlocked or data unavai!abfe 

A recent World Bank study confirms that root cause. Human trash in Indonesian rivers includes 

53 percent organic waste. 13 percent diapers, 29 percent plastic and the remainder other debris. 2 

Although consumer plastics arc a large traction of the waste stream, holistic solutions arc needed 

to keep plastics out of our oceans and waterways. 

The World Bank tinding is also consistent with McKinsey's analysis for Ocean Conservancy's 

Trash free Seas Alliancc(i<! which identified the need to immediately accelerate implementation 

1 J. R. Jam beck, R. Geyer, C. Wilcox, T. R. Siegler, M. Perryman, A. Andrady, R. Narayan, and 

K. L Law, "Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean," Science, 2015, Volume 347, Number 

6223 

2 The World Bank Group, Indonesia Marine Debris Hotspot Rapid Assessment Synthesis Report, April 2018 

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of waste collection infrastructure, plug post collection leakage, and improve processing of 

collected waste in source countries. 3 

S. 756, "The Save our Seas Act", first passed in the Senate in 2017 and later by the House in 

2018, is a well-designed and thoughtful piece of bipartisan, bicameral legislation. ACC and our 

members have long supported S. 756 for three important reasons: 

first, it emphasizes greater engagement with the key source countries; 

second, the bill would help ensure that precious waste management resources, 

technologies and investments are allocated to where they are needed most; and 

third, it reauthorizes the Marine Debris Act. which provides provisions to fi.rrther study 

land-based waste management solutions and causes of marine debris, as well as increase 

investment and technical assistance to help expand waste management systems and bestpractices in rapidly industrializing nations. 

We arc pleased that Senate passage ofS. 756. with House amendments, is imminent and will 

allow for expeditious passage in the House before being sent to the President for his signature. 

Legislation is one part of the answer. ACC and our members are working with governments, 

NGOs, and our industry peers to deliver sustainable solutions to marine debris. In 20 II, ACC 

helped lead the development of the Declaration of the Global Plastics Associations for Solutions 

on Marine Littcr. 4 The Global Declaration obliges signatories to commit to action in six areas: 

education, research, public policy, best practices, recycling/recovery, and product stewardship. 

Attached to this Testimony are two documents which highlight work both completed and 

underway on several marine debris projects across each of the six focus areas: 

"America's Plastics Makers Contribute to Solutions on Marine Litter'' (See Appendix A); 

"The Declaration of the Global Plastics Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter, 

4'" Progress Repoti- Executive Summary" (See Appendix B). 

75 plastics associations in 40 countries have signed the Declaration since its launch. More than 

355 marine litter projects arc planned, underway, or have been completed around the globe. Each 

of them helps to forge cooperation and continuous progress to prevent. reduce, and improve 

understanding of marine litter. 

One of those projects involves a unique partnership between ACC and Circulate Capital, an 

investment management finn dedicated to financing innovation, companies, and infrastructure 

that prevent the flow of plastic waste into the world's oceans. Starting initially with Southeast 

3 Ocean Conservancy, McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, "Stemming the Tide: Land-based strategies 

for a plastic-free ocean," Oct. 2015 

i www.marinelittcrsolutions.com 

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Asia. Circulate Capital will provide capital investments to improve collection, sorting and 

recycling markets, particularly across the plastic value chain. This emphasis on intcmational 

cooperation on waste management in the largest source countries is critical to reducing trash in 

our oceans. 

ACC and America's Plastics Makers® are also taking important steps in the United States. In 

May, ACC's Plastics Division announced three ambitious goals that crystalize U.S. plastics resin 

producers' commitment to recycle or recover all plastic packaging used in the United States hy 

2040 and to further enhance plastic pellet stewardship by 2022. 

Specifically, members of ACC's Plastics Division have set the following goals for capturing, 

recycling, and recovering plastics: 

• I 00 percent of plastics packaging is re-used, recycled or recovered by 2040. 

• 100 percent of plastics packaging is recyclable or recoverable by 2030. 

Circularity at its core is about reducing waste, promoting reuse, increasing recycling rates and 

developing new recovery technologies. Achieving a more "circular economy" for plastics will 

enable society to continue to hamess plastics' essential benefits, like enhancing the safety and 

sanitary packaging of food and personal care products, while helping to protect and restore the 

environment for future generations. 

It's important to note that achieving a circular economy docs not mean eliminating plastics, since 

plastics serve an essential role in helping to accomplish ambitious goals in sustainability across 

all three pillars social, environmental, and economic. Many proposals to restrict or eliminate 

certain plastics fail to consider how they can help reduce environmental costs. 

For example, a July 2016 study by Trucost found that replacing plastics in consumer products 

and packaging with a mix of altemative materials with the same function would increase 

environmental costs from $139 billion to S533 billion annually. 5 The higher environmental cost 

of alternatives to plastic is a function of the increased quantity of materials needed to fulfill 

plastic functions. Every material has a cost, including plastics, but the Trncost study tell us that 

using altematives to plastic has costs that are almost four times higher. 

Another important feature of plastics that is not commonly known is that their "captured energy" 

is greater than wood, paper or even coal. Today, an emerging set of technologies has begun to 

unlock that captured energy, transfonning non-recycled plastics into alternative fuels and 

feedstock materials for new manufacturing. In fact, established energy recovery facilities can 

reduce by 80 percent the volume of waste that goes to landfill. 

s Trucost, "Plastics and Sustainabllity: A Valuation of Environmental Benefits, Costs and Opportunities for 

Continuous Improvement," July 2016 

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Plastics that go on to become fi.tel and other lonns of energy are plastics that do not end up in our 

oceans. Some of the most widely used and rapidly emerging technologies include plastics-tofuels. pyrolysis, gasification. solid recovery fuels, and waste-to-energy. With the rise of these 

new technologies comes new jobs and economic growth. 

Together with the Trucost findings, the increased recycling and the potential shift toward greater 

recovery of plastics serves as another example for why product-specific restrictions do not 

advance social, environmental, or economic goals. Contrary to popular opinion, product bans are 

not sustainable solutions. Legislation like the "Save Our Seas Act" recognizes this important 

fact. 

Innovations in plastics have helped improve the lives of billions of people around the globe. At 

the same time, the problem of marine debris is one that businesses, environmental groups, 

policymakers. and citizens around the globe have become all too familiar with. 

ACC believes that awareness, deep appreciation and understanding of the marine debris problem 

now serves as the necessary prologue to embark on a joumey toward creating and implementing 

sustainable solutions. 

We thank you for the opportunity to testify today and look forward to our continued partnership 

in protecting and restoring the environment tor future generations. 

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) represents the leading companies engaged in the 

business o(chemistrv. A CC members apply the science of'chemislf:v to make innovative products 

and services that make people's lives better. healthier and saf'er. ACC is committed to improved 

enl'ironmental, health and sa{i!ty perjiJmumu! through l?esponsible Care"; common sense 

advocacy designed to address major puhlic policy issues; and health and environmental 

research and product testing. The businr:ss o{chonisliy is a $768 billion enteljlri.l'<' and a key 

element of the nation's economy. It is among the larges! exporters· in the nation, accounting for 

jhurteen percent qf'a/1 U.S. goods exports. ChemL\'ffJ' companies arc among the largest investors 

in research and development. Safetv and security have always /wen primarv concerns ofACC 

memher.-.·, and they haw! intensUied !heir cffOrt.v, tvorking close~v trith government agencies to 

improve security and to d(:>fend again)·f any threat to the nation's critical it~jl·astructure. 

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Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works 

Hearing entitled, "Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash 

on the Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health?" 

September 26, 2018 

Questions for the Record for the Honorable Cal Dooley 

Chairman Barrasso: 

l. Experts seem to agree that stopping the flow of debris into the ocean is a bigger priority 

than cleaning up the debris already in the ocean. Is this an assessment that you agree 

with? If not, why not? 

Yes, we agree that priority should be given to stopping the flow of debris into the ocean. While 

there is a need to clean up debris that is presently in the ocean, the highest priority is to stop 

leakage of additional plastic into the ocean. 

A broad coalition of non-governmental organizations, academics, and private sector stakeholders 

brought together by the Ocean Conservancy, supported the development of Stemming the Tide 1

, 

and The Next Wave 2• The reports looked closely at all options to reduce marine debris and 

concluded that waste management is the critical measure, while finding that bans on plastic 

products would not solve the problem. 

The reports identify solutions for reducing plastic inputs to the ocean and recommend a program 

for global action to solve the problem. Here are some of the major recommendations from 

Stemming the Tide: 

• Close leakage points within local collection systems by optimizing transport systems to 

eliminate illegal dumping 

• Close or improve dump sites located near waterways, and increase waste collection rates 

by offering expanded services 

• Keep leakage points closed by increasing the value of waste, and manually sort waste in 

rural areas to extract high value plastic waste for recycling 

2. Five countries in Asia China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam bear 

much of the responsibility for the increase in ocean plastic. What steps is the private 

sector taking to reduce plastic waste coming from these countries? 

The private sector is engaged in various efforts across the Asia-Pacific region to address leakage 

of waste into the ocean. Some of these efforts include supporting Circulate Capital, developing 

of a new global effort to eliminate plastic waste, and engaging in the Asia Pacific Economic 

Cooperation Forum. 
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Circulate Capital In 2017, ACC and the World Plastics Council joined a coalition of partners to 

support Closed Loop Ocean (CLO), a $150 million fund to support waste management in key 

source countries. The objective is to absorb some of the risk associated with waste management 

infrastructure projects in developing countries. The fund also serves as catalytic capital to attract 

other investors such as multi-national development banks, sovereign wealth funds, and private 

investors. 

In 2018, CLO became Circulate Capital, a separate entity to manage investments in waste 

management infrastructure in developing countries. Initially, Circulate Capital will focus on 

waste infrastructure solutions in Southeast Asia. Circulate Capital investments will be provided 

to improve collection, sorting and recycling markets, particularly across the plastic value chain. 

Circulate Capital recently announced the creation of an Incubator Network in partnership with 

Second Muse to rapidly scale the number of innovators in the sector in South and Southeast Asia, 

building out their capacity, and providing acceleration support for those innovations. 

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)- ACC has been engaged in the APEC for over 20 

years and specifically on marine debris issues since 2015. Our work has focused on prioritizing 

investment in waste management. In 2016, ACC helped to organize a high-level APEC 

workshop with the Government of Japan on de-risking investment in waste management 

infrastructure. From the workshop, we helped develop policy and practice recommendations for 

overcoming barriers to financing waste management systems and reducing marine litter. Since 

2016, we have continued to work through various APEC working groups to support investment 

in waste management, as well as support the development of projects to address marine debris. 

3. We know that five countries in Asia bear much of the responsibility for the increase in 

ocean plastic. That does not mean that we in the United States do not have a critical role 

to play. What additional steps can local and state government. as well as the federal 

government, take to address this problem? 

The United States has an important role to play in addressing sources of marine debris. The Save 

Our Seas Act is an excellent step and positions the United States to lead in the global effort to 

address marine debris. There are many domestic companies with technology solutions that can 

be deployed to help address the lack of waste management infrastructure and especially waste 

treatment infrastructure. 

Focusing on domestic efforts, the Congress can encourage investment in technologies that 

repurpose used plastics into a wide range of raw materials, chemical and plastic feedstocks, and 

lower carbon fuels. The U.S. EPA can communicate a more circular vision of plastics materials 

management via the use of new technologies and strategies for converting plastics to raw 

materials, feedstocks, and fuels. If Congress reauthorizes the alternative fuel tax credit and 

alternative fuels mixture credit, it can make promote fairness by including fuels derived from 

post-use plastics. If Congress decides to reauthorize the Renewable Fuels Standard, it should also 

look at the role alternative fuels derived from plastics play in conserving energy and water and 

reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing waste to landfill or litter. Local and state 
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governments can support programs to address littering behavior, improve recycling access and 

infrastructure, and optimize public services such as collection and street sweeping to reduce 

littering. 

Local governments can also work with groups such as The Recycling Partnership3 to take 

advantage of funding to move communities into lidded recycling carts. The program reduces 

littering, while increasing the volume of recycled material collected. 

Plastics recycling and recovery is not only good for the environment but also creates 

manufacturing jobs. A critical missing piece of the puzzle is our lack of good infrastructure. As 

part of any infrastructure discussion, Congress should consider how it can incentivize investment 

in collection (especially in more rural areas) as well as investment in newer and more 

technologically proficient sortation and processing of post-use materials including plastics. 

4. In an answer to one of my questions, you said that: 

"'there are some simple things that Congress could do that would not treat plastic 

waste and the recovery of it as a 'hazardous waste' because that is stemming the 

flow of investment dollars in the development of new technologies that could 

advance the value of that waste stream and recapture some of the value ... " 

Are there specific provisions in statute or specific regulatory provisions that Congress 

should re-examine and consider addressing? If so, please identify those provisions. 

At the federal level, we could ensure that regulations do not impede innovative, readily 

available alternative uses to non-recycled plastics. We already know that plastics can be 

reused in a wide variety of ways, from use as fuel to reinforcing roadways and making 

decking and fencing. One simple change would be to classify plastics used as fuel to make 

cement as categorical non-hazardous secondary materials (NHSM), which would ease 

regulatory burden and cost for these facilities. To make this simple change, Congress could 

direct EPA to add plastics to an existing regulatory list of authorized alternative fuels. 

In the past year alone, states such as Florida, Wisconsin, and Georgia overwhelmingly 

approved legislation to treat post-use plastics as valuable feedstocks for manufacturing and 

ensured that newer technologies such as pyrolysis and gasification would be regulated as 

manufacturing and not waste disposal. Congress should work to understand what these states 

have done and sec if there is equivalent legislation at the federal level. Led by Senators 

Wyden and Cassidy, S. 1460 Energy and Natural Resources Act of20 17, included a 

provision for the Department of Energy to study how to utilize post-use plastics as a valuable 

source of domestic energy and raw materials for remanufacturing. 
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5. On January 24,2018, the Financial Times published an article, by Clive Cookson, that 

was entitled, "The problem with plastic." It explained that: 

"While the personal-care industry is phasing out microbeads, concern is growing 

about another ubiquitous micro pollutant: plastic fibers. Analysis shows these to 

be present in streams, rivers, lakes and seas worldwide, as well as household 

drinking water. Their main source seems to be clothing and textiles made from 

synthetic fibers, which become detached in washing machines and are not filtered 

out by water-treatments plants:· 

Do you agree with this assessment? lf so, how do we begin to address this issue? 

Effective filtration- and then treatment- of wastewater is important. New technologies are now 

being developed to help washing machines more effectively remove microfibers from home 

laundry wastewater, and that's a great start. In the meantime, we need to continue work to better 

understand potential sources of micro fibers; how to detect them with accuracy; and to evaluate 

whether they pose a risk in drinking water or to humans from seafood. 

With respect to foods, Congress could ask the Jederal Food and Drug Agency and U.S. 

Department of Agriculture experts in understanding whether water or food are safe- to 

confirm that seafood's arc currently safe for human consumption while undertaking targeted 

studies. Congress could also direct USDA to increase its inspection of shellfish and to 

specifically document any incidence of micro fibers. With respect to drinking water, Congress 

could direct EPA to review the state of technology for dirt and particle removal from drinking 

water, and provide additional funding if needed to improve technologies for coagulation and 

f1occulation (removes dirt and other particles through the addition of alum (or other metal salts) 

to form coagulated masses called f1oc that attract other particles); sedimentation (sifts 

coagulated, heavy particles through gravity to the bottom of a basin) and filtration (channels 

water after sedimentation through sand, gravel. coal, activated carbon, or membranes to remove 

smaller solid particles not already removed). 

Ranking Member Carper: 

6. Stopping the f1ow of marine debris into the ocean and mitigating its impacts- are not 

problems that can be solved overnight. Long-term. thoughtful, and collaborative solutions 

are necessary in order to address the full scope of the issue. Solutions that have been 

discussed included: improving recycling, incentivizing the use of recycled materials in 

the global supply chain, developing more biodegradable alternatives, and changing 

manufacturing protocols are potential solutions to help address this issue. What steps can 

this Committee and the Congress take now to advance these potential solutions here in 

the United States? 

We agree that improving recycling is important. Congress could encourage investment in 

recycling and modernizing materials recovery facilities to capture more recyclable materials. 

Congress could also incentivize innovative technologies that convert plastics to monomers or 
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fuels through including fuels made from otherwise unrecycled plastics in the renewable fuel tax 

credit. 

Congress can signal that technologies that convert plastics to raw materials, chemical and plastic 

feedstocks and lower carbon fuels are part of the circular economy. As noted in response to 

question 4, Congress could work with EPA to classify plastics used as fuel to make cement as 

categorical non-hazardous secondary materials (NHSM), which would ease regulatory burden 

and cost for these facilities. This would be done through the addition of plastics to an existing 

regulatory list of authorized alternative fuels. 

Congress could also work to understand state legislation to treat post-usc plastics as valuable 

feedstocks for manufacturing and see if there is equivalent legislation at the federal level to 

ensure that newer technologies such as pyrolysis and gasification would be regulated as 

manufacturing and not waste disposal. 

7. Now that China has implemented its ''Green Fence Policy," a ban on importing plastic 

waste, our market for these materials in the United States is flooded. China previously 

accepted 30% of our plastic waste. Local municipalities are now having even more 

trouble breaking even when collecting and recycling this waste. In your opinion, what are 

the best ways for the United States to address this new challenge? 

Education of Consumers- There is a need to better education consumers regarding how to 

properly recycle used plastics to reduce contamination and increase value. A good example is the 

How to Recycle® label placed on many packages. which provides easy-to-follow directions on 

proper recycling and disposal of used packaging. Other programs such as ACC's Wrap 

Recycling Action Program4 (WRAP) educate consumers on how to properly recycling used bags 

and films by taking them back to over 18,000 locations across the United States. 

Investment in technology and infrastructure -Investing in the domestic recycling industry will 

help to create new market opportunities for material previously sent to China for recycling. By 

upgrading sortation equipment at material recovery facilities, we will reduce contamination and 

increase value of used plastics. Chemical recycling and recovery of used plastics through 

pyrolysis, gasification, and other technologies will create additional markets for used plastics. 

Increased consumer and brand demand for recycled content in plastic packaging will help to 

drive investment in needed technologies. 

Senator Whitehouse: 

8. ACC has been a leading voice among the plastics industry in support of both domestic 

and international marine debris efforts. What are some of the initiatives ACC is leading 

or supporting that aim to reduce the flow of plastic from land into the oceans? 

ACC appreciates the compliment and takes great pride in helping to address the sources of 

marine debris. The following fact sheet. America's Plastic Makers Contribute to Solutions on 
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Marine Litter5

, and the 41h Progress Report for The Declaration of the Global Plastics 

Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter6 provide additional information on ACC's domestic 

and international efforts to address marine debris. Below are some examples of projects, 

Save the Bay Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island- America's Plastics Makers® are partnering with 

Save the Bay® on the City of Warwick Shoreline Trash Reduction & Prevention project. This 

initiative aims to reduce littering behavior with a combination of cleanups, community 

engagement and education. The project is utilizing lessons learned from other ctTorts to reduce 

I itter and marine debris. 

Keep It Beachy Clean (Virginia Beach)- Keep it Beachy Clean is an education and outreach 

program aimed at reducing beach litter. Clean Virginia Waterways developed the program, 

which provides Virginia Beach's resort community with anti-litter messaging. Following a 

successful first year, the program is expanding to capture a wider segment of the Virginia Beach 

resort community. 

Circulate Capital- ln2017, ACC and the World Plastics Council (WPC)joined a coalition of 

partners to support Closed Loop Ocean (CLO). In 2017 WPC and CLO announced the creation 

of a $150 million fund to support waste management in key source countries. In 2018, CLO 

became Circulate Capital, a separate entity to manage investments in waste management 

infrastructure in developing countries. Initially, Circulate Capital will focus on waste 

infrastructure solutions in Southeast Asia. Research indicates that the majority of plastic debris 

originates from five fast growing economics in Asia-Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, 

Thailand and China. Circulate Capital investments will be provided to improve collection, 

sorting and recycling markets, particularly across the plastic value chain. 

9. Is there a role for materials innovation in reducing the risks plastics pose to wildlife and 

ecosystems if they enter the oceans? 

Material innovation may play a role in reducing the impact of marine debris on wildlife. For 

example, a marine degradable part was developed for a crab trap to cause a pot to stop catching 

crabs if it is lost for a significant period of time. Innovations like this arc important but arc 

challenging and must still meet the original function ofthe product. Plastics makers continue to 

look for new materials as well as improvements to existing materials in an eftort to balance 

material use, performance, and recyclability. 

10. Is there a role for materials innovation in increasing the value of plastics to ensure they 

are collected for reuse and recycling? 

We are already seeing great potential for increasing the value of used plastics through the 

development of compatibilizers. This family of technologies improves performance of recycled 

resins; enables recycling of multi-material, multi-layer pouches; and allows for higher 
45 


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incorporation rates of post-consumer recycled resin into new products. 

11. Is ACC investing in any cleanup solutions, including improving wastewater management 

to better collect microplastics and microfibers from water supplies? 

ACC staff participate in annual International Coastal Clean-up events. although our investments 

related to address marine debris are focused on infrastructure and education. For example, we 

have provided funding for trash and recycling bins; consumer education regarding proper 

recycling of plastics wrap, bags, and film; and anti-litter and litter reduction programs; among 

other projects. As noted above, the following fact sheet, America's Plastic Makers Contribute to 

Solutions on Marine Litter7

, and the 4'" Progress Report for The Declaration of the Global 

Plastics Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter8 provide additional information on ACCs 

domestic and international efforts to address marine debris. 

ACC has not invested into projects to better collect microplastics and micro fibers from 

wastewater management systems. We are aware of several efforts to address the issue of 

micro fibers such as the Cora Ball 9 and Guppy Friend 10• That said, industry efforts to improve the 

technology to filter microfibers at the source-in wastewater from washing machines-is welldocumented. 

12. As we work on the next iteration of the Save Our Seas Act, do you have any additional 

recommendations or comments you would like to share to inform our development of this 

bill? 

We welcome the opportunity to work with you and your staff as the next iteration of the Save 

Our Seas Act is developed. The Save our Seas Act of2018 included new language to coordinate 

with developing countries which are the largest sources of marine debris. This assistance will be 

the highest priority to solve this problem for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately only a very 

small fraction of development finance goes to improve waste management (0.3%). There may be 

a way for the US to encourage development financing agencies to prioritize waste management. 
46 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you so much for your testimony, Mr. 

Dooley. 

Mr. KARAS. 

STATEMENT OF BRUCE KARAS, PRESIDENT OF ENVIRONMENT 

AND SUSTAINABILITY, COCA-COLA NORTH AMERICA 

Mr. KARAS. Chairman Barrasso, Ranking Member Carper, and 

members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity for inviting me before you to discuss the very issue of marine debris. 

Our world has a waste problem. According to the Ocean Conservancy, scientists estimate that more than 8 million metric tons of 

plastic is entering our ocean every year. From our perspective, it 

is unacceptable that packaging ends up in the wrong place, in our 

oceans and waterways or littering the communities where we work 

and live. 

As a total beverage company, we bring people drinks that make 

life’s everyday moments more enjoying, create a shared opportunity 

for people and communities we call home. While growth is important, we cannot grow at any cost. We believe in doing business the 

right way, not just the easy way. For us, that means continuously 

working to reduce our environmental impact by collecting and recycling our packaging footprint, providing access to clean drinking 

water, supporting women’s economic empowerment, and strengthening local communities. 

We are a global company operating in more than 200 countries 

and territories, but through our bottling partners we also have 

deep, local connections and relationships that offer a unique ability 

to make a meaningful difference. The key areas where we strive to 

lead are clean, sustainable water for communities and women’s economic empowerment. 

A third area we launched just this year is our new packaging vision, World Without Waste. The goal is to rethink how bottles and 

cans are designed and made, as well as how they are recycled and 

repurposed. The centerpiece is a bold, ambitious goal to help collect 

and recycle the equivalent of every bottle or can we sell globally 

by 2030. The Coca-Cola system intends to back World Without 

Waste with a multiyear investment that augments ongoing work to 

make our packaging 100 percent recyclable by 2025. 

When it comes to PET, we believe that every package has value 

and a life beyond its initial use, and should be collected and recycled into either a new package or another beneficial use. We aim 

to be part of collaborative solutions that prevent waste from getting 

to the ocean in the first place. 

Regardless of where it comes from, we want our packages to have 

more than one life. To date, all 17 of our geographic business units 

have developed local plans to address our three strategic pillars: 

design, collect, and partner. 

Design means we aspire to create packaging that is at least 50 

percent recycled material by 2030; continue working to make all 

consumer packaging 100 percent recyclable by 2025. 

Collect means to collect and recycle the equivalent of 100 percent 

of the primary packaging we sell by 2030. Partner means we will 

work together to support a healthy debris-free environment at both 

the land and the sea. 

47 

In the context of design, our research and development team is 

working with chemical recycling technologies toward future piloting 

or partnerships. Additionally, our procurement team is working 

with our suppliers to advance progress on and increase availability 

of recycled PET, known as rPET. 

In Mexico, our bottled water brand seal is now available in 100 

percent rPET bottle as a result of strong collection and conversion 

infrastructure that our system has partnered in over the past decade. We are also looking at 100 percent rPET bottle in the Hong 

Kong market later this year. We will pilot the use of rPET in several other Asia Pacific markets in 2019. The increased use of rPET 

is crucial to accelerate a transition to a true circular economy for 

plastics. 

In the innovation space, we have expanded our package-less delivery model for beverages with both our freestyle touchscreen operated dispenser and our innovative Dasani pure fill. 

In the context of collect, marine plastic is driven in larger part 

by limited collection and waste management infrastructure in 

many emerging markets. That is why our second strategic pillar 

centers on improving packaging collection. 

We are working around the world to have an up-to-date understanding of collection recycling data and approaches. Where systems do not exist is where we are focusing. Cities with a very active informal sector, like unofficial, small-scale businesses, have 

high rates of collection. There are correspondingly lower rates of 

collection for recycling in more developed cities where there is less 

incentive for small-scale collectors. 

We will use the data we collect to partner with government, industry, civil society, and local communities to tailor, co-create, and 

roll out the type of collection recycling models that have been successful in developing markets in other parts of the world and scalable models that will improve collection rates. 

Last is partner. We recognize that although we are part of a 

problem, we cannot solve the packaging waste problem alone. It is 

for that reason we have established, joined, and expanded crosssectoral partnerships around the world. We intend to do all of this 

not just in a cross-sector way, but in a scalable way that drives systemic change. 

We are working with groups from the international level to the 

very local level, from the Ocean Conservancy Trash for Seas Alliance, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, to the Closed Loop Fund 

and local chambers of commerce. 

Thank you for your time. I look forward to answering your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Karas follows:] 

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Testimony of Bruce Karas, 

Vice President of Environment & Sustainability, 

The Coca-Cola Company North America 

before 

The United States Senate 

Environment & Public Works Committee hearing on Marine Debris 

September 26, 2018 

Good Morning Senators. Thank you for inviting me before you today to discuss the very real issue and concern 

of Marine Debris. Our world has a waste problem. According to tbe Ocean Conservancy, scientists estimate 

that more than 8 million metric tons of plastic is entering our ocean every year. From our perspective, it is 

unacceptable that packaging ends up in the wrong place, in our oceans and waterways or littering the 

communities where we work and live. 

As a total beverage company, we bring people drinks that make life's everyday moments more enjoyable, to 

create shared opportunity for the people and communities we call home. While growth is important, we cannot 

grow at any cost. We believe in doing business the right way, not just the easy way. For us, that means 

continuously working to reduce our environmental impact by collecting and recycling our packaging tootprint, 

providing access to clean drinking water, supporting women's economic empowerment, and strengthening local 

communities. 

We may be a global company operating in more than 200 countries and territories, but through our bottling 

partners we also have deep, local connections and relationships that offer a unique ability to make a meaningful 

difference. The key areas where we strive to lead are clean, sustainable water for communities, women ·s 

economic empowerment, and to working to create a world without waste by collecting and recycling the 

equivalent of our bottles and cans in the marketplace. 

In 201 0, The Coca-Cola Company made a commitment to be water neutral by 2020 a goal we achieved in 

2015. Through projects implemented by the end of2017, The Coca-Cola Company is replenishing an estimated 

248 billion liters per year through community and watershed projects globally. We are also working to improve 

our water-use ration 25% over 20!0 levels. To date we have made a 15% improvement and continuing to do 

more. 

At the same time, our commitment to strengthening communities by empowering women has never been 

stronger. Our 5by20 initiative, also launched in 2010 to enable economic empowerment to 5 million women by 

2020 has to date enabled more than 2.4 million women entrepreneurs across 75 countries. 

This year, to help tackle the world's packaging problem, we launched our new packaging vision, World 

Without Waste. lt involves rethinking how bottles and cans are designed and made, as well as how they're 

recycled and repurposed within our system around the world. The centerpiece of this vision is a bold, ambitious 

goal to help collect and recycle the equivalent of every bottle or can we sell globally by 2030. The Coca-Cola 

system intends to back World Without Waste with a multi-year investment that includes ongoing work to make 

our packaging 100 percent recyclable by 2025. 
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When it comes to PET, we believe every package has value and life beyond its initial usc and should be 

collected and recycled into either a new package or another bcndicial use. We aim to be part of collaborative 

solutions that prevent waste from getting to the ocean in the first place. 

Regardless of where it comes from (i.e. whether the package is made by Coca-Cola or one of our competitors), 

we want it to have more than one life. To date, all !7 of our geographic business units have developed local 

plans to address our (3) strategic pillars- Design, Collect and Partner: 

Design 

Design - Aspire to create packaging that is at least 50% recycled matetial by 2030; continue working to 

make all consumer packaging I 00% recyclable by 2025 

Collect- Collect and recycle the equivalent of 100% of the primary packaging we sell by 2030 

Partner- Work together to support a healthy, debris-free environment (land & sea) 

Our Research and Development team is working with chemical recycling technologies towards future 

partnerships or piloting. Additionally, our Procurement team is working with our suppliers to torward pro&>ress 

on and increase availability of rPET. 

In Mexico, our bottled water brand, Ciel, is now available in a 100% rPET bottle, which builds on the extremely 

strong collection and conversion infrastructure that our system has financed over the past decade. In Australia, 

our Mount Franklin water brand is also now available in 100% rPET, and we are launching our water brand in 

Hong Kong in 100% rPET later this year. We will pilot the use ofrPET in a number of ASEAN markets 

beginning in 20!9 and we believe this is going to be very important to accelerate a transition to a true circular 

economy tor plastics. 

In the innovation space, we have expanded our "package-less· delivery model for beverages, our innovative 

Freestyle technology to more than 50,000 machines serving !4 million drinks daily, with continued expansion 

in North American and moving to Europe and Latin America. Freestyle is a touchscreen-operated dispenser that 

uses ·'micro-dosing" technology to deliver nearly 200 beverage options- including 117 low/no-calorie 

beverages and more than I 00 varieties, with only a cup. 

Collect 

We are keenly aware from research conducted by the Ocean Conservancy and others that marine plastic is 

primarily a land-based issue, driven in large part by limited collection and waste management intrastructurc in 

many emerging markets. That's why our second strategic pillar centers on improving packaging collection. We 

are working around the world to have an, up-to-date understanding of existing collection and recycling data and 

approaches, as you would expect some parts of the world have much stronger systems in place than others. 

Where the systems do not exist is where we are focusing our et1orts. 

Data on solid waste management collection and recycling is a significant challenge in ASEAN (governments 

and civil society don't have this kind of date on PET collection rates) and so we've commissioned a Singaporebased circular economy advisory and action company to conduct baseline research for us in six markets across 

Southeast Asia. What we've seen from the research is high rates of collection t(,r recycling tor PET in cities 

like Myanmar (estimated 82% collection for recycling rate f(,r PET in Mandalay, 74% in Yangon) or Jakarta 

(estimated 69% collection tor recycling rate tor PET) with a very active informal sector (i.e. unofficial small-
50 


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scale businesses such as street scavengers, recycling pickers and junk shops) and correspondingly lower rates of 

collection for recycling in more developed cities like Kuala Lumpur (estimated 23% collection for recycling 

rate for PET) where there's less incentive tor waste collectors and recycling pickers with higher incomes to 

collect recyclables. 

As ASEAN develops, driving source segregation will be the only way to capture recyclables. This will require 

government conviction that segregation is necessary and government commitment to implement and enforce 

source segregation initiatives. We will be using the data to tailor, co-create and roll-out with government, 

industry, civil society and local communities the type of collection and recycling models that have been very 

successful in developing markets in other parts of the world (e.g. Mexico) and scalable models that improve 

collection rates by empowering and strengthening the informal collection sector. We see extensive opportunity 

to do this starting in major cities and tourist destinations in the ASEAN region and we already have a number of 

industry alliances set up in ASEAN. A few examples arc: 

Indonesia is the second largest global contributor to issue of ocean plastic, with plastic waste a 

serious threat to the economy (particularly industries like tourism and fishery) as well as the 

environment. In 2017, the govemment launched a National Plan of Action Against Marine Debris, 

developed by a task force led by the Coordinating Ministry tor Maritime A!Tairs. Ahead of National 

Waste Awareness Day in February, and as part of industry e!Torts to step up and contribute to 

solutions, six companies, including Coca-Cola Indonesia, jointly announced the formation of the 

Packaging and Recycling Alliance tor Indonesia Sustainable Environment (PRAISE). The vision of 

PRAISE is to establish best practices that support sustainable and integrated packaging waste 

management solutions in Indonesia. This approach to waste management aligns with the 

government's move towards a circular economy and PRAISE has engaged on a regular basis with 

the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs. By 

contributing to research, education, collaboration and engaging stakeholders in government and civil 

society, PRAISE is an important industry platform to help advocate for a circular economy and drive 

industry efforts to reduce impacts of packaging waste on the environment. PRAISE was represented 

last year at the World Ocean Summit in Indonesia, the first-ever A SEAN Conference on Reducing 

Marine Debris held in Thailand, the APEC High-Level Meeting on Accelerating Waste Management 

Solutions to Reduce Marine Litter in Bali and the Responsible Business Forum on Sustainable 

Development in Singapore. This year, as part of an agreement with the Coordinating Minister of 

Maritime A!Tairs, PRAISE commissioned a study in Bali to look at the value chain of Plastic Waste 

in order to obtain better data on plastic waste and subsequently to implement a pilot project on 

Sustainable Plastic Waste Management using the data collected. In parallel, this year PRAISE is also 

starting to implement a Drop Box program in Jakarta, through which I 00 drop boxes are being 

distributed in public as well as retail spaces. 

Philippines- Coca-Cola Philippines is a member and active supporter of The Philippine Alliance for 

Recycling and Materials Sustainability (PARMS) a non-profit industry organization incorporated in 

2015 to bring together stakeholders in the recycling value chain, including manufacturers, industry 

groups, retail groups, waste consolidators and haulers, recyclers and non-government and 

government entities. The objective ofPARMS is to develop and implement holistic and 

comprehensive programs to increase waste recovery and reduce landfill dependence towards zero 

waste through strategic partnerships. PARMS recently entered into a Memorandum of 

Understanding with the Local Government Unit of Paranaque (a fully urbanized city in Metro 

Manila) to build a plastics recycling facility towards the implementation of a Full Waste-Recovery 

Program within this year. Once fully operational, this facility will he able to process approximately 
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Partner 

365 tons of waste per annum waste diverted from landfills, from water streams, and the 

like. During the Earth Day celebration in April2018, PARMS f()rmally turned over the proposed 

recycling facility design to the chief executive of Paranaque City. The project is supported by 8 

leading fast-moving consumer goods companies including Coca-Cola and many of our competitors 

and leading local industry organizations 

Vietnam- we are now advancing a partnership with Unilever, Dow and the Vietnam Chamber of 

Commerce and Industry to implement a circular economy approach in Ho Chi Minh City. The 

partnership is still in its infancy, but we will be working together to strengthen recycling 

infrastructure. We are also getting ready to launch a new community-focused program focused on 

the iconic tourist area of Ha Long City, working with a local NGO called Green Hub to empower 

250 women waste pickers and raise awareness across stakeholder groups and decision-makers about 

the importance of tackling plastic waste. 

We recognize that although we arc a part of the problem, we cannot solve the packaging waste problem alone. 

It is for that reason we have created, established, joined and expanded cross-sectoral partnerships around the 

world. We intend to do all of this not just in a cross-sector way but in a scalable way that drives systemic 

change- to do so will take catalytic funding. Some of our other partners in driving this change are: 

The Enropcan Union Beverage Industry: Beverage packaging is already the most collected packaging in 

the European Union, but the beverage industry just announced a new set of EU-wide ambitions: 

By 2025 I 00% of soft drinks primary plastic packaging will be recyclable; 

By 2025 soft drinks PET bottles will contain a minimum of25% recycled material on average; 

Collection rates of soft drinks primary plastic packaging for recycling will be furtber increased and 

optimized in all EU markets in collaboration with other packaging recovery actors; 

Soft drinks primary plastic packaging will be reused- including refillable bottles- where it makes 

environmental and economic sense. 

The Ocean Conservancy/Trash Free Seas Alliance: A partner since 1995, our partnership activities range 

from participation in the annual Intemational Coastal Cleanup to supporting recycling infrastructure. 

Together with the Ocean Conservancy and others, we launcbed the Trash Free Seas Alliance in 2011 to 

advance the scientific understanding of marine debris globally, including research to determine the regions 

contributing the most waste to the oceans. 

Closed Loop Fund: We have worked with the Closed Loop Fund since its inception, predominantly 

through Coca-Cola North America (as most of its first efforts were focused in the U.S.). More recently, we 

joined a new initiative of Closed Loop Partners called Closed Loop Ocean that will target innovative 

approaches on funding waste management and recycling solutions in Southeast Asia. 

Circulate Capital we are an early-stage supporter of the just-announced Circulate Capital initiative 

established to advance the circular economy- it builds on our long partnership in North America with the 

Closed Loop Fund. Circulate Capital is focused on catalyzing investments in ocean plastic solutions in 
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Southeast Asia and India. Priority markets are Indonesia and India. Secondary markets are the Philippines. 

Vietnam and Thailand. 

Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) New Plastics Economy initiative: The Company is a founding 

partner of the New Plastics Economy initiative, which includes leading consumer goods companies and 

other plastics users and producers. The Company continues to work closely with EMF on the development 

of our packaging strategy and metrics. EMF is a leading voice supporting the circular economy and pushing 

for private sector led innovations and solutions to the addressing plastic waste. 

World Economic Forum Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) initiative is a 

public-private multi-stakeholder platform focused on shaping global policy and accelerating targeted action 

towards the circular economy. Plastics is a core focus area with specific project work underway in ASEAN. 

We are actively engaged in shaping the agenda at both the strategic and tactical levels. Our CEO James 

Quincey serves on the PACE Leadership Board. 
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Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works 

Hearing entitled, "Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash 

on the Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health?" 

September 26,2018 

Questions for the Record for Mr. Bruce Karas 

Chairman Barrasso: 

l. Experts seem to agree that stopping the flow of debris into the ocean is a bigger 

priority than cleaning up the debris already in the ocean. Is this an assessment that 

you agree with? If not, why not? 

Agree as The Coca-Cola Company, we believe that the most effective way to impact 

change is to address the problem of waste before it reaches waterways and ultimately, 

oceans. That is where our efforts are focused. 

2. Five countries in Asia- China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnambear much of the responsibility for the increase in ocean plastic. What steps is the 

private sector taking to reduce plastic waste coming from these five countries? 

The Coca-Cola Company is one example of one private sector organization, and our efforts 

are focused around our World Without Waste vision. We've set an ambitious goal to help 

collect and recycle the equivalent of a bottle or can for everyone we sell by 2030 and to make 

all of our packaging I 00% recyclable by 2025. 

We are working to accomplish this industry-first, ambitious goal through 3 main pillars: 

Design - Aspire to create packaging that is at least 50% recycled material by 2030; 

continue working to make all consumer packaging 100% recyclable by 2025 

Collect- Collect and recycle the equivalent of 100% of the primary packaging we sell by 

2030 

Partner- Work together to support a healthy, debris-free environment (land & sea) 

Our goal is not only a worldwide goal, but also a local goal. We have strategies, partnerships 

and engagements in each of the five countries listed above that are tailored to the not just the 

country, but the needs of the cities within each of those countries as the needs vary 

depending on locality. Across the Asia-Pacific region our local teams are focused on 

addressing PET collection systcms, raising public awareness, creating and promoting 

puhlil'-priv·ale partnerships and establishing rceyding infrastructure. We won't reach 

solutions overnight or by ourselves, but they must come, and we aim to play an 

important role in achieving progress. 
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China: Using cutting-edge facial recognition technologies and a voice interactive system, the 

new VenCycling machine both dispenses beverages and collects used packaging for 

recycling. In exchange for returning used cans or plastic bottles into the machine, consumers 

receive credits, primarily via mobile devices, for products made from recycled plastics. 

These innovative vending machines are helping to build a circular pathway for our packaging 

while educating and incentivizing recycling behaviors. We have also partnered with the One 

Foundation in China to work on public education around recycling. 

Indonesia: We are an early-stage supporter of the just-announced Circulate Capital initiative 

that is focused on catalyzing investments in ocean plastic solutions in Southeast Asia and 

India. It is an initiative to advance the circular economy and builds on our contribution to and 

work with the Closed Loop Fund over the last few years in the United States. 

In 2007, Coca-Cola Amatillndonesia and Quiksilver Indonesia initiated the Bali Beach 

Clean Up (BBCU), a daily clean-up program in five main beaches of Bali. Ten years later, 

the Bali Beach Clean Up teams have removed more than 34 million kg of rubbish from 9.7 

kilometers of shoreline in Bali. The program is powered by 150 new bins per year, 4 beach 

tractors, 2 barber surf rakes, 3 garbage trucks, and 78 crews from local communities 

surrounding the beaches. BBCU crews also act as ambassadors to promote the importance of 

taking care of the environment. Complementing the daily BBCU program, Bali's Big Eco 

Weekend is an annual festival to drive more support from everyone to keep Bali beaches 

clean and green 

The Coca-Cola Company is contributing our marketing and communications expertise to 

public campaigns that bring awareness to the importance of recycling and circular economy 

solutions. For example, in Jakarta, Coca-Cola Indonesia has launched a program called 

''Plastic Reborn: Give your Plastic Bottle A Second Life" targeted at millennials and showing 

that ''Recycling can be cool''. Plastic Reborn is increasing awareness about responsible waste 

management and the importance of a circular economy. The program has deployed I 00 bins 

in 77 schools/universities/public places in Jakarta and already collected 1.8 tons of postconsumer PET bottles. These bottles are then shredded into PET flakes and then the process 

of upcycling turns the flakes into fashionable multi-function bags. 5000 bags already 

produced through this program. 

Philippines: Coca-Cola Philippines is a member and active supporter ofThe Philippine 

Alliance for Recycling and Materials Sustainability (PARMS), a non-profit industry 

organization incorporated in 2015 to bring together stakeholders in the recycling value chain, 

including manufacturers, industry groups, retail groups, waste consolidators and haulers, 

recyclers and non-government and government entities. The objective ofPARMS is to 

develop and implement holistic and comprehensive programs to increase waste resource 

recovery and reduce landfill dependence towards zero waste through strategic partnerships. 

PARMS recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Local Government 

Unit ofParanaque (a fully urbanized city in Metro Manila) to build a materials recovery 

facility towards the implementation of a Full Waste-Recovery Program within this year. 

Once fully operational, this facility will be able to process approximately 365 tons of waste 

per annum- waste diverted from landfills, from water streams, and the like. During the Earth 
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Day celebration in April 2018, PARMS formally turned over the proposed recycling facility 

design to the chief executive of Paranaque City. The project is supported by leading fastmoving consumer goods companies including Coca-Cola, Liwayway Marketing Corporation, 

Monde Nissin, Nestle Philippines, Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Procter & Gamble 

Philippines, Unilever Philippines, and Universal Robina Corporation. Other alliance 

members are Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Philippines Business for the 

Environment, the Zero Waste Recycling Movement. Department of Trade and Industry, 

Department of Science and Technology, Department of Environment, Philippine Plastics 

Industries Association, Philippine League of Environment and Natural Resource Officers. 

Thailand: Coca-Cola supported the first-ever ASEAN Conference on Reducing Marine 

Debris hosted by the government of Thailand, the ASEAN Secretariat and UN Environment 

with participation from ASEAN member governments, civil society and private sector. The 

theme of partnership was pervasive throughout the conference-. "The Time Is Now" with an 

emphasis on partnerships across the plastic value chain. 

Vietnam: We are now advancing a partnership with Unilever. Dow and the Vietnam 

Chamber of Commerce and Industry to implement a circular economy approach in Ho Chi 

Minh City. The partnership is still in its infancy. We are also getting ready to launch a new 

community-focused program focused on the iconic tourist area ofHa Long City, working 

with a local NGO called Green Hub to empower 250 women waste pickers and raise 

awareness across stakeholder groups and decision-makers about the importance of tackling 

plastic waste. 

3. We know that five countries in Asia bear much of the responsibility for the increase 

in ocean plastic. That does not mean that we in the United States do not have a 

critical role to play. What additional steps can local and state governments as well 

as the federal government take to address this problem? 

The Coca-Cola Company has long championed public-private partnerships, or what we call 

the Golden Triangle consisting of private companies, non-profits and government working 

together to solve a problem. Recycling systems and infrastructure need to be improved 

throughout the US which is the best way to impact national recycling rates. We believe that 

working with the broader waste management sector in transitioning from a land filling 

approach for all waste to a more refined system that builds an infrastructure that increases 

recycling is key to the success of recycling. Additionally, education on proper waste 

management. and innovation when it comes to our packaging are areas where we as a 

Company will continue to focus our efforts. 

4. In an answer to one of my questions, you mentioned "waste infrastructure 2.0." 

How would you (Coca-Cola) design "waste infrastructure 2.0" to ensure that we in 

the United States collect materials that are not currently recycled? 

Waste infrastructure 2.0 is a transition to an infrastructure that reflects more of a circular 

economy that captures commodities that do have intrinsic value and can be re-used. It is a 

closed loop. The 2.0 system will have an increased capability to identify, select, sort and 
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bale commodities that can be re-used in a meaningful way. In today's system we are 

essentially retiring the carbon consumed in making materials in the ground, when recycling 

and reuse can significantly reduce our carbon emissions. In the beverage sector, glass PET 

and aluminum arc highly recyclable commodities that represent future supply in a circular 

economy. If we have an updated system, a steady supply of used PET and high demand for 

recycled PET is achievable. 

Ranking Member Carper: 

5. Stopping the flow of marine debris into the ocean- and mitigating its impacts- are 

not problems that can be solved overnight. Long-term, thoughtful, aud collaborative 

solutions are necessary in order to address the full scope of the issue. Solutions that 

have been discussed included: improving recycling, iucentivizing the use of recycled 

materials in the global supply chain, developing more biodegradable alternatives, 

and changing manufacturing protocols are potential solutions to help address this 

issue. What steps can this Committee and the Congress take !!.\ill:: to advance these 

potential solutions here in the United States? 

The Coca-Cola Company believes that we need to focus on designing better packaging, 

collecting the packaging that we sell and partnering in order to achieve both of those 

goals. Improving recycling infrastructure both in the US and globally is an immediate 

first step toward improving recycling rates which will ultimately reduce the Jlow of 

marine debris into the ocean. It is absolutely critical that in considering the necessary 

infrastructure thought is given to the economic incentive of creating fully functional end 

markets that convert the recycled commodities into future products. These end markets 

represent green jobs and incentivize the infrastructure as it is a viable business. 

Now that China has implemented its "Green Fence Policy," a ban on importing 

plastic waste, our market for these materials in the United States is flooded. China 

previously accepted 30% of our plastic waste. Local municipalities are now having 

even more trouble breaking even when collecting and recycling this waste. In your 

opinion, what arc the best ways for the United States to address this new challenge? 

Recycled PET (rPET) has a value on the market. One reason The Coca-Cola Company 

has set the target of making our bottles out of 50% rPET by 2030 is that will further drive 

the rPET market. The challenge in the US is that our recycling stream has high levels of 

contamination that impacts the productivity of the recovery facilities (MRFs). When we 

improve and update MRFs, we will have a rPET product for which there is a market, one 

that is in fact growing and becoming more competitive. This is one example of the 

importance of a viable end market that has a demand for the recycled material. 

6. In your testimony, you mentioned Coca-Cola's three strategic pillars for recycling 

as part of the "World Without Waste" campaign: one of them is "collect." I agree 

that improving our nation's recycling practices is vitally important. However, many 
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local communities and states do not have sufficient waste management and recycling 

infrastrnctnre. From your perspective, what can local and state governments do to 

build this capacity? How might this Committee and the federal government support 

them? 

Business must collaborate with governments, communities, the private sector and NGO's 

to establish or further develop recycling programs. One example of such is our 

partnership with the Closed Loop Fund. We are working to advance recycling 

technologies and partnering with local communities to improve their recycling 

infrastructure. Aluminum and PET are the two highest value commodities in the waste 

stream today. There is an opportunity to created viable businesses and green jobs that 

harvest recyclables. Our work with the Closed Loop Fund has shown that often the ROI 

for investments in the local infrastructure is positive. We welcome the opportunity to 

participate in more such partnerships. 

Senator Markey: 

7. The Ocean Plastics Charter was agreed to in June 2018 by five of the G7 countries 

to encourage a more sustainable approach to the management of plastics. The 

United States and Japan did not join. But on September 20, Coca-Cola and several 

other large corporations pledged to help reduce plastic pollution in support of the 

Ocean Plastics Charter. 

a. How important is it for the United States and the private sector to get on 

board with reducing plastic waste if we arc truly going to address the marine 

debris crisis on a global scale? 

As a company headquartered in the United States, we know that our actions, 

commitments and progress impact movement on a global scale. For our part, as a global 

business operating in 200 countries and territories, we will continue to work to address 

our contributions on a global scale. Our World Without Waste commitment is a global 

commitment because marine debris is a global issue. We believe it is of vital importance 

that this continue to be an area of international focus. 

Senator Merkley: 

8. To achieve your goal of recycling all your bottles, you have commented that you will 

need help collecting them. What challenges has Coca-Cola faced in increasing 

collection rates abroad? 

Today, in some countries, our packaging and collection rates are high while in others, 

there is still a lot of work to be done. It's a huge challenge and there are a lot of moving 

targets. We operate in 200 countries and territories, and each of them has its own 

government. regulatory system, and collection and recycling infrastructure challenges. 

Measurement and data that pertain to recycling is also lacking in many parts of the world. 

Certain parts of the world have no infrastructure for collecting and recycling packaging, 
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and others have minimal infrastructure. In these cases, sometimes the market for recycled 

material doesn't exist. Creating a valuable "end market" component is key. To achieve 

our goals, we will need the support of many cross-sector partners. 

9. Will Coca-Cola support bottle deposit arrangements in the United States, to work in 

conjunction with curbside recycling? 

For many years, we have favored a holistic recycling approach. 

We are open to further looking at deposit programs that are non-discriminatory and fair. on 

a case-by-case basis, to determine whether they may be the most effective and sustainable 

option for some communities. 

Despite our belief that deposit programs are not suitable for every society or economy, and 

are not always the most efficient solution, we have organized some fair and efficient deposit 

programs in some of our markets. The rate of recycling has not increased which is why it 

is time to try new solutions, deposit programs are one of multiple way to do this. 

Senator Whitehouse: 

II. What lessons has Coca-Cola learned through its other sustainability and resource 

management work within its supply chain and distribution network that can be 

applied to plastics'? 

From our water stewardship work, we know that business must collaborate with 

governments, local communities, the private sector and NGO's to establish or further 

effective programs. It takes many partners to be successful. We are also acutely aware 

that when we harness our entire supply chain we have the ability to affect real change 

with compounded results. That is our goal with World Without Waste. 

12. This year, Coca-Cola launched its "World Without Waste" initiative which sets the 

goal of collecting and recycling every bottle and can Coca-Cola sells by 2030. It also 

aims to make all Coca-Cola products recyclable by 2025. 

a. What types of initiatives are Coca-Cola programs already undertaking or 

likely to undertake to implement the World Without Waste goals? 

The Coca-Cola Company is building partnerships. creating initiatives and joining 

collaborations for localized programs around the world. Two good examples of 

collaboratives are Closed Loop Partners ("CLP'') and The Recycling Partnership 

("TRP"). CLP includes the Closed Loop Fund, a $100 million fund delivering solutions 

that remove recycling bottleneck with technology. TRP is a collaboration of over 40 

companies and enterprises that is working on increasing curbside collection in the U.S. 

There is no one solution or silver bullet to improving recycling, which is why we are 

working within cities. towns and counties to find the solution that best fits, but also 

sharing best practices around the globe. 
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b. What investments is Coca-Cola making in improving collection and recycling 

infrastructure in the over 200 countries and territories it operates in? 

The Coca-Cola Company has become and is becoming financial partners with 

organizations that are focused on recycling: from Keep America Beautiful, The 

Recycling Partnership and Ocean Conservancy, to the Closed Loop Fund and Circulate 

Capital, a venture loan fund established to address plastics in the Asia-Pacific oceans. Every 

country in which Coca-Cola operates will make investments to support World Without Waste. 

c. What is the role ofthe Jlrivate sector, especially in developing countries, in 

improving waste infrastructure? 

The role of the private sector is to work with the local governments. Because we are a 

global company, The Coca-Cola Company can bring expertise and best practices to 

contribute to the expansion (or creation) of recycling infrastructure. 

d. As part of this initiative, does Coca-Cola plan to redesign its packaging to 

reduce plastic composition? 

By 2030, we will have no single use primary packaging, as we will collect 100%, 

incorporate at least 50% recycled content in each package, and ensure the balance is 

recycled in other ways. We will also continue to innovate to lightweight the plastic that 

is used to further reduce the amount of virgin plastic in our bottles. 

13. What other areas of materials innovation or packaging design is Coca-Cola 

investigating to minimize its waste production? 

Our focus is on our packaging materials, primarily PET plastic. We are innovating new 

packaging that will include 50% recycled PET (rPET) by 2030. We have pledged that 

our packaging will be I 00% recyclable by 2025. Additionally, we are looking at future 

process innovations such as chemical recycling and package-less delivery of beverages. 

We will continue to design and innovate new packaging that meets our goals. 

14. Does China's new prohibition on imported waste alter Coca-Cola's ambitions at all? 

No, our World Without Waste goals exist independent of governmental action. In order 

to meet our World Without Waste goals, we need to collect and reuse PET. Having a 

strong local supply of pure rPET is an asset to our business in the U.S. and throughout the 

world. 

15. As a user of plastic materials, what pressure can Coca-Cola exert on plastic 

producers and prod net developers to innovate and minimize the harm these 

materials can cause if they end up in the oceans? 

We are working with Global Procurement and our mainstream suppliers to phase in rPET 

content globally. As a leader in the industry, our goal is by creating this demand 

developers will further innovate, and it will encourage greater waste collection to grow 

the supply ofrPET. 
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16. What role has consumer demand played in encouraging Coca-Cola to be an active 

participant in marine debris work? 

We are always working to listen to consumer points of view, particularly where our 

business intersects with an opportunity to do good in the communities that we serve- we 

are a part of them too. 

We are committed to marine debris work because we, like others, have a responsibility to 

help solve the world's packaging problem. We know it's time for us to help lead the way 

and do more- and we are, through our World Without Waste initiative. 

Our work is not reactionary. We have supported recycling and packaging recovery 

programs throughout the world for decades. We have partnered with the Ocean 

Conservancy since 1995 on research and action to cleanup marine litter, including being a 

lead sponsor of the International Coastal Cleanup. Together with the Ocean Conservancy 

and others, we launched the Trash Free Seas Alliance® in 20 I I to advance the scientific 

understanding of marine debris globally. 

17. As we work on the next iteration of the Save Our Seas Act, do you have any 

additional recommendations or comments you would like to share to inform our 

development of this bill? 

We look forward to working with the Senate in the creation of the next iteration ofSavc 

Our Seas Act. 
61 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you very much, Mr. Karas. 

Dr. LAW. 

STATEMENT OF KARA LAVENDER LAW, RESEARCH PROFESSOR OF OCEANOGRAPHY, SEA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 

Ms. LAW. Good morning. Thank you, Chairman Barrasso, Ranking Member Carper, and members of the Committee for the invitation to testify at this important hearing on man-made debris in the 

marine environment. My name is Dr. Kara Lavender Law, and I 

am a Research Professor of Oceanography at Sea Education Association, or SEA. 

Since 1971, SEA has taken undergraduate students to sea on tall 

sailing ships to study the open ocean firsthand as navigators, sailors, shipmates, and scientists. More than 8,000 SEA semester students, some of whom are in the room today, have contributed to 

our 30-plus year data set on floating plastics in the ocean, assembled by towing plankton nets from our sailing research ships twice 

a day, every day, and hand-counting their contents. 

Trained in ocean physics, I first learned about ocean plastics in 

2003, when I joined SEA, where the distribution of floating plastic 

debris was common knowledge based upon decades of student research. In contracts to misconceptions about immense floating islands of recognizable items of plastic trash, often referred to as garbage patches, SEA scientists knew that the most numerous type of 

plastic debris are microplastics, particles smaller than your pinky 

fingernail that are not readily visible even from the deck of a ship. 

I have a sample here. 

Since 2010, I have carried out scientific research on ocean plastics to better understand their sources, abundance, distribution, 

and transformation in the marine environment not only to advance 

scientific understanding, but also to inform solutions to this global 

problem. 

Of all the man-made debris in the marine environment, we focus 

on plastics because of their ubiquity, persistence, and the risks 

they pose to wildlife and, potentially, human health. To date, widespread encounters of more than 800 species of marine wildlife with 

plastic debris have been well documented, and scientific evidence 

clearly demonstrates physical harm that can lead to death of individuals from entanglement or ingestion of large debris. 

Laboratory studies have also provided evidence of harm from animal uptake of microplastics and their associated chemicals. However, because experiments are carefully controlled to test single 

outcomes, it is impossible to generalize results across species of debris types, or from the laboratory to populations in nature. Further 

research into the ecological impacts of contamination by microplastics is sorely needed. 

However, we must not wait for all scientific questions to be comprehensively and definitively answered before taking action to 

eliminate plastic debris from our oceans. In the short-term, the 

most important action is to stop uncontained plastic waste from entering the ocean from land. 

It is estimated that of the 5 to 13 million metric tons of plastic 

trash entering the ocean annually, nearly half originates from four 

62 

countries in Southeast Asia, where inadequate infrastructure cannot keep pace with the rapidly increasing waste generation. 

However, here in the United States, the amount of plastic waste 

generated per capita outranks that in each of those four Southeast 

Asian countries, and the amount of plastic waste generated each 

day in the coastal United States is the highest of any country in 

the world. 

In the U.S. we are fortunate to also have a robust waste management system. But even the relatively small amount of waste that 

is accidentally lost or intentionally littered adds up to a large 

amount available to enter the ocean. Global investment in waste 

management, especially where no formal system currently exists, 

but even where it does, is the first line of defense in keeping trash 

out of the ocean. 

Cleaning up litter on land, especially in rivers and on coastlines, 

will continue to be an important ‘‘last chance’’ strategy to capture 

waste before it enters the ocean. Cleaning up debris in the sea 

itself is more challenging and resource-intensive, but can be effective when targeting large items in nearshore areas or collecting 

floating trash before it can move offshore and break apart into millions of microplastics. 

Waste collection and cleanups are imperative in the short-term, 

but long-term sustainable solutions to ocean plastics pollution must 

address the increasing amounts of plastics in use. We must act to 

eliminate unnecessary usage and waste; increase demand for recovering and recycling, perhaps through product design that ensures 

material value at the end of product life; and identify suitable material alternatives where possible. 

In summary, to reduce the impact of man-made trash on the 

oceans, wildlife, and human health, it is imperative that we prevent debris, especially that made of plastics, from entering the 

ocean. There is an immediate and critical need to assist countries 

that have inadequate waste management systems and there is 

much more to do in our own communities here in the U.S. as well. 

No matter where in the world we choose to work, a necessary 

first step is to clearly identify and measure the local sources of 

ocean debris, as well as the drivers behind each source, which 

could be a lack of infrastructure, a consequence of product design 

or use, or factors influencing human behavior. With this information in hand, we can best focus our time, attention, and resources 

to design appropriate interventions that will reduce input from 

each source. These actions should always be appropriate to place. 

There is no silver bullet or one-size-fits-all solution. 

Ocean plastics pollution is an environmental problem that is 

global in scope, in impact, and in responsibility. We all have a 

stake in a clean and healthy ocean. Whether in towns, cities, or 

States in the United States, or through international partnerships, 

we must work together toward short-term and long-term solutions. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I look forward to the 

day when our oceans are clean because of the work we have accomplished together. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Law follows:] 

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WRITTEN TESTIMONY OF: 

Kara lavender law, Ph.D. 

Research Professor of Oceanography 

Sea Education Association 

Woods Hole, Massachusetts 

BEFORE 

THE U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS 

Hearing: "Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash on the 

Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health?" 

September 26, 2018 
64 


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Introduction 

Good morning. Thank you Chairman Barrasso, Ranking Member Carper, and members of the 

Committee, for the invitation to testify at this important hearing on man-made debris in the 

marine environment. My name is Or. Kara Lavender Law, and I am a Research Professor of 

Oceanography at Sea Education Association (SEA), a non-profit educational organization based 

in Woods Hole, MA. Since 1971, SEA has taken undergraduate students to sea on tall sailing 

ships to study the open ocean, first-hand, as navigators, sailors, shipmates and scientists. More 

than 8,000 SEA Semester students have contributed to our 30+-year data set on floating plastics 

in the ocean, assembled by towing plankton nets from our sailing research ships twice a day, 

every day, and hand-counting their contents. In 2016, for our work in, "fostering scientific 

discovery and stewardship of the world's oceans", the National Science Board awarded SEA its 

Public Service Award. 

As an oceanographer trained in ocean physics, I knew little about marine debris before joining 

the faculty at SEA 15 years ago. More seasoned faculty quickly taught me that the "plastics 

project" was a popular independent research topic for our students who were concerned about 

ocean pollution, and also one of the most reliable because, unlike projects focused on 

particular marine organisms, one could guarantee that along certain cruise tracks small bits of 

plastic debris would be found floating at the sea surface. It wasn't until 2007 when I first heard 

the term "garbage patch", a term rife with misconceptions about immense floating islands of 

recognizable plastic trash. In fact, the most numerous type of plastic debris in the ocean, and 

what we typically collect in our plankton nets, are "microplastics", particles smaller than your 

pinky fingernail that are composed of a variety of synthetic polymers (Figure 1}. These 

microplastics are not readily visible from the deck of a ship, let alone from an aircraft or 

satellite. At SEA, we recognized the need to shift the focus away from mythical floating islands 

of trash and towards a scientifically informed description of ocean plastics pollution. To this 

end, in 2010 we published an analysis of our unprecedented data set, which now consists of 

more than 10,000 measurements of the concentration of floating plastic particles in the Atlantic 

and Pacific Oceans. For the past 10 years, I have carried out scientific research on ocean plastics 

to better understand their sources, abundance, distribution and transformation in the marine 

environment, not only to advance scientific understanding, but also to inform solutions to this 

global problem. 

It is important to remember than not all marine debris is plastic, and not all is found floating at 

the sea surface. Trash on beaches and shorelines is marine debris (Figure 2). Litter on the 

seabed is marine debris, whether close to land (Figure 3] or in deep and remote places (Figure 

4]. Debris can be tens of meters long, such as lost fishing nets (Figure 5) or derelict vessels, or it 

can be microscopic in size. Man-made debris is composed of paper, glass, aluminum or other 

metals, as well as plastics. Yet the debris of greatest concern and focus, both by scientists and 

citizens, is that made of plastics. 
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Plastics: Ubiquitous, long-lived and harmful to wildlife 

We focus on plastics in the marine environment because of their ubiquity, and the risks they 

pose to wildlife and potentially human health. In a 2017 study1 led by Roland Geyer of 

University of California, Santa Barbara, we estimated that since the start of mass production, 

8.3 billion metric tons of plastics have been produced, more than most other man-made 

materials, with the exceptions of steel and cement. Further, we estimated that 90% of these 

plastics still exist on the planet, with only a small fraction of plastic waste having been 

incinerated, and the majority of waste either residing in landfills or in the environment. Plastics 

are designed for strength and durability and do not biodegrade; thus, once in the environment, 

plastics persist for years to decades or longer. Other man-made materials such as glass and 

metals are also persistent in the environment; however, unlike glass and metals, the light 

weight of plastics makes them easily transportable. As plastics are carried by wind or water in 

the environment, they are weakened by sunlight and fragment to smaller and smaller pieces. 

Their chemical composition changes as well, as additives leach out and contaminants already 

present in seawater transfer to plastics. Thus, as plastic debris moves around in the oceans, its 

size, shape, and chemical makeup change. As these debris characteristics evolve, so too do the 

potential impacts on wildlife that encounter these plastics. 

More than 800 marine species have been affected by man-made debris2 through interactions 

such as ingestion, entanglement (including ghost fishing), and displacement of species that drift 

with, or upon, floating debris. Further, plastic debris accounts for 92% of reported encounters 

with individual organisms3

• large whales have ingested items as large as flower pots and 

meters-long lengths of rope and plastic sheeting4

; bottle caps and cigarette lighters have been 

found in the guts of dead albatross chicks5

; and small microplastics particles contaminate a 

multitude of species, including fish and shellfish we consume as seafood6

. Plastics ingestion has 

now been documented for more than 200 marine species, including all species of sea turtles, 

59% of whale species, and 59% of seabird species7

•

8

• Further, for particular populations, such as 

the northern fulmar seabird population in the North Sea, as many as 95% of individuals studied 

have ingested plastics9

. The direct consequences to wildlife of ingesting relatively large plastic 

debris can include physical injury and gut obstruction, ultimately leading to death, whereas the 

1 Geyer, R., J. R. Jambeck and K. L. Law, 2017. Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Sci. Adv. 3, 

e1700782. 

1 Marine Debris: Understanding, Preventing and Mitigating the Significant Adverse Impacts an Marine and Coastal 

Biodiversity. Technical Series No. 83. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal, 78 pp. 3 Gall, S.C. and R. C. Thompson, 2015. The impact of debris on marine life. Mar. Poll. Bull. 92, 170-179. 4 de Stephan is, R. eta/., 2013. As main meal for sperm whales: Plastics debris. Mar. Poll. Bull. 69, 206-214. 5 http://www.chrisjordan.com 

6 

Rochman, C. M. eta/., 2015. Anthropogenic debris in seafood: Plastic debris and fibers from textiles in fish and 

bivalves sold for human consumption. Sci. Rep. 5:14340. 7 

Kuhn, S., E. L. Bravo Rebolledo and J. A. van Franeker, 2015. Deleterious effects of litter on marine life. In: Marine 

Anthropogenic Litter, Bergmann, M., L. Gutow and M. Klages, Eds. Springer: Heidelberg, Germany, 447 pp. 

• Wilcox, C., E. van Sebille and B. D. Hardesty, 2015. Threat of plastic pollution to seabirds is global, pervasive, and 

increasing. PNAS 112, 11899-11904. 9 

van Franeker, J. A. eta/., 2011. Monitoring plastic ingestion by the northern fulmar Fulmarus glacio/is in the North 

Sea. Environ. Pollut. 159, 2609-2615. 
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consequences of ingesting microplastics remain less well understood. An area of intense 

scientific inquiry asks whether or not chemicals associated with ingested microplastics transfer 

into animal tissue and cause physiological damage. Some laboratory studies have demonstrated 

that for particular animal-plastic-chemical combinations, physiological harm does occur10•

11, yet 

more work remains to determine whether or not these impacts are occurring in nature and, if 

so, at what scale. 

Although recent scientific research has largely focused on impacts of microplastics ingestion, 

evidence clearly demonstrates impacts of debris on marine wildlife through entanglement and 

species transport. Entanglements, now reported for 344 marine species, most commonly 

involve components of derelict fishing gear, such as plastic rope and netting, as well as looped 

packing or strapping bands, which may cause severe injury and death3

•

7

• In 29 years of 

surveying the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, 83% of individuals showed 

evidence of entanglement12• The most recent demonstration of species transport on floating 

debris was the delivery of 289 living marine species from the coast of Japan across the Pacific 

Ocean to North America for six years following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami13• 

Although we don't yet know whether these species will become established and threaten 

native species, the six-year duration of the invasion is unprecedented, and is likely due to the 

persistence of plastics in the ocean. 

To date, widespread encounters of marine wildlife with plastic debris have been well 

documented, and scientific evidence clearly demonstrates harm from interactions with large 

debris. Laboratory studies have also provided evidence of harm from animal uptake of 

microplastics. However, because experiments are carefully controlled to test single outcomes, it 

is impossible to generalize results across species or debris types, or from the laboratory to 

populations in nature. Further research into the ecological impacts of contamination by 

microplastics is sorely needed. 

Identifying the sources 

The most effective way to reduce the impacts of plastic debris on wildlife and the marine 

environment is to prevent plastics from becoming ocean debris in the first place. This can only 

be accomplished by first understanding the origins of the debris, and the pathways by which it 

enters the ocean. Plastics can enter the environment at any point in their life cycle, starting 

from losses of industrial resin pellets (the material feedstock for plastic products), to accidental 

loss during product use, such as with fishing and aquaculture gear, to accidental or deliberate 

10 Rochman, C. M. eta/., 2013. Ingested plastic transfers hazardous chemicals to fish and induces hepatic stress. 

Sci. Rep. 3, 3263. 11 Oliveira, M. et al., 2013. Single and combined effects of microplastics and pyrene on juvenils {0+ group) of the 

common goby Pomatoschistus microps (Teleostei, Gobiidae). Ecoi.Jndic. 34, 641-647. 12 Knowlton, A. R. eta/., 2012. Monitoring North Atlantic right whale Eubalaena glacio/is entanglement rates: a 30 

yr retrospective. Mar. Eco/. Prog. Ser. 466, 293-302. 13 Carlton, J. T. et al., 2017. Tsunami-driven rafting: Transoceanic species dispersal and implications for marine 

biogeography. Science 357, 1402-1406. 
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discard of plastic waste into the environment. A 2015 study14 led by Jenna Jambeck of 

University of Georgia estimated that between 5 and 13 million metric tons of plastic trash 

generated in coastal regions worldwide enters the ocean in a single year because the waste is 

not properly captured and contained. We estimated that nearly half of this mismanaged plastic 

waste originates from four countries in southeast Asia (China, Indonesia, Philippines and 

Vietnam), countries that have experienced rapid economic growth accompanied by an increase 

in the amount of plastic waste produced by large coastal populations. When waste generation 

rates outpace the capacity of existing waste management systems, uncaptured plastic waste 

can flow into the oceans from rivers and waterways, or wash out to sea during storms or with 

the tides. 

The United States also has a large coastal population, and the amount of plastic waste 

generated per capita outranks that in each of the four southeast Asian countries. According to 

our analysis, the amount of plastic waste generated each day in the coastal United States is the 

highest of any country in the world. We are fortunate to also have a robust waste management 

system - garbage and recycling collection, material sorting, and treatment either in sanitary 

landfills or by incineration. However, because of the sheer amount of plastic waste we create, 

even the small amount that is accidentally lost, or intentionally littered, adds up to a large 

amount available to enter the ocean. 

Not all plastic debris in the marine environment originates from improperly managed waste on 

land. Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear is also a very large source of plastic 

debris, although no estimate of the global input yet exists. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, 

floods and tsunamis, can inject a tremendous amount of debris of all materials into the ocean in 

a single, short-term event. And microplastics from a variety of sources- including microbeads 

in cosmetics, dust from tire wear, fragments of agricultural films, and fibers from synthetic 

clothing- can enter the ocean by pathways such as runoff into waterways, and stormwater and 

wastewater outflows. 

From sources to solutions 

Ocean plastics pollution is a global problem that has grown in size and scale since the 1950s as 

an unintended consequence of rapidly increasing production and use of these innovative and, 

in many cases, indispensible materials. Plastics were never intended to contaminate our 

oceans, rivers, lakes and soils, posing risks to wildlife and potentially even human health. Yet 

we are faced with ever increasing applications and use of these materials, without a clear 

strategy for management at the end of their useful life. Preventing plastics from becoming 

marine debris requires a suite of actions from local to global scales, carried out by individual 

consumers as well as material and product manufacturers; by municipal, state and national 

governments as well as international bodies. These actions should always be appropriate to 

place- there is no silver bullet, or one-size-fits-all solution. 

14 Jambeck, J. et al., 2015. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science 347, 768-771. 
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Contain the waste 

The most pressing short-term need to prevent marine debris is to ensure that no waste is left 

uncontained in the natural environment, whether terrestrial, freshwater or marine. This 

requires global investment in waste management systems, especially where no formal waste 

management currently exists. In the 2015 Jambeck study, we estimated that if plastic waste 

generation were capped and total waste management achieved in the top ten emitting 

countries by 2025, then the annual input into the oceans would be reduced by 77%. 

Even in countries like the United States, where we have established collection and processing of 

waste, we must ensure that trash cans are lidded and emptied before they overflow, and that 

the stray candy wrapper is caught before it blows away in the wind. We must invest in 

infrastructure that streamlines collection and processing of recyclable materials. The design of 

waste management systems anywhere in the world must be tailored for the needs of a 

particular community, understanding how, where and what kind of waste is generated, as well 

as existing social and cultural practices, to ensure community buy-in and long-term success in 

managing waste. 

Clean up uncontained waste 

Cleaning up litter on land, especially in rivers and on coastlines, will continue to be an 

important strategy to prevent waste from entering the ocean. Seemingly simple interventions 

can be extremely effective, such as Baltimore's Mr. Trash Wheel, a solar- and hydro-powered 

river trash collection device with a personality, which has prevented 1. 7 million pounds of 

debris from flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. Cleanups are also effective ways to engage and 

educate citizens as volunteers, as demonstrated by the nearly 250 million pounds of trash 

collected by nearly 13 million volunteers around the world since 1985 in Ocean Conservancy's 

International Coastal Cleanup. 

Cleaning up debris in the sea itself is more challenging and resource intensive, but can be 

effective when targeting large items in nearshore areas, or collecting floating trash before it can 

move offshore and break apart into millions of microplastics. Fishing for Litter programs engage 

those in the fishing industry to remove litter from the sea in the course of normal fishing 

activity, at the same time raising awareness of the importance of keeping trash and derelict 

fishing gear out of the ocean in the first place. Project AWARE's Dive Against Debris program 

engages scuba diving enthusiasts to participate in underwater debris cleanups to not only 

report and remove trash on the seafloor, but also to serve as citizen scientists, collecting data 

on types and amounts of debris in order to inform prevention efforts. 

Sustainable solutions 

Improved waste collection and cleanup of uncaptured waste are imperative in the short term, 

but long-term, sustainable solutions to ocean plastics pollution must address the increasing 

amounts of plastics in use by employing a variety of strategies to: eliminate unnecessary waste; 

increase demand for recovery and recycling; and identify suitable alternatives where possible. 

In some instances, where plastics are unnecessary for function (or are known to be particularly 

harmful), a mandated ban may be appropriate. The Microbead-Free Waters Act passed by the 
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U.S. Congress in 2015, banning plastic microbeads in rinse-off cosmetics, is an example of this 

type of action. In other cases, a reduction in use can be incentivized by government policies 

(municipal, state, or national), such as mandated fees for single-use retail bags. A 

complimentary positive incentive to reduce single-use bags is provided by individual businesses 

that give a discount to customers who bring their own bags. Municipalities and institutions can 

promote waste reduction not only by offering separate recycling and food waste collection, but 

also by making improvements to infrastructure, such as installing water bottle refill stations to 

facilitate use of reusable, rather than single-serve, water bottles, thereby reducing plastic 

waste. Finally, campaigns by individuals or organizations can influence changes in behavior that 

will reduce waste. For example, the plastic drinking straw movement has recently grown from a 

simple "Skip the Straw" pledge to refuse an unneeded drinking straw, to an all-out social media 

blitz promoted by conservation organizations and celebrities alike, driving strong responses 

from major consumer goods companies down to stand-alone restaurants and individuals. As 

consumers, we all make innumerable decisions every day about products that we buy, use and 

throw away. Although we bear ultimate responsibility for our own decisions, good choices can 

be made easier by employing a variety of strategies to encourage waste reduction. 

Perhaps with an ultimate long-term goal of zero waste, steps should be taken to bring value to 

products and materials at the end of their useful life. This will ultimately increase demand for 

reuse, recovery and recycling over disposal. Manufacturers engaged in product stewardship 

agree to share responsibility for their end-of-life product, such as through take-back and 

recycling programs, for example. A successful example of cross-brand product recovery and 

recycling is demonstrated in communities with container deposit schemes for beverage 

containers including plastic bottles, glass bottles and aluminum cans. Because of the uniformity 

in materials used across brands, and efficient recovery incentivized by the deposit, recycling of 

these materials is more cost effective and the waste material more valuable. With attention at 

the product design stage to ensure material value at the end of life, market incentives can 

reduce the number of one-way trips most items eventually take to the landfill or incinerator, or 

the environment. 

Finally, continued scientific research to inform evidence-based decision-making is essential to 

addressing the problem of ocean plastics pollution, so that limited resources can be efficiently 

and effectively deployed to the greatest benefit. This does not mean that we must wait for all 

scientific questions to be definitively answered before taking action. Rather, prevention efforts 

will be most successful when research is first undertaken to understand the local sources and 

driving factors behind them. For example, Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program and 

Clean Virginia Waterways used data to identify balloon litter as items of concern, with nearly 

9,000 balloons collected on Virginia beaches during 9 years of International Coastal Cleanups15. 

In response, they conducted public surveying and interviews to understand the who, where, 

when and why behind mass balloon releases in Virginia and, with this knowledge, designed a 

15 Witmer, V., K. Register and L. McKay, 2017. Balloon Release Research in Virginia and Reducing Balloon Debris 

through Community-Based Social Marketing. Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program (Virginia Department of 

Environmental Quality), 117 pp. 
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community-based social marketing campaign to discourage balloon releases and provide 

context-specific alternatives, a more targeted and informed strategy than a simple informationsharing education campaign alone. 

Concluding remarks 

In summary, to reduce the impact of man-made trash on the oceans, wildlife and human 

health, it is imperative that we prevent debris, especially that made of plastics, from entering 

the ocean. There is an immediate and critical need to assist countries that have inadequate 

waste management systems, and there is much more we need to do in our own communities as 

well. 

No matter where in the world we choose to work, a necessary first step is to clearly identify 

and measure the local sources of ocean debris, including item types and locations, as well as 

the pathways the debris follows from the source to the sea. Second, we must determine the 

drivers behind each source, which could be a lack of infrastructure, a consequence of product 

design or use, or factors influencing human behavior. With this information in hand, we can 

best focus our time, attention and resources to design appropriate interventions that will 

reduce input from the source. Interventions may be relatively simple and inexpensive, such as 

installing and servicing lidded trash cans. Interventions may be engineered, such as debris traps 

in waterways or storm drains. Interventions may involve technological design innovations to 

ensure effective recovery and recyclability, and they may aim to influence human behavior 

away from a "disposable" mentality to reduce unnecessary usage and waste. Interventions may 

be legislated to mandate or incentivize actions by plastics producers, product manufacturers 

and consumers that will ultimately reduce the input of plastics to the ocean. Finally, we must 

continue to increase waste literacy and raise public awareness of this problem in order to drive 

action by consumers, producers, and governments alike, to both reduce unnecessary 

consumption and revolutionize our management of waste. 

Ocean plastics pollution is an environmental problem that is global in scope, in impact, and in 

responsibility. We all have a stake in a clean and healthy ocean. Whether in towns, cities or 

states in the United States, or through international partnerships, we must work together 

towards short-term and long-term solutions as citizens, scientists, businesses, governments and 

people. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I look forward to the day when our oceans are 

clean because of the work we have accomplished together. 
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Figure 1: Microplastics collected from surface seawater in the North Pacific Ocean by towing a 

plankton net Microplastics are typically defined as particles smaller than 5 mm in size, and are 

composed of a variety of plastics. Microplastics may be manufactured at this size, such as the 

industrial resin pellet indicated by the orange arrow, but most are generated when larger 

plastic items break apart upon exposure to sunlight. 

Photo credit: Jessica Donahue/Sea Education Association. 
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figure 2: litter piled high and wide on Marquez Beach, Peru. 

Photo credit: Nicholas Mal/as/Ocean Conservancy 
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figure 3: Beverage cans, bottles, food wrappers and other trash in a composite of underwater 

photos of the seafloor in the harbor in Newport, Rl. 

Photo credit: Rachoel Miller/Rozalio Project 
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Figure 4: Plastic bag at a depth of 2500 m (8202 ft) at HAUSGARTEN, the deepsea observatory 

of the Alfred Wegener Institute in Fram Strait in the Arctic. 

Photo credit: Melanie Bergmann/OFOS, Alfred Wegener Institute 
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Figure 5: A NOAA diver removes derelict fishing gear from a reef habitat at Midway Atoll. 

Photo credit: NOAA Morine Debris Program 
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Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works 

Hearing entitled, "Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash 

on the Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health?" 

September 26, 2018 

Questions for the Record for Dr. Kara Lavender Law 

Chairman Barr!lsso: 

1. Experts seem to agree that stopping the flow of debris into the ocean is a bigger priority 

than cleaning up the debris already in the ocean. Is this an assessment that you agree 

with? If not. why not? 

Yes, I agree. Cleaning up debris already in the ocean treats the symptom of the problem 

and not the cause. Even if it were possible to clean up all the debris in the ocean at one 

moment in time, more and more continues toflow in every day the task would never be 

complete. Further, scientists still do not know where the vast majority of trash entering 

the oceansfi·om land is located in the ocean, making efficient and effective removal a 

virtual~v impossible task. Targeted, local cleanups are worthwhile, especially if they take 

place on coastlines, beaches or in nearshore waters. but cleanups alone cannot solve this 

pollution problem. Stopping debrisfi·om entering the oceans is the top priority. 

2. We know that five countries in Asia bear much of the responsibility for the increase in 

ocean plastic. That does not mean that we in the United States do not have a critical role 

to play. What additional steps can local and state governments as well as the federal 

govemment take to address this problem? 

Yes, the United States population also contributes large amounts of debris to the ocean 

through leakage of' waste from land, as well as through other sources (such as lost 

recreational and commercia/fishing gear; losses due to natural disasters; losses of 

microplastics in wastewater and stormwaterlrunojj). Governments at all levels can take 

steps to help mitigate the problem. At the federal level, incentives (or disincentives) to 

reduce unnecessary plastics usage could serve to reduce the amount of plastic waste 

generated that needs to be managed. The Microbead Free Waters Act of 2016 is a good 

example of'this kind of' action. Further, the federal government could stimulate growth in 

the industries that collect and process materials for recycling. State governments could 

evaluate and improve waste management services, especiallv by streamlining recycling 

collection and processing for efficiency and consistency across municipalities. In 

particular, container deposit policies have demonstrated success in improving capture 

and recycling rates. Municipal governments can take steps to identifj; specific "leakage" 

points of waste to the environment, and actio direct(v mitigate those potential sources of' 

waste to the ocean. For example, they could ensure the presence of'public waste and 

recycling receptacles that are regularly serviced and designed to prevent/asses in heavy 

weather (e.g., wind). At alllevels,.firnding will be necessm:vfiJr research and 

implementation of mitigation actions. 
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3. On January 24,2018, the Financial Times published an article, by Clive Cookson, 

entitled, "The problem with plastic." It explained that: 

"While the personal-care industry is phasing out micro beads, concern is growing 

about another ubiquitous micropollutant: plastic fibres. Analysis shows these to 

be present in streams, rivers, lakes and seas worldwide, as well as household 

drinking water. Their main source seems to be clothing and textiles made from 

synthetic fibres, which become detached in washing machines and are not filtered 

out by water-treatments plants." 

Do you agree with this assessment? If so, how do we begin to address this issue? 

Synthetic fibers have been detected in a variety of water bodies, as well as in marine 

organisms, food and drinking water, and as airborne particles. They appear to be the 

most ubiquitous of the "microplastics ". It is reasonable to assume that many of these 

fibers originate fi'om clothing and textiles, but there may be other sources. such as 

synthetic ropes used in marine applications. Fibers shedfrom synthetic clothing during 

laundering have been identified as a source ~f pollution in wastewater that, if not 

captured, could enter the environment in effluent from wastewater treatment plants. 

There is no easy solution to the shedding ofmicr~jibers- they cannot simply be phased 

out like cosmetic microbeads because of a much greater reliance on synthetic textiles. 

Individuals can reduce the frequency of clothes laundering and installfilters on washing 

machines to trap these particles before they enter wastewater. and perhaps wastewater 

treatment plans could develop additional methods to filter out :;~vnthetic fibers. Further up 

the chain, textile manufacturers could work to engineer fabrics that are less susceptible 

to shedding Most importantZv. we must better understand the impacts o{exposure to 

these microfibers to both wildlife and humans, especially through ingestion and 

inhalation, to evaluate the risks posed by micro fibers. Only then can we properly 

evaluate the overall benefits and risks of synthetic textiles. 

4. What regions of the world are the least studied when it comes to plastic pollution? 

On a global scale, we have bare(v scratched the swj'ace in our scientific understanding 

o.fplastics pollution. There are perhaps a handfitl of regions oft he ocean in which plastic 

debris has been measured extensively and over long periods of time, but this is only the 

case for plastics in a specific size range floating at the sea surface. In other regions, a 

single study to document the presence of plastic debris may have been carried out, and, 

in most 4 the world's oceans, plastic debris has not been studied at all. We have only a 

relatively coarse assessment oft he size and distribution of one major source ofplastic 

debris to the oceans (waste generated on land). whereas there exist vetyfew direct 

measurements of the movement of trash or debris from land into the sea to inform 

targeted mitigation efforts. 
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R!!llking Member CarQIT:_ 

5. Stopping the tlow of marine debris into the ocean- and mitigating its impacts are not 

problems that can be solved overnight. Long-term, thoughtful, and collaborative solutions 

are necessary in order to address the full scope of the issue. Solutions that have been 

discussed included: improving recycling, incentivizing the use of recycled materials in 

the global supply chain, developing more biodegradable alternatives, and changing 

manufacturing protocols are potential solutions to help address this issue. What steps can 

this Committee and the Congress take !l()_w to advance these potential solutions here in 

the United States? 

The most pressing short-term need to solve the problem of plastics pollution is to stop the 

flow of debris illlo the environment. The science to date suggests that the biggest source 

of dehris to the ocean is likely waste entering from land, including from the coastal 

United States, where more plastic waste is produced per day than in any other country in 

the world. The Commitlee ond Congress could commission a study into the state of waste 

generation, collection and processing (including recycling) in the United Stales, as well 

as research to determine the dominant pathways by which lost waste enters the oceans 

(e.g., via rivers and waterways, fiwn beaches, transported by wind, stormwater!runojj) to 

gain a baseline understanding of both waste generation and waste leakage to the 

environment. Using this informed baseline, which will reveal "hotspots" of extremely 

high waste production, waste feakage, and flows of leaked waste into the ocean, direct 

intervention strategies can then be designed and implemented at muftiple fevefs (federal, 

state, local). 

6. Now that China has implemented its "Green Fence Policy," a ban on importing plastic 

waste, our market for these materials in the United States is flooded. China previously 

accepted 30% of our plastic waste. Local municipalities are now having even more 

trouble breaking even when collecting and recycling this waste. In your opinion, what are 

the best ways for the United States to address this new challenge? 

I am an ocean scientist by training, and as such cannot comment with any expertise on 

how to reinvent or reimagine the domestic recycling industry. However, as a citizen and 

producer of' waste (including recycfables), I can a/lest to the many challenges at the 

household and municipal/eve/ in managing individual items. The "Do/Do Not Recycle" 

list ofien varies fi·om municipality to municipality, making it extremely challenging.for a 

consumer to know whether any particufar item (especially those made of plastics) 

belongs in the trash or recycling coffee/ion. It is my understanding that contamination of 

recycling colfection by items that do not belong (e.g., pfastic bags) causes major 

prob/emsj'or materiafs recove1y facilities (MRF~). which do not have the technical or 

human power (as China didfor so fong) to remove every such item. We must 

revolutionize current systems, starting jiwn the redesign of products and packaging to 

facilitate recovery oj'disposed items. Container deposit schemes (e.g., for glass, plastic 

and aluminum beverage containers) are one example oj'a successjilf design and recove1y 
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strategy, in which uniform material use across brands, together with recove1y 

incentivized by the deposit, allow recycling of these materials to be more cost effective, 

and the collected waste materia/more valuable. 

7. Dr. Law, in your testimony, you mentioned that the United States produces more wasteper person, per year- than the Asian countries responsible for most of our world's 

marine debris. So while the United States may not be contributing as much to the 

problem as other countries, we can clearly do better. If we are going to do better, we need 

to fully understand how this waste from the U.S. makes its way into our oceans. What do 

we already know about this? If we have successfully identified sources, what can we do 

at each source to better prevent more waste from entering the ocean? 

Yes, according to our research, the coastal population of the United States produces 

more plastic waste per year than any counfly in the world. In no count!}' has the actual 

amount of waste entering the oceans from land. or the pathways it takes (e.g., rivers and 

waterways; storm water/runoff; wind transport; dumping) been directly measured. Before 

we can design effective interventions. we must better identifv the "hotspots" of waste 

generation, waste leakage (i.e., that escaping the waste management system), and flows 

of waste fi·om land into the ocean. Ultimatelv, we need direct measurements of leakage 

resultingfimn litter, improper handling, or accidental loss ·- on a local scale. 

~enator Markey: 

8. There is clear consensus that the number one way to reduce the impact of marine 

debris-from tiny microplastics to piles of plastic water bottles-is to prevent plastic 

from getting into the ocean in the first place. 

a. Can you speak to the importance of grassroots movements that begin at the local 

or small-business scale when it comes to bringing attention to the marine debris 

issue and cutting off marine debris at the source? Can you provide some 

examples? 

As a scientist studying ocean plastics pollution, I think that grassroots movements and the 

concerns of individual citizens have propelled this issue into the spotlight not only for the 

public and policymakers, but aLso for scientists themselves. The level of public concern 

and willingness of individuals and small businesses to take action to solve this pollution 

problem are absolute(v critical. An excellent example is the recent attention to reducing 

the use of single-use plastic straws. In 2011, a 9-year old in Vermont (Milo Cress) started 

a local campaign to "Be Straw-Free". encouraging restaurants to provide straws only 

upon request, and to educate the public about the impacts of plastic waste on the 

environment. Since then, momentum on the straw/single-use plastics reduction movement 

has steadi(v grown through other grassroots campaigns (e.g., StrawFree.org, The Last 

Plastic Straw, One Less Straw, ReThink Disposable), eventually drawing the attention of 

celebrities (e.g., Lonely Whale-For a Strawless Ocean), and most recently reaching 

policymakers who have proposed and/or implemented bans and/or reduction policies at 

municipal levels (e.g., Seattle, WA; Davis, San Luis Obispo and Malibu, CA). national 
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levels (e.g., France, Scotland, Taiwan, UK) and international /evds (e.g., European 

Commission, G7 Ocean Plastics Charter (without the U.S. and Japan)). Ocean plastics 

pollution is a problem that/he public cares about, and grassroots movements have 

propelled not onZv the science forward, but also the demandfor and action on solutions. 

Senator Merl<_l~ 

9. In 2010, a total of270 million metric tons of plastic was produced globally, an estimated 

4.8 to 12.7 million metric tons of which escaped into the oceans. How can we scale 

recycling systems to keep up with the expanding production of plastics? 

Plastics are innovative and, in many cases, indispensible materials that were never 

intended to contaminate our environment or to pose risks to wildlife and potentially even 

human health. Yet, our development, production and use of these materials continue to 

grow without a clear strategy for management at the end of their useful life. While 

scaling and revolutionizing recycling systems must be part of the actions to address 

accelerating plastics use and waste production, recycling mereZv delays (through a 

limited number of additional uses) the ultimate need for disposal. Manufacturers must 

play a role, starting at the design phase, in planning for recovery, recycling, and eventual 

disposal ()(the materials and products they produce. UltimateZv, all plastics must be 

prevented from entering the ocean it doesn't matter to marine wildlife whether the 

plastic debris they encounter is made from recycled or virgin feedstock. 

I 0. What tools and/or technologies arc available to help remove the marine debris that is 

already in the ocean? What can the federal government do to support the development of 

these technologies or scale up technologies that already exist? 

A /though the top priority is the prevenflQf! of debris ji·om entering the oceans, removal of" 

debris from coastlines and nearshore areas is important to not only clean up those areas, 

but to prevent debris from moving off~hore where efficient cleanup is essentially 

impossible, not least because scientists do not yet know where most <<lthe plastic waste is 

located in the open oceans. 

Current innovations for coastal cleanups include Baltimore's "Mr. Trash Wheel", a river 

trash collection device that prevents debrisfi·omflowing into the Chesapeake Bay. Other 

trash collectors in development include "Seabin" and "Trash Shark", which gather 

floating debris in harbors. In my opinion, before investing in cleanup technology, the 

federal government shouldfirst invest in research to clearly identify and measure the 

largest sources of debris, including the item types and locations and the pathways the 

debris follows ji"Oln land to the sea. Armed with this information, the government can 

then invest in the inji·astructure, incentives and/or policies that directly address these 

sources. 

11. As Oregon's experience with the aftern1ath of the tragic 2011 tsunami in Japan shows, 

natural disasters can introduce a tremendous amount of debris of all materials into the 
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ocean in a single, short-term event. What can we be doing to minimize the introduction of 

debris into the ocean from such events? 

Indeed, natural disasters such as tsunamis, floods and hurricanes can deposit a 

tremendous amount of debris of all material t;pes into the ocean in a single event. Aside 

from disincentivizing or banning coastal development, the best approach to minimize 

losses (human, material and debris alike) due to such catastrophic events may be to build 

structures designed to withstand extreme winds and flooding events. A very recent 

example is the "Sand Palace" home in Mexico Beach, FL 

(https ://www.nytimes. com/20 181 I 0114/us/hurricane-michae/-jlorida-mexico-beachhouse.html), which was constructed to withstand 250 mph winds.far exceeding local 

building code requirements, and which was one ofveJyfew homes /eji standing afier 

Hurricane Michael. Not only was the home still standing, but because the roof,' doors, 

and essentially all windows remained intact, it appears norhing,!i-om inside the house 

was lost to the sea as debris. 

Senator Whitehouse, 

12. What are some of the risks plastics in the ocean pose to wildlife? To humans? 

Scientific evidence clearly demonstrates physical harm to marine wildlife, including 

severe injury and death, due to entanglement in looping materials such as plastic rope or 

netting, and plastic strapping bands. There is also clear evidence of'internal injury and 

death due to ingestion of plastic debris. especially large debris. The consequences and 

harm due to ingestion o.fmicroplastics (particles smaller than 5 mm in size) by marine 

wildlife remain less well understood, although there is labora/oty evidence of risks 

associated with physical impacts of'ingested debris, as well as with potential tran.~fer of 

chemicals associated with plastics into animal tissues. We do no/yet know if these 

impacts are occurring in nature, or if there are measurable risks to humansfiwn eating 

seafood that may be contaminated with plastics and the chemicals associated with them. 

13. What are the cunent gaps in understanding, or emerging areas of research, we must 

invest in to better understand and combat the marine debris crisis? 

Some of the most basic questions about marine debris remain the largest gaps in our 

scientific understanding. We have a coarse estimate <Jf onZv one source of debris to the 

oceans (plastic waste leakage from land), with vety limited direct measurements of the 

flow of debris from land to the sea (e.g., in rivers. stormwaterlrunojj; carried by wind or 

waves/tides, etc.). In order to design effective interventions, we must./irsl identify and 

measure inputs at a local scale. 

Second, we do not know where in the ocean most of the debris is located. We can onlv 

accountj'or -1-3% of the plastic waste estimated to enter the ocean in a single year fi'om 

our (fairly rudimentmy) measurements offloating micro plastics. We do not yet know 

whether most of the debris is residing on coastlines, on the seafloor or in marine wildlife. 
82 


32933.065

We must invest in robust new technologies to efficiently detect and quantify debris of all 

sizes (nanoscale to lmge debris) in all marine reservoirs. 

Third, we do not know how plastics are transformed and transported within the marine 

environment, including pathways between the major reservoirs. We have a very limited 

understanding of the chemical degradation and physicalfragmentation of plastics ft'om 

large items to microplastics and nanoplastics, including the time scales of these 

processes, and we do not yet know the ultimate fate of plastics (and their chemical 

additives) in the oceans. 

Finally, we cannot/idly evaluate the d~k of marine debris to wildlife because of the gaps 

described above. For any particular species or cohort, we cannot yet quantijj; the 

exposure to marine debris because we have little understanding of where the debris is 

located and the form (size, shape, chemical composition) it takes. For microplastics (and 

potentially nanoplastics) in particular, there is some laboratmy evidence of harm due to 

ingestion or uptake into marine animals, butji1rther research into the ecological impacts 

ofcontamination by plastics occurring in nature is sorelv needed. 

14. What marine species are particularly vulnerable to ham1ful marine debris interactions, 

either from ingestion or entanglement? 

Scientific evidence of encounters and/or contamination by marine debris is steadily 

increasing, with documentation of debris interaction existing for more than 800 species. 

However, contamination may not always result in hann to an individual, and harm to an 

individual can on~y be determined if the animal was encountered, recovered and 

examined. Thus far, there is clear evidence of harm due to entanglement for animals 

including marine mammals, sea turtles, seals and sea lions, seabirds, fish and some 

invertebrates. Many entanglement reports are cases of "ghostjishing" by dere/ictjishing 

nets. For ingestion of plastics, clear evidence of harm has been docwnentedfor marine 

mammals, sea turtles, seabirds, .fish, shellfish, some invertebrates and even zooplankton, 

although it should be noted that some of this evidence o(harm due to microplastics 

ingestion comes.fi·om controlled laboratory studies. The current scientific understanding 

o{risk due to marine debris is limited to those marine species that have either been 

encountered or targetedfor study, and current understanding of harm occurring in 

nature due to encounters with microplastics is severely limited. 

15. How widespread are micro plastics in the environment? 

The abundance ofmicroplastics in the environment (marine,freshwater, soils, air) 

appears to inversely scale with particle size. That is, the smaller the particle, the more 

widespread the occurrence seems to be. For example, microjibers {.'illch as those shed 

ft'om synthetic textiles) seem to be ubiquitous in the environment, including in our homes, 

workplaces and in scientific laboratories. This makes carejil! control against procedural 

contamination by airborne particles in the field and/or laboratory absolutely essential/or 

scientific study of these particles. }vfore generally, because research imo environmental 

contamination by microplastics is still in ve1y earZv stages, and is severely limited by a 
83 


32933.066

lack of robust, efficient and consistent identification and measuremen/techniques, we 

cannot yel make broad generalizations about their abundance and distribution in the 

environment. 

16. As we work on the next iteration of the Save Our Seas Act, do you have any additional 

recommendations or comments you would like to share to infom1 our development of this 

bill? 

Thank you for your dedication to and hard work on this legislation, and congratulations 

on the successjid passage of the Save Our Seas Act of2018 into law. The reauthorization 

of the Marine Debris Program (MDP) within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration is instrumental to continuing critical scientific research that informs the 

design o,(solutions including, most importantly, the prevention of marine debris. An 

increase in the MDP budget has been sorely needed, especiafly as this is the only federal 

agency substantially investing in scientific research in thisfield. I think the program will 

continue to experience strong and growing competition even for these expanded 

resources, given the increase in scientific inquily in this field 

I strongly support the Act's promotion a,( international engagement and action, especialZv 

related to expansion of waste management systems, as this is a critical need to stop the 

flow of debris to the oceans. I would also like to see attention to waste generation and 

management in the United States, to better quantijj1 challenges and weaknesses in the 

current waste and recycling systems that result in leakage to the environment. The 

coastal United States is the largest producer of plastic waste of any country in the world, 

thus even proportionally small losses can add up to large inputs of waste into the oceans. 

In particular, we need to invest in research to identifj' and measure local sources of 

ocean debris so that we can design appropriate local interventions. Finally, we need to 

focus ji1rther upstream to avoid unnecessary use of plastics through reduction and/or 

redesign, and to ensure a safe and sustainable end-of-life plan for these manufactured 

materials. 
84 

Senator BARRASSO. Well, thank you all for your testimony. Very 

thoughtful, very insightful. 

We are going to start with some questioning. I am going to ask 

each of you, and maybe we want to start with Dr. Law and then 

work down the panel. You talked about training in ocean physics, 

undergraduate degree in math. Obviously, very thoughtful on these 

topics. 

There are a couple of articles that were in The Economist that 

ran 2 weeks ago on this specific topic, in the science and technology 

section. One was entitled ‘‘On the Plastic Highway.’’ Road makers 

are using waste to create harder wearing surfaces, the idea of 

using some of the recyclables not just for some of the things that 

you mentioned, Dr. Baillie, but actually for hardened surfaces on 

the roads. 

The second title, which made me think to start with you, was a 

teenager in California. This article is called ‘‘Sweeping the Ocean: 

A Teenager’s Plan to Troll for Plastic in the North Pacific Becomes 

Reality,’’ and you are familiar with what he is doing out there. 

I would like each of you to describe what you think are some of 

the most promising areas of innovation that are taking place right 

now. And if it is OK, we can start with you, Dr. Law. 

Ms. LAW. Sure. Thank you for the question. I actually think that 

some of the most promising innovations and interventions are actually quite simple. So, thinking about communities in the United 

States, in Portland, Maine, where I live, there has been an initiative to replace open garbage cans with lidded garbage cans. So, this 

is a way that we simply prevent waste from blowing out on a 

windy day. 

In Baltimore there is a river trash catching device called Mr. 

Trash Wheel that captures litter that is floating down the river before it can enter the ocean. 

These are relatively simple interventions. Mr. Trash Wheel runs 

on solar and hydropower, and actually has a great personality if 

you follow his Twitter feed. So, raising awareness, as well. 

Senator BARRASSO. You are paying close attention to the personality. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Mr. Trash Wheel. OK. 

Senator BARRASSO. Let the record reflect. 

Ms. LAW. So, I think these innovations are critical because those 

are acting to trap the trash before it enters the environment and 

ultimately the ocean. 

I think it is laudable that we are thinking big about trying to 

clean up the open ocean, but I have some concerns about trying to 

go out in the middle of the ocean to collect particles, most of which 

are as small as those found in this little vial. So, I do applaud all 

kinds of innovation and hope people will continue thinking big 

about how to solve this problem. 

Senator BARRASSO. Mr. Karas? 

Mr. KARAS. It is a great question. I think in the area of innovation, one of the things to consider is really thinking about innovation in process, how we do things. At least where we sit, as a company that makes beverages, it is very challenging for us to even get 

PET plastic back into our packages. So, we have partnered with 

groups like the Closed Loop Fund, which is focused on innovative 

85 

solutions and they have done some great things in different geographies, basically applying technology to enhance the collection and 

recycling of materials. 

I think we have looked at things like the water wheel. We have 

looked at partnering with aquariums on different innovations like 

that. The key is how can you get close to the source of generation, 

and the innovation would be how do you recycle better. 

We can do carts in the street, and we work with the Recycling 

Partnership. We have a coastal communities grant that we had 

with the Recycling Partnership, exactly as you talked about in 

Portland. So, we are learning, as a company, what are some of 

those next steps that we can take that would be innovations that 

would improve collection, recycling. 

But I would say what we see where we sit today is the recycling 

infrastructure is very challenging for us to negotiate even in the 

U.S. It is a combination of privately owned companies, small municipalities, and each one is a little bit separated. What we would 

like to see longer term is really thinking through what is the waste 

infrastructure 2.0. What does it need to be to properly collect materials? And then you enable end markets to really function properly. 

Senator BARRASSO. Mr. Dooley? 

Mr. DOOLEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What I guess I would 

start off is that there is not one silver bullet that will solve this 

issue. But one of the things I think is very, very important is how 

do you establish policies that will result in adding value to the 

waste stream. And by that I mean how can you see an incentive 

for the investment in technologies that can ensure that waste plastic is more easily recyclable or the captured energy is more recoverable. 

How do you ensure, too, that there could be added value by finding new uses and applications of that plastic waste stream, as you 

mentioned, in terms of enhancing the infrastructure, the asphalt, 

and adding, even actually enhancing performance attributes there. 

That is where I think there are some simple things that Congress could do that would not treat the plastic waste and the recovery of it as a hazardous waste, because that is stemming the flow 

of investment dollars and the development of new technologies that 

could advance the value of that waste stream and recapture some 

of the value. 

A lot of our companies are making investments in pyrolysis. Actually, one company is about ready to launch, where they can take 

a mixed plastic waste stream that they can break down, run it 

through pyrolysis, basically, and break it down into a new feedstock that can be recycled into the plastic manufacturing and conversion stream. 

Senator BARRASSO. I will get to you in a second, Mr. Baillie, to 

answer that same question. 

I think, Mr. Dooley, in your comments you earlier talked about 

a public-private partnership. There has to be a profit motive for 

this, and some of these new advances may lead right to that, it 

sounds like. 

Mr. DOOLEY. Absolutely. If you increase the value of it, you are 

going to have individuals be more willing to play a role in recovering, picking it up. You could have more incentives for the investVerDate Aug 31 2005 10:43 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00089 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\_EPW\DOCS\32933.TXT VERNE
86 

ment in water wheels in the developing world if there was a greater value to it. National Geographic is doing a lot of work looking 

at these scalable technologies as well, which we are very supportive 

of the work they are doing there. 

Senator BARRASSO. Well, then, to National Geographic. Mr. 

Baillie. 

Mr. BAILLIE. Thank you. We have been thinking a lot about innovation and we have actually developed an impact investing fund 

with Sky. We have also developed a number of global challenges 

which we will be launching to promote innovation. 

In our community, we have some interesting projects which are 

being developed. The one I highlighted there with Heather 

Koldewey is very interesting, where you take nets from the ocean, 

which are basically floating around and capturing and killing a 

broad range of species. The local community benefits, but then we 

also get a recycled product in the end, so it is an interesting winwin-win scenario. 

We also have other explorers that are working on technology to 

take plastics locally and then convert that into building materials 

that people can actually use. 

In addition to that, we have another woman we are working with 

who is taking plastics that can’t be recycled and looking at how 

that can be converted into fuel. 

So, there are lots of exciting things on the horizon, but I would 

agree with my colleagues that the greatest innovation is more 

about process and it is more about incentives. Here in Washington, 

DC, the five-cent charge on bags made a world of difference, so why 

don’t we have that across the entire United States? Norway has 90 

percent of its bottles being recycled with a simple incentive program around that. 

We are behind, actually, China and Europe in recycling, so let’s 

look to the others. We are about 9 percent of our plastics being recycled. Let’s look to the others and see these basic measures that 

we can put in place first, and then make sure that that innovation 

catches up with us as we move forward. 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you. 

Senator Van Hollen. 

Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this 

hearing. 

It is great to see all of you. 

I want to commend my colleagues, Senators Sullivan and 

Whitehouse, for the SOS Act. I heard you, Mr. Chairman, say we 

might pass that by unanimous consent today. I am proud to be a 

co-sponsor. 

Great to see Cal Dooley. We served together in the House. 

So, as I see it and listening to the testimony, we have to do a 

couple things. No. 1, we try and reduce upfront the amount of plastic packaging; No. 2, we need to significantly increase our recycling 

and improve our waste management, and not just here at home, 

but as has been discussed, you have major sources overseas. 

Dr. Law, thank you for giving a shout out to Mr. Trash Wheel. 

Baltimore is home to the National Aquarium, and the Aquarium 

works hard to try to educate people throughout the Country and 

87 

around the world about the importance of protecting our environment and ocean environment. 

I should say that since we gave a shout out to Mr. Trash Wheel 

in the Baltimore Harbor, Canton, Maryland has Professor Trash 

Wheel. These are actually really important innovations to try and 

prevent trash that does get into our waterways and rivers from 

going out into the Chesapeake Bay and, of course, ultimately into 

the ocean. So, we want to prevent it from getting into rivers in the 

first place, but, when they get there, it is easier to catch it there 

than when it disburses. 

My question really relates to some of the testimony we have 

heard this morning on how plastics, as it breaks down, can get into 

the food chain. 

There was a story in Science Alert that just came out a few days 

ago, September 22d, saying that plastic pollution is now spreading 

from ocean food chains to land mammals via mosquitos. I don’t 

know if you saw that article. 

Dr. Baillie, you say in your written testimony here, ‘‘Research 

has demonstrated that many of the fish and shellfish humans eat 

are consuming microplastics. It has also tied plastics to issues 

ranging from weight gain to brain development impairment.’’ 

So, if our two doctors here today could comment on the issue of 

plastics breaking down into microplastics and getting into the food 

chain, the animal food chain, and then what risk is there currently 

to the human food chain? 

Ms. LAW. Thank you for the question. So, scientific studies have 

indeed found contamination by microplastics in a wide variety of 

species who have ingested them, and when you look at the size of 

these particles, you can see how we can be entering the bottom of 

the food chain. 

When we look at the percentage of individual animals that have 

microplastics when they are captured, the percentage may be 

around 20 or 30 percent, but this can add up if we eat a lot of seafood. Of course, it depends on the animal. We eat invertebrates 

whole, so if there is plastic in the invertebrate, we will be eating 

that. If it is a fish, likely, the plastics are in the gut, and we don’t 

typically eat the guts of those animals. 

I think there is reason to be concerned, of course, because the 

amount of plastics that we are producing that are leaking into the 

ocean are going up over time, so the amounts we may ingest can 

go up over time as well. But there is so much remaining to be 

learned about what actually happens when an animal eats plastic 

or when a human eats plastic, including how long is it spending 

in the body. Are chemicals transferring from those particles to the 

organism? Do those chemicals bioaccumulate? And we simply don’t 

have those answers yet. 

One thing to consider, there was one study looking at plastics ingestion in invertebrates, I believe, mussels or shellfish, and, as a 

side part of the study, they put out a Petri dish at a typical dinner 

table, and the number of plastic particles that landed in that Petri 

dish, sort of equivalent to on your dinner place, was much higher 

than what was in the seafood itself. 

So, I think we need to think beyond just seafood. Think about 

our drinking water, our bottled water, sea salt, all these other 

88 

studies that are finding microplastics far beyond just the fish and 

shellfish. 

Mr. BAILLIE. I would agree with all of that. With the number of 

plastics increasing in the oceans, we are going to see more and 

more of this. There is plastics breaking down into their tiny fragments, but then there are nanoplastics as well; and the science is 

at a very early stage in terms of understanding the implications, 

but we do know with these plastics that the organic pollutants do 

bind with them in the ocean, which will probably make things even 

worse. 

But even if it turned out that there wasn’t major implications for 

our health, which I don’t think will be the case, I don’t think future 

generations will be grateful for having plastics as a large part of 

their diet. 

Senator Van Hollen. I agree. I just wanted to get the most recent 

State of the science on this, as I said. 

Mr. Chairman, if I could ask unanimous consent to put in the 

record the article that appeared recently, because my understanding is, as you said, in fish, plastics seem to concentrate in the 

gut. But if you have mosquitos, then passing this on to land mammals, then there are questions about the food chain there. But 

there are all sorts of reasons to try and want to reduce this huge 

volume of trash. Obviously, this is one of them. 

Thank you. 

Senator BARRASSO. Without objection, it is entered into the 

record. 

[The referenced information follows:] 

89 


32933.068

G7 IN1\0VATI011; CHALLENGE TO AllllRESS :1-IARI:-iE PLASTIC LITTER 

Plastics are one of the most revolutionary inventions of the past century and play an important role in our economy 

and daily lives. They are used in almost everything from cars, appliances and construction to packaging and food 

services, because they are low cost. durable and versatile, This Challenge provides an opportunity to spur innovation 

while promoting both environmental well-being and economic prosperity. The Challenge will also help retain the 

significant value, resources and energy lost in plastic waste, as well as minimize threats to the environment 

All countries face difficulties in addressing marine plastic pollution. 07 members are well positioned to share their 

expertise and promote innovations that can be used elsewhere, including among countries that are large sources of 

marine plastic litter. This G7 challenge is designed to stimulate innovations, raise awareness of how to address 

marine plastic liner or facilitate much needed improvements to the management of plastic, especially plastic waste. 

in developing countries. Scalable solutions are needed to foster a more sustainable use of plastic products and 

reduce plastic waste and marine plastic pollution including technological and social innovations in plastics design 

and production, use, reuse, as well as management of plastic waste. 

G7 members are part of a larger global community committed to addressing marine plastic pollution. We 

acknowledge the essential role that the private sector, innovators and entrepreneurs play in developing innovative 

alternatives and solutions for increasing resource efficiency and circular economy in the use of plastics and plastic 

products by using their expertise, knowledge, and relationships. 

·Innovation challenges' are a recognized and eftCctive mechanism by which solutions can be developed and 

implemented in an economically viable way, as well be responsive to countries' needs and target recipients. 

While respecting each participating member's expertise and reflecting national priorities. 07 members commit to 

undertake international and/or domestic initiatives, individually or jointly. in support of a common objective to 

promote innovation in addressing marine plastic pollution by managing plastics more sustainably throughout the 

whole life~cycle. G7 plastic initiatives will respond to varied individual country needs accordingly. For example. 

domestic initiatives could focus on plastic design or recycling questions in accordance with national needs, while 

international eftOrts could respond to the need for support in improving waste management systems or creation of 

secondary markets. 07 members commit to sharing information their activities in support of this Challenge through 

the G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency. 

In implementing the Challenge, G7 initiatives will aim to: 

Leverage, build on, and complement existing initiatives throughout the plastics Jifccycle, 

Leverage the strength of a diversity of expertise, including entrepreneurs, innovators. small to medium 

enterprises, researchers, not for profit organizations, and/or large multi-national companies. 

• Support gender equality. women's empowerment and women's leadership. 
90 


32933.069

Encourage innovative solutions that are sustainable, feasible, lasting. economically viable, and scalable 

(scaling up of an existing initiative~ or developing new initiatives that can be scaled up through mechanisms 

such as blended tinance) as well as reflect local and regional circumstances and gender dimensions. 

• Develop and maximize effective relationships by leveraging implementalion mechanisms including 

international financial institutions such as the World Bank. Inter-American Development Bank, and Asian 

Development Bank. as well as pursuing alternative approaches including philanthropic foundations. 

The overall objective of the Challenge is to incentivize the development of innovative social or technological 

solutions for a more sustainable management of plastics throughout their lifecyclc in order to increase resource 

efficiency and to reduce marine plastic pollution including by finding innovalive ways to enhance waste 

management of plastics that may become marine litter. More specitic objectives to encourage innovation could 

include: 

Product Design and Waste Prevention: 

o Developing new product designs and management processes to increase resource cfticicncy and the 

durability. reusability and rccyclability of plastic products, in particular those that arc not currently 

recycled. 

o Supporting technologies for repair, refurbishment and remanufacturing of plastic producls. 

o Developing processes to incorporate recycled content in local manufacturing processes and products to 

create markets for collected and recycle-d materials. 

o Developing and using more sustainable plastics and environmentally sound alternatives within a context 

of science-based and Jifccycle decision-making and in consideration of environment, social and 

economic factors. For those G7 Members that choose to do so. single-use plastics may be an area of 

tOcus. o Developing solutions that reduce microplastics in products and reduce by design. to the extent possible, 

unintentional release of microplastics by wear and tear of products during their use. 

o Improving production processes to minimize loss of plastic materials, including pellets and maximize 

resource efficiency in the use of the materials. 

Waste and Wastewater Management and Clean-up: 

o Supporting major source countries to manage waste (e.g. collection. sorting. treatment~ recovery, 

refurbishment and recycling, disposal. infrastructure, legal frameworks) in a manner that is cost-effective 

and transferable in order to prevent plastics from entering the environment. 

o Developing new cost-effective technologies and intfastructure to collect, recycle and treat plastic waste, 

including mobile and small scale technologies. 

o Promoting technologies to improve collection and facilitate recycling or recovery of single-usc plastics. 

o Using technology to make it easier for remote and smaJl island developing states to prevent and manage 

plastic waste. 

o Developing new and utilizing existing technologies and processes to prevent plastic litter and 

microplastics entering water bodies through improved stonn water and waste water management, 

effectively cleaning-up marine plastic litter from waterways and shorelines in an environmentally sound 

manner. 
91 


32933.070

o Strengthening measures to prevent plastics entering the sea from fishing (including ghosr gear} and 

shipping, and to ensure adequate reception fucilities in to collect and manage the waste from ships 

and l~1cility users (including fished waste old/derelict fishing gear). 

o Creating new pn.)ceS::>cs or improvinf! existing technology to recycle mixed plastic 

wastes. 

o f)evc!oping cost-effective pmcesscs to rcdu;.;c contamination during the collection and recycling process. 

Markets, education and awareness: 

o Devdoping busmcss nwdels and approacht:s to cstuhlishing new markets and vahw for used and recycled 

to achieve environmental, social and economic bcndits. including supporting local cntr;;;prcncurs 

major marine sm1rce countncs. 

o Supporting the dC\'clcl,nment of markets for recycled plastics through greater use of secondary plastics 

into finished products. 

o Creating inn0Yativc partnerships along the plastic value-chain to reduce plastic waste and plastic pellets 

losses. 

o Supporting community ... based approaches to changing behaviours towards reducing. reusing plastics. or 

recycling plastic wastes. 

Supporting pbslic \\lash~ appmaches through socially innovative solutions (e.g. education, 

innovative alliances, connectors, enabling conditions. etc.). 

o Supporting: local and indigenous soluti-ons and initiatives of women and youth, that can be leveraged to 

support plastic waste mitigation approaches. 

Fnrgmg publiL·~priv<He partnerships to improv~ plastic \"''a:->ic nwnag.emcnt in major marine p!Jstics 

source countries. 

o Developing, harmomzm". 

microplastics. includmg 

impacts. 

and assessing marine litter and 

environmental and human health 

Examples of fruplementation Mechanisms 

• Public~privatc partnerships (domestic and internntional). 

Domestic mechanisms within each G7 member. 

Multilateral efforts such as \Vorkl Bunk Prublue- new umbrella multi-donor trust fund in 

Global Blue Economy Strategy through consultations with their governing hodics. 

onmntzcl!.tortSwho leads leveraged. inccntivized prize 

target market failures. that can be won by small groups and 

!IIIII II 
92 

Senator BARRASSO. Senator Ernst. 

Senator ERNST. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the discussion today. I think a number of us are in and out, but it does tend 

to be a very bipartisan issue, so I want to thank you all very much 

for being here. 

Mr. Dooley, a lot of the testimony that we have heard today has 

been about how to better manage the plastic waste that ends up 

in our oceans. However, I also think it is important to touch on the 

work being done to make plastic more eco-friendly. I think a number of us have discussed this before. 

The Iowa Corn Promotion Board was one of the first groups to 

fund research on polylactic acid, PLA, which is compostable and 

made from corn; and PLA is the most widely used bioplastic and 

is used to make straws, cups, plates, cutlery, and other items. After 

composting, PLA doesn’t contain any hazardous byproducts that we 

see from other plastics and doesn’t release toxic chemicals into the 

environment. 

Though advancements will need to be made for PLA to become 

more widely used, do you see that PLA or other bio-based plastics 

could be part of the solution to the problem that we are facing right 

now? 

Mr. DOOLEY. Yes. Thank you. Like I said before, there is not 

going to be one silver bullet, and what you have identified is where 

there is going to be an opportunity, and our companies are investing a lot of money in research and development of some of the biodegradable plastic alternatives that are out there. 

We have to, though, be also concerned in terms of making sure 

that we do a comprehensive evaluation in terms of how that can 

be managed through the waste stream as well, because some of 

these compostable plastics can also contaminate the recycling, the 

more traditional and other plastic waste streams as well. So it has 

a role in the marketplace and it is where we see a lot of investment 

going into. 

There is also an increasing demand, as Bruce said in terms of 

Coca-Cola, with an increased demand that they are making a commitment to 50 percent recycled content. That, again, is going to add 

value to that plastic waste stream. The industry, the resin producers and the plastic producers, have to do a better job in investing the technology that facilitates the recovery of this material so 

that it can go more easily into that recycled content. So that is also 

going to be a component. 

But we have to be careful that we don’t go down a path that goes 

all to biodegradable that then when a consumer or a homeowner 

mixes it into the recycling bin and then it creates another sorting 

opportunity and, if not sorted appropriately, then it contaminates 

the recycled material that some of the consumer product companies 

need. 

Senator ERNST. And we obviously know that there is a multipronged approach to really wrangling with this issue, so certainly 

I think that composting type products should be part of that discussion. 

But then would you all agree maybe then that we need to be 

looking at additional research and development opportunities for 

all of these? I think opportunities really is there. With Iowa and 

93 

the resources that we have, many of our other States as well, 

through the various commodities that we have, we can produce a 

number of those types of materials, and that might be one part of 

the solution, and I do hope that we will take an opportunity to look 

at that. 

Any other comments on those biodegradables? 

Mr. BAILLIE. I would just add, and maybe to build on what Cal 

had mentioned, is I think as we design things for use and they are 

plastic, you have to design with the end in mind. I think one of the 

reasons why we are where we are today is many plastics are designed to—a bag is designed to carry materials, but the thought 

isn’t given to the end market, and I think that is a key piece of 

development in the process, is understanding what we are building 

and does it actually have value later. 

If it has value, it is going to come back and create that circular 

economy that we want. But if it is very difficult to recycle, we don’t 

have technologies, as Cal mentioned, to actually solve for, then that 

is when we run into problems. So really focusing on making sure 

we design with the end use in mind when we make things. 

Senator ERNEST. Absolutely. I think that is very smart. So looking at, perhaps, straws, there is the big debate about plastic straws 

right now, how many plastic straws are actually recycled. I don’t 

know that many of those are, so that could be a potential stream 

or opportunity for something that is biodegradable and something 

that would be composted in a landfill, perhaps. So I think that is 

a very smart approach, is understanding what is recoverable later 

on and what is actually put into our landfill system. 

Did you have a comment as well, Dr. Lavender Law? 

Ms. LAW. Yes. Thank you for bringing up straws, because I think 

that is a really good example of if we don’t need a straw, not creating the waste in the first place is actually a higher level strategy 

so that we don’t even have to worry about managing it. 

But from the perspective of the oceans, I just wanted to comment 

on the biodegradable plastics as well. Specifically, the PLA is designed to biodegrade in an industrial composting facility. 

Senator ERNST. Composting, correct. 

Ms. LAW. So, if you are in a municipality that doesn’t have access 

to one of those facilities, your PLA is trash, and the ocean doesn’t 

really care if it is PLA or polyethylene or polypropylene. So that 

is something just to keep in mind when we talk. We talk broadly 

about these materials, but really we need to think carefully about 

which specific material we are talking about. 

Senator ERNST. Right. Exactly. I will make another plug for it, 

though. With the PLAs, we still do have to look at other research 

and development, and understanding where perhaps this particular 

stream of PLA may not be appropriate for oceans, but certainly if 

there is additional research that can be done that does support another biodegradable product that is ocean-friendly, we certainly 

should be looking at all those opportunities. 

So, thank you. Oh, excuse me, yes, Dr. Baillie. 

Mr. BAILLIE. Just on the straws, Americans are using 500 million 

straws every day, and there are alternatives. You can use a straw 

like this and keep it with you at all times. But with a lot of these 

plastic items that we simply don’t need, there is an opportunity to 

94 

take leadership and just say we are going to ban certain items. You 

have the French, which have made a commitment to banning plastic cups and plates by 2020. You have many countries that have 

banned the use of plastic bags. We have about a trillion plastic 

bags per year being produced. While I gave my testimony, I think 

about 10 million plastic bags were used, with an average lifespan 

of about 15 minutes. 

So, there are many kinds of interventions that we can make immediately if we are truly serious about addressing the small waste 

issues like straws. 

Senator ERNST. Well, I appreciate it. 

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you, Senator Ernst. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Senator WHITEHOUSE. Thank you, Chairman, and thank you 

again to you for this hearing and to the witnesses for appearing 

here. 

In my opening comments I mentioned a couple of topic areas. 

One is cleaning up in the oceans, and particularly cleaning up in 

the rivers that feed the oceans, where much of this plastic comes 

downriver; trying to find ways to pick the plastic out of the flow 

points before it hits the ocean. Once it is out there floating around 

in the great Pacific Garbage Patch, it is really hard, really inefficient, really expensive to deal with it. To try to get it upstream is 

more significant. 

I think to prevent that we need to have a strong focus on requiring countries with whom we have trade relationships to meet elementary standards of upland waste disposal responsibility. We 

have never been very good at enforcing pollution control standards 

overseas as a part of trying to balance our trade, so there has been 

a lot of cheating, where an American company has to keep its junk 

out of the river and the competitor doesn’t, so the price of the competitor’s product can go down, but we all pay the price when it 

ends up in the ocean. 

And I think there are technical ways to go about doing that. 

Even in Newport Harbor we have a little basically a sunk dumpster with a solar pump that keeps pumping the water out so that 

there is constant inflow and there is enough inflow the plastic flows 

in, it gets trapped in the dumpster and you can clear it out. 

Rivers have similar catchment technologies. But until there is a 

revenue basis for doing that, it is hard to get it done, so that is 

something I think that we can work on. 

Biodegradability we have talked about, so I don’t need to add to 

that. 

Again, on entanglement, if a fisherman loses a long-line rig, for 

instance, first of all, it may be hard to find, but it is not really hard 

to put pingers on things these days. Supporting people in trying to 

make fishing gear more traceable once it is lost could be a good 

strategy. Having a bounty so that if you are out fishing and you 

come across somebody’s gear, you take the trouble to bring it in 

and bring it home and take it out of the ocean. 

Fisherman work incredibly hard and it is a very uncertain world 

out there. It is even more uncertain with oceans warming and populations of fish moving around, so to expect fishermen to stop what 

95 

they are doing and become the people who are responsible for 

cleaning the oceans themselves I don’t think is really fair unless 

all of us have found a way to help make that a productive use of 

their time. 

And then I think the human health research is the other point. 

We really, I think, need to know pretty quickly what risks this 

poses so we can know with what degree of urgency and alacrity we 

need to take on the problem. 

So, I would just like to ask each of you to comment on those four 

topic areas for our 2.0, and if there is anything further you think 

I have completely missed, please throw it in. 

We will start with Dr. Baillie. This will be my only question, so 

if we could just run it out, that would be fine. 

Mr. BAILLIE. Sure. So, on the initial map that I showed, it 

showed the major river systems where plastic pollutants are getting into the oceans and, of course, you commented on the top 20 

being in Asia and being a significant problem. 

At National Geographic we are committed to doing an exploration looking at some of the major rivers around the world and 

understanding where the plastics are actually coming from and 

looking at the social issues and the political issues, but also looking 

at innovation that we can help promote so that that process can be 

addressed. 

When it comes to fishing gear, you saw the short video in terms 

of using the nets. It would be wonderful if we could look at creating 

more of a market for those nets, as many of them are made of 

nylon, which is actually quite a valuable material that can be reused for things like the carpet tile right here. So, I think it is about 

exploring some of those innovative approaches, but also putting 

more pressure on the fishermen to actually keep track of those nets 

when they are out there. 

I very much like your idea of the tracking device. Again, at National Geographic, we are developing a whole bunch of sensor systems, so this is just the type of thing we could explore, sensors to 

try and keep greater tracking. 

Mr. DOOLEY. Thank you. You know, I think that what we are interested in and we are trying again to really establish a private 

sector initiative that would represent constituents throughout the 

value chain. Part of our interest is how do we do a better job of 

identifying those initiatives and those investments that are going 

to be the most cost-effective in making a meaningful impact on reducing plastic waste in the environment. 

We think the public agencies, the U.S. Government, has an opportunity to help and facilitate that as well. 

I think when we look at, again, the Asia region, which is the primary source for certainly the Pacific driver, we have the opportunity to focus on cities. Ocean Conservancy has just launched an 

initiative called Cities, and cities on rivers, because, as you said, 

the rivers are the source that enters into the ocean. If we focus on 

developing a comprehensive waste management assistance program for cities on rivers in the Asia region, I think you would be 

able to see significant private sector resources that would complement public sector investments as well. 

96 

You can even get that a little more granular because you also, 

in order to have a sustainable waste management system, you have 

to add more value to that waste stream; and that is where I think 

the U.S. Government also has an opportunity to make investments 

in pilot programs in that region. We have a number of military 

bases there that could make an investment in a pilot program that 

could be able to demonstrate and capture the value in the waste 

stream not only from their own operations, but perhaps even extend it to the communities. 

You can even see it with fishing nets. If you had a pyrolysis unit 

that could develop syn fuel or diesel fuel from a plastic waste 

stream, as well as fishing nets, it could be a source of income for 

the local community that was playing a major role in trying to be 

a collection center or providing the collection of unused fishing 

nets. 

So we think that there is just a wonderful opportunity for the 

U.S. to show leadership that would complement and encourage private sector involvement in meaningful initiatives that really focus 

on making waste management more effective. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. My time has long expired, so I should 

probably invite the other two witnesses to make their responses for 

the record, if you would do that. 

It is up to the discretion of the Chair, but I think we probably 

need to be thinking about bounties, as well, because I doubt there 

is enough of a resource there to make it self-sustaining without 

some help. 

Senator BARRASSO. Senator Inhofe. 

Senator INHOFE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator Whitehouse, you opened your great comments about the 

fact that we don’t have the control over some of the foreign countries that we would otherwise have. I want to give another side to 

that because in some of these countries they actually have ideas 

that we haven’t gotten. One of my close friends on the continent 

of Africa is Paul Kagame, who is head of Rwanda. He made a decision to really cleanup his country. And I have to tell you guys that 

of all 54 countries, and I have been to all of them, in Africa, you 

go in there, that is the clean, pristine country, Rwanda. 

Don’t get me wrong on this, I am not suggesting this, Mr. Karas, 

but the first thing he did was outlaw plastic bags. Then he went 

on. Now when you go from the airport to the headquarters, you just 

see a pristine country. I think we ought to really sit down and look 

and see some of the things that he has done successfully and emulate those. 

I am kind of surprised not many people talked about the meeting 

that took place just last week. Maybe it is because it is so soon 

afterwards, but it was in Nova Scotia, where the G7 people, and 

our participant there, of course, was Andrew Wheeler, who worked 

for me for 14 years, who was very active on this Committee. He attended that. It was a meeting where they discussed the very thing 

that we are discussing here. 

The objective, and I am going to read this and then I am going 

to be asking to put the outline in the record, is to ‘‘incentive the 

development of innovative social and technological solutions for a 

more sustainable management of plastics throughout their life 

97 

cycle in order to increase resource efficiency and to reduce marine 

plastic pollution, including by finding innovative ways to enhance 

waste management of plastics that may become marine litter.’’ 

They have excellent suggestions, and I ask, at this point in the 

record, you include this. With no objection. Thank you. 

[The referenced information follows:] 

98 


32933.071

To: The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works 

From: Jenna R. Jam beck, Ph.D. 

Associate Professor, Environmental Engineering 

Director, Center for Circular Materials Management 

University of Georgia 

Riverbend South Research Bldg. 

Athens, GA 30602 

jjambeck@uga.edu 

http://jambeck.engr.uga.edu 

http:/!newmaterials.uga.edu 

Date: October 9, 2018 

Re: Further comments on the hearing titled, "Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of 

Man-Made Trash on the Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health?" 

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comment on the hearing titled, "Cleaning Up the Oceans: How 

to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash on the Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health?" I am 

environmental engineering professor at the University of Georgia and have been working in solid waste 

management for 22 years and on marine debris since 2001. I testified on May 17,2016 to the 

subcommittee on this topic. I am also now currently in the International Informational Speakers 

Program with the US State Department and have been to nine different countries since 2017 working on 

the issue of marine debris in public environmental diplomacy (Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, South 

Africa, Vietnam, Jordan, Israel, and India). 

As all the witnesses testified to, there is no one solution to this issue, but an integrated approach is 

needed to make headway on reducing plastic entering the ocean. I developed the framework below for 

my 2016 testimony and would like to submit it again with some ideas, further explanation and answers 

to some of the questions posed by the senators in this hearing. This framework provides intervention 

points (1 through S) and then a list of potential (but not all encompassing) interventions that may occur 

at the various points. In general, this represents a hierarchy of interventions. However, the most "bang 

for your buck" interventions will depend on the needs of the specific geography addressing the issue, 

however, in many cases, all geographies have points along the entire framework that will help reduce 

debris and plastic going into the ocean. Some interventions can be immediate and some will take more 

time. The framework starts on the left with the most "upstream" interventions and ends with a last 

chance to capture the material before it enters the ocean. In many cases the interventions offer the 

opportunity for economic innovation and growth. The USA could be a leader in several of these 

categories of interventions. 
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1. Reduction in demand 

a. Consumers demanding less packaging or no packaging (some markets) 

Not everyone has access to clean water, for example, so can't always make the 

choice of a reusable bottle, but these choices taken collectively where possible 

do make a difference 

b. Local initiatives (e.g., bans, taxes) 

These are often very local-specific, but are also becoming more common 

ii. Mass of items removed may be relatively small, but numbers of items are also 

important- there is more than one way to measure debris (e.g., mass, count, 

etc.) 

c. Voluntary industry actions 

Industry has become more engaged on this issue I wonder if they will 

volunteer some changes to help in the future as well? 

d. The reality is that all signs point to further growth in waste generation, as well as plastic 

use, especially where economic development is occurring or predicted to occur in the 

future 

2. Innovative materials and product design 

a. Sustainable packaging associations (pre-competitive collaborations) 

E.g., Sustainable packaging coalition, Green-Blue: These pre-competitive 

environments could help to standardize packaging and help packaging retain 

value so that it is easier to recycle and less leakage will occur if it has value. 

b. Truly biodegradable alternatives (e.g., PHA) 

PLA was mentioned in the hearing and while it is bio-based and industrial 

compostable, it will not biodegrade in the ocean. It will not biodegrade if 

littered on land. It has to reach a high temperature (reached in industrial 

com posting) to be able to biodegrade. 

ii. One polymer that may biodegrade in the ocean is PHA. This polymer is 

expanding in the market in the USA and will be creating economic value in the 

future (new facility opening in Kentucky- one open in Georgia already). While it 

may biodegrade if littered in the environment, it should still be managed in the 

solid waste system, and be thoughtful about where used (in currently nonrecyclable items, for example). But it has the possibility of being home-
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com posted as well. The USA is currently a leader in the development of this 

material and other bio-based and biodegradable materials. 

c. Packaging with more value (e.g., single, homogenous materials, design for 

recycling/end-of-life) 

i. This can be helped by collaborations between industry, brands and waste 

managers/experts 

d. Design out problematic items/materials (e.g., caps/lids) 

Similar to how aluminum can opening was changed to a tab that stayed on (so 

the pull tabs did not get littered), we can innovate design for items that leak 

into the environment (if data is collected on them- see point S.c.). 

3. Reduce waste generation- how can we decouple waste generation from economic growth? 

I believe we can through creativity and innovation- and I get very excited to see what my 

students will create in this category one day. 

a. Sharing, Collaborative Economy concepts 

i. Bike shares, car shares, tool shares, clothing rental, etc. these all reduce the 

need to purchase and create waste (facilitated by technology), but still meet 

people's needs and can still create revenue for the companies providing the 

services. 

ii. How can these concepts be related to packaging? (see b.ii.) 

b. Decouple waste generation with economic growth (facilitated by technology) 

Reuse programs (using mobile phones, which many people have globally, 

especially where rapid economic growth is occurring) 

ii. RFID, mobile phones, smart-labels, etc. (e.g., RFID water refill stations exist for 

both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products, but are not yet widely distributed yet) 

4. Improve global solid waste management 

This has some basic similar concepts, but solid waste collection can be a hyper-local activity and 

can look different in each country, city and even neighborhood. Global resources are needed to 

further develop the infrastructure needed. Waste needs to be managed globally no matter what 

the materials it is composed of. Plastic has made it a more complicated and created a rapid 

change in the waste stream that we were ill prepared for. It creates a waste stream that is more 

varied and dynamic than we have ever experienced before. It has proved to be quite a challenge 

for waste operators and municipalities to manage. Improving infrastructure is especially needed 

in rapidly developing economies with high population growth. 

a. Collect: May be traditional, on-demand, or decentralized waste collection 

i. Collection innovation is needed- revers logistics may play a role 

b. Capture: Material Recovery Facilities, waste depots, waste banks, community centers 

(e.g., "punto limpio" in Chile) 

c. Contain: Recycling or engineered disposal 

d. Important to keep in mind: Context and Culture- these can "make or break" the success 

of a potential intervention. The local community and stakeholders need to be engaged 

and involved from the start through the end of any project. 

5. last-chance cleanup 
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a. Engineered, mechanical systems 

Mr. Trash Wheel or other engineered devices 

b. Manual (by hand) 

Cleanups (e.g., ICC by Ocean Conservancy) 

ii. Use of ocean-bound plastic can catalyze the development of infrastructure since 

the material now has value- often a much higher value than it did previously 

(e.g., Parley, Dell, NextWave plastics) 

c. Data to feed back to Interventions 1 through 4 

E.g., Marine Debris Tracker developed by NOAA and UGA (or other apps) to 

collect data 

ii. Could make upstream choices/changes based upon what is leaking into the 

environment 

Specific questions asked: 

1. What are some ofthe most promising innovations? 

In my opinion some of the most interesting and promising innovations are the ones that decouple waste 

generation from economic growth. How can we meet people's needs and increase livelihood without 

creating more waste to manage? Sharing and collaborative economy concepts, RFID cups, using 

technology to connect people and facilitate sharing and reuse programs all lead to potential 

interventions. Reduce waste generation in the first place. 

2. What is role of PLA and other bio-based plastics? 

I think there is a role for material and product innovation and bio-based and biodegradable (truly) 

polymers will be a part of the solution. However, these materials are being produced at relatively low 

quantities right now, so they are not going to be a big market for some time- if ever (also see 2.b., 

above). 

3. Fisherman incentives 

I think incentives for fisherman to collect or bring back gear would be a way to get some of the most 

deadly gear out of the ocean and marine environment. I think also supplying a place for fisherman to put 

used gear is important (e.g., dumpster or recycle bin at the port). Tracking and transparency of netsand really all plastic (as much as feasible) could help keep the material out of the ocean because we 

would have a better inventory of it. 

4. Root causes 

Responsibility- while not particularly popular in the USA, product stewardship is an important concept 

to discuss here. From an engineering standpoint, when a company wants to build a development/civil 

engineering project, there often is a partnership with the community. One example, I live near an above 

ground storage tank farm, and trucks come and go from it regularly. There were likely road 

improvements needed to be able to build the tank farm and the company who constructed it may have 

contributed to that infrastructure since they were building at this site. In some ways, this can be 

analogous to selling products in a country or location that does not have infrastructure to manage the 
102 


32933.075

waste created from those products. I don't think companies knew the issues this would bring. And I 

think they want to help based upon new awareness, but we are certainly playing "catchup" with the 

issue now. I have seen some good examples of shared responsibility in South Africa and Norway. And 

some companies are doing this individually, but many still don't know how to help with infrastructure. I 

think that facilitating this in some way could be significant- maybe it will all be individual public-private 

partnerships, but some thought could go into how to facilitate companies engaging in shared 

responsibility. Ultimately it will take shared actions by industry, municipalities, and citizens to make 

significant positive change on this issue. 

Thank you again for your attention to this issue and for the opportunity to offer my thoughts. 
103 

Senator INHOFE. I would ask you, Mr. Dooley, I think you are familiar with this. Nothing much has been said about this, but I 

would like to know what thoughts you have about the recommendations that have come from the G7 talks that took place. 

Actually, that meeting took place in Nova Scotia right up until last 

Saturday, I think they concluded it, so your thoughts about what 

has happened there and how that coordinates with the recommendations that we are making with this excellent panel that 

we have. 

Mr. DOOLEY. Well, ACC was very pleased that Administrator 

Wheeler attended that meeting and also committed, along with the 

balance of the environmental ministers there, to really support 

moving forward on how could they collectively create greater incentives for the development of innovations that would contribute to 

the elimination of plastic waste. 

It really was building upon one of the commitments that 

Trudeau made at the G7 principals meeting, where he committed 

to doing $100 million innovation grant that was really trying to 

provide public sector investment that would be matched oftentimes 

by private sector commitments that was focused on trying to eliminate plastic waste in the environment. That was further developed 

under the challenge program that was talked about at the Halifax 

meeting of the G7. 

We think those are opportunities to really leverage the private 

sector funding and to ensure, again, that we have a collaborative 

effort to identify what are going to be the most cost-effective investments of both taxpayers’ dollars, as well as private sector funds. 

We are very supportive. 

Senator INHOFE. That is good. I think we need to become more 

familiar with that. A lot of heavyweights were involved in those decisions and that discussion in Nova Scotia. 

Mr. Karas, I think we may share one philosophy that I kind of 

picked out of your opening statement, and that is it has been my 

experience over the years—and I have been on this Committee 

since, I don’t know, a lot of years—that some of the solutions to 

problems are best handled by the private sector. 

I can remember when we had a lot of the Superfund problems. 

I was actually chairing this Committee at that time. What happened, and I won’t mention the oil company, it was an oil company, 

though, that was working at that time in Louisiana, and they did 

have a spill, and it was a pretty serious one. So they went in and 

evaluated what it would take to clean that up and what it would 

cost to clean that up. 

I am going from memory now, but I think it was something like 

it would take 13 months if this oil company were allowed to do it 

at the cost of $7 million. EPA rejected it at that time. We were 

kicking and screaming about that, but they did. They took this on 

and it ended up taking not 13 months, but 4 years; and not $7 million, but $15 million. 

I guess what I would ask you, your thoughts on the things that 

can be done through private sectors that cannot be done through 

the public and what your experience has been. 

Mr. KARAS. Thank you, Senator. I think the way I would answer 

that question would be in really looking at this space. We are good 

104 

at making beverages and marketing beverages and selling; that is 

our core business, we make beverages. And what we find when we 

get into a space like waste is we have to rely, in my comments I 

talked about the critical importance of partnerships, we have to 

rely on others. 

What we have learned in the course of we had a water stewardship goal to replenish the volume of water that we put in our products by 2020. We met that early. We met that because one of the 

reasons was public-private partnerships. We have a public-private 

partnership with USDA, U.S. Forest Service. For us, it gives us resources that we thought we would never have, knowledge and information that we wouldn’t have access to, and, really, we learned 

a lot and advanced quickly. 

So I think our learning in these spaces has been it is absolutely 

mandatory for us to really reach out and engage with trade groups 

like ACC, with technical people that are knowledgeable, to really 

come to a great solution collectively. I think that is what ultimately 

wins the day. 

Even when we do partnerships through our foundation, we have 

something called a Golden Triangle partnership, and what we 

learned when we link business, civil society, and the government 

together to look at a problem, we usually get to a really good place, 

a place that we wouldn’t have gotten to by ourselves. 

Senator INHOFE. Thank you very much. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator BARRASSO. Senator Carper. 

Senator CARPER. I am told by my colleagues and our staff that 

you all are doing a good job. As you know, we serve on a bunch 

of different committees and, unfortunately, all my committees are 

meeting right now, so I am trying to be three or four places at 

once. I am not doing really well at it, but now I am with you and 

look forward to asking a couple questions. 

First, I want to ask unanimous consent, Mr. Chairman, to enter 

a letter from MERR and supplemental materials be entered into 

the record from the Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation 

Institute in Delaware, as well as some other supplemental materials. 

Senator BARRASSO. Without objection. 

[The referenced information follows:] 

105 


32933.076

i11arine El:lllcJUion, R<!searcill!;; RelMbilitation lnsdtul<!, Iuc. 

801 Pilott,Jwn Rd. Lewes, DE 19958 

rJ02! 2cfi-5029 

The Honorable Thomas R. Carper 

Ranking Member 

www. merrinwitule. org 

Committee on Environmental and Public Works 

United States Senate 

Washington, D.C. 

Dear Senator Carper, 

mcrrinstitute~~\r.;mai!.com 

Uctot>er Y'", 2U J ~ 

The Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute, Inc. (MERR) has been providing 

stranding response for marine mammals and sea turtles in the state of Delaware for over 18 years. 

As Delaware's leading authority on marine animal health and welfare, we have observed first 

hand the negative impacts of marine debris on the marine environment, and on the creatures that 

reside there. 

MERR responds to approximately 300 stranded animals per year. the majority of which have 

stranded due to some type of human impact These impacts include fisheries, dredging, 

underwater noise pollution, oil spills, marine debris, and more. Marine debris with all of its 

various components causes constricting entanglements, and is ingested when it is mistaken lor 

prey. Marine animals become entangled in the copious amount of material that we have 

introduced into their habitat, such as ribbons from balloons, discarded six pack rings, fishing line. 

fisheries gear, packing straps, etc. The effect of this type of debris on marine animals is slow and 

painful debilitation as the constricting debris cuts into the animals tissues, leading to infection, 

strangulation, osteomyelitis, and ultimately death. 

The components of marine debris are far too many to list, but plastics pose an especial threat to 

the quality of ocean habitat. In their intact form, they can appear to be food sources, as in the 

case of plastic bags, which are accidentally ingested by marine animals, leading ultimately to 

starvation. Plastic bags and balloons resemble jellyfish in the water, a favored food source by the 

endangered leatherback sea turtle. and the loggerhead sea turtle. Pieces of plastic large and small 

have the capacity to photo-degrade, causing smaller and smaller particles to emit into the ocean, 

ultimately to be consumed by fish. Micro-plastics are consumed by the smaller organisms, which 

leach into their tissues. The smaller organisms are ultimately consumed by the macro-organisms, 

such as dolphins, whales, seals, and humans. The prey source for these endangered species is 

contaminated. as is the water in which they live, due to the inundation of micro-plastics in the 

ocean and the inland waterways that ultimately lead to the ocean. 

Our stranding response team has witnessed the excruciatingly painful suffering of beautiful and 

majestic whales, dolphins, seals and sea turtles as a result of human based trash and debris in their 

habitat. A loggerhead sea turtle on the Delaware Bay that had over 65 different types of plastic in 

its stomach, whales and dolphins maimed and ultimately drowned by Jishing gear, a young pilot 

whale that had mistaken shredded packaging from beef ramen noodle soup as squid, a helpless 
106 


32933.077

one month old seal pup barely able to breath because of constricting fishing net, ribbons and 

plastic bags, and a bungee cord wrapped around its throat-these are just some of the heart 

breaking examples of how these animals suffer due to the impacts of marine debris. Our 

organization invests thousands of hours in an attempt to inform and educate students and the 

public about the harm caused by marine debris, in hopes that this information will lead to 

consumer choices that minimize the amount of trash in the ocean. 

We know of the astounding statistics surrounding the Pacific Garbage Patch, now believed to be 

twice as large as the state of Texas on the surface. with depths surpassing that size. The Marianna 

trench, the deepest known area of the ocean, has been identified as 50 times more toxic than the 

most polluted rivers of China, due to the cumulative and concentrating effects of plastic in the 

marine environment. Phytoplankton, which makes up the basis of the food web for all other 

organisms, is being impacted as algae accumulates on both large and micro sized particles of 

plastic, interfering with sunlight penetration to stimulate photosynthesis. Plankton is the 

foundation species for all life forms in the ocean, without which the entire ecosystem is destined 

to collapse. 

Reducing the quantities of marine debris and its toxicity in the oceans is imperative to the health 

of the marine ecosystem. Our organization strongly supports any initiatives to reduce the 

presence of marine debris in the ocean environment. We greatly appreciate any efforts that are 

put forth to accomplish this important goal. 

Sincerely, 

Suzanne Thurman 

Executive Director 
107 

Senator CARPER. Thanks very much. 

Dr. Law, if I could just aim my first question at you. I am told 

by my staff that you spent a lot of time at sea. They said more 

than probably anybody in the room. I was in the Navy for 23 years, 

mostly in airplanes; some time on seas, but I would be happy to 

give that honor to you today. 

They tell me you spend a lot of time at sea observing firsthand 

the impact of marine debris on the environment, but also especially 

on wildlife. Do you want to share with us some specific examples 

of some things you have seen with respect to marine debris’ harm 

to wildlife, including marine mammals, sea turtles and birds? 

In addition to minimizing the amount of debris that ends up in 

our oceans, what else should we be doing to mitigate these impacts? 

First some examples. 

Ms. LAW. Sorry. 

Senator CARPER. First some examples. 

Ms. LAW. Some examples, yes. 

Senator CARPER. And then some ideas on what we ought to be 

doing to mitigate these impacts. 

Ms. LAW. Sure. So, most of my sailing experience has been in the 

open ocean, much of it in what are called the subtropical gyres, 

which are areas of the ‘‘garbage patches.’’ These are areas of the 

ocean that are actually quite nutrient poor and not—— 

Senator CARPER. Most people probably try to avoid those. 

Ms. LAW. Sorry? 

Senator CARPER. Most people try to avoid those. 

Ms. LAW. Most people try to avoid those, that is right; there are 

not a lot of wind. They are not places many people spend a lot of 

time, but we do spend time doing our science there. 

I think the most important observation I have had is that many 

of the descriptions we hear about this problem are not what you 

observe out at sea on the boat. I don’t see very large objects going 

by, but when you do it is very surprising to see a shoe or a bucket 

or a teapot or a toothbrush drifting by thousands of miles from 

land. 

When you look over the side, you see these little bits of plastic. 

And in terms of interaction with wildlife, what I have observe personally is sea birds who are feeding at the sea surface where these 

little bits of plastic are floating. So while you can’t actually see it 

hanging out of their mouths, you know that the birds are eating 

these plastics. 

Similarly, we have captured in our nets, at one point we captured a five-gallon bucket that did have a fish swimming under it. 

That fish, we brought aboard and it had 42 pieces of microplastic 

in its gut. We also tow a fishing line. We brought a mahi-mahi onboard and it had a piece of plastic—— 

Senator CARPER. Was the fish dead or alive? 

Ms. LAW. Just a line with a hook. 

Senator CARPER. OK. 

Ms. LAW. We brought a mahi-mahi on board for dinner and it 

had a piece of plastic this big in its stomach. So we were faced 

right then, do we want to eat this fish or not? We did. It was delicious. 

108 

Senator CARPER. Did you? OK. 

Ms. LAW. But I have not seen marine mammals entangled myself, so I don’t have that personal experience. 

I really think I come back to we have to keep this out of the 

ocean to solve it. The rescue efforts, when people spend lots of time 

and resources to help these animals when they are entangled are 

critical, and when we have access that is very important, but we 

just have to stop it from entering. 

Senator CARPER. All right. 

I like to focus on root causes. I just came from a Homeland Security business meeting; we are marking up about 20 different bills. 

One of the things we focus on in Homeland Security is border security, including border security with the border with Mexico. We 

spend a lot of time, effort, and energy trying to keep people from 

getting into our country from places like Honduras, Guatemala, El 

Salvador. The root cause of all that, though, is the lives that they 

live in those three countries are miserable; and we are complicit in 

their misery given our dependency and addition to all kinds of 

drugs, narcotics. 

But part of the root cause in solving that problem, all these people trying to get into our Country from our southern borders, is to 

help make sure that their lives are less miserable in those three 

countries; they have some hope of opportunity. That is the root 

cause. 

Is there a root cause in this case? Is there a similar root cause 

we ought to be focused on, rather than just focusing on the symptoms of the problem? I have a great photograph of Coast Day in 

Delaware this last weekend, but we are addressing the symptoms 

of problems. There is always trash that washes up on the east 

coast, including in Delaware, so we focus on the symptom of the 

problem. 

If we looked for the root cause, where should we be looking? Because we are really good at spending a lot of time and energy and 

resources on symptoms of problems, not always on the root cause. 

Mr. DOOLEY. Senator, the way that I would respond to that, if 

you look at where the major source of the problem, it is in the developing economies; and in those developing economies they have 

a host of public needs. Some of it is nutrition, some of it is education, some of it is healthcare, and some of it also is waste management systems. When they prioritize them, oftentimes the waste 

management investments come down very low on the list, and that 

is why, oftentimes, they lag behind in developing the waste management systems. As their economy develops, it becomes the source 

of a lot of the waste plastic and other waste that is getting into the 

environment. 

That is where I think we have an opportunity in the industrialized world in the private sector to allocate resources to help 

prioritize waste management, and part of that help in prioritizing 

investments in waste management is providing public and private 

sector support. We think if you do that in the developing world, we 

can make a tangible difference in reducing the amount of plastic 

waste in the environment. 

Senator CARPER. Good. Thank you. 

Mr. Karas, please. 

109 

Mr. KARAS. Just an add-in. I think we maybe touched on it 

around the fringes in the conversation here, but infrastructure is 

absolutely important. But the layer over that, and we have learned 

this as we have done projects, it is the level of I guess you would 

call public education and awareness. How do people value that material? Obviously, if it is all in the ocean, it is a throwaway, and 

we are not thinking about it. Even in the developed world it takes 

time to change sort of the hearts and minds, and that has to accompany all the work that we are doing. So, it maybe starts with 

PSAs, but maybe ingraining into younger generations what should 

you do with materials when they are in your hand. 

I would suspect that if you asked most of the public about recycling, recycling is the act of putting something in a specific container, and not thinking about the circular economy and where it 

needs to go in the long-run. So, I think some of that cultural piece 

is important to mix in with that. 

Senator CARPER. All right, thanks. 

Senator BARRASSO. Senator Whitehouse, now that Senator Inhofe 

has completed, did you want to get a continuation of the line of 

questioning? 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Sure, if Mr. Karas and Dr. Law. I don’t 

know if you recall the question; it had to do with the various recommendations about trying to stem the flow into the seas, particularly in the big rivers; about trying to invest in biodegradability; 

about trying to make it a better revenue proposition for fishermen 

to keep and recover lost fishing gear; and the last one was research 

on the human health effects of ingesting microplastics. Are those 

areas we should be working on and are there other areas you 

would recommend? That was the question. 

Mr. KARAS. Senator, I think those are all good areas that you 

highlighted there. I think what we have learned in the Asia Pacific 

region as our business units work is we are having to form some 

of these cooperative partnerships. We are doing it in Indonesia and 

the Philippines, starting some of that in Vietnam to really start to 

look at where do you start. I think that is sometimes the challenge. 

Here we can look at our infrastructure that exists. Maybe it is not 

well connected, but it is like where do you start, what is ground 

zero, and we have to do that collaboratively. 

So, what we are seeing is brands are engaging with different 

NGO’s and governments to say, OK, how do we move the needle 

in that. I think those will help in the long-run, but it takes time 

to build those out. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. And in this case it takes incentives. 

Mr. KARAS. Correct. Correct. But I would add that in terms of 

incentives, and maybe it is something that Cal has already touched 

upon, I think we have to really think closely about the end markets 

and the value of the materials. 

What often is lacking, you could sort out polypropylene, but there 

may not be a market there; and if that doesn’t happen, if the economics aren’t there, it just isn’t going to work. But if we can work 

to build the proper end markets, it really starts to close the loop. 

To me, when a business has an incentive to get that material and 

put it into something else, that is going to be a powerful driver in 

that space. 

110 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. You will agree that there is a discrepancy 

between the recovered value of waste plastic and the value to humanity of not having an ocean in which there is more plastic than 

fish. 

Mr. KARAS. I would agree. I would agree. 

I guess in terms of waterways, one of the interesting experiences 

we have had here, I talked about partnerships earlier, a group 

called Living Lands and Waters works our own Mississippi River 

system. Actually, six barges collecting materials, anything from 

cars, tires, drums, and plastic. 

We have had the opportunity to be able to really create a circular 

economy with those kinds of activities, actually bring material out 

of the Mississippi. We had an example, last year sorted 9,000 

pounds of PET hand-sorted by our own bottler there, and it was 

turned into bottles for a product 30 days later. That is a circular 

economy, but we had to force it. 

So, ultimately, I think it is how do we really have a vertically 

integrated waste management system that really allows it to pull 

through where there is economic viability to that activity. If you 

have to prop it up because it doesn’t have economic viability, it is 

going to collapse sooner or later, or you are always going to be feeding it funding. So, to get the 2.0 system it really requires some 

thinking and thoughtful examination of where we want to go. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Dr. Law. 

Ms. LAW. Thank you. I do agree with all of your priorities, especially the impacts on human health, and I think we need to expand 

that conversation more broadly into impacts of plastics and freshwater and soils and agriculture, and things like that. 

Other opportunities, though, that I would like to raise are the 

idea that we can try to make less waste; and this is falling on the 

previous question as well, starting to think about a cultural shift 

away from disposable, away from I use it, I put it in the garbage 

can, and it goes somewhere that is no longer my problem. So, encouraging reuse programs. 

One really simple intervention we can all do is put in refillable 

water stations into our public spaces to encourage people to carry 

a reusable bottle, as opposed to using something a single time. So 

I would just like to point out not just information campaigns, sort 

of your traditional education campaigns, but thinking about targeted interventions in spaces that are locally defined about quite 

simple interventions that will cause us to just simply make less 

trash that we then have to deal with. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Mr. Chairman, shall I tell a brief sailor 

story that Dr. Law’s testimony called to my recollection? 

Senator BARRASSO. Please. 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. Newport, Rhode Island is probably the 

sailing capital of the world; we claim that, anyway. Delaware may 

have a disagreement, but I am sure we have Wyoming beat. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator WHITEHOUSE. A lot of sailboat racing goes through Newport, including what is now called the Volvo Ocean Race, which is 

perhaps the most dangerous and demanding sporting event on the 

planet; and it is around the world, very fast race, very high-tech 

111 

boats going very fast. Racing boats have, for generations, had to 

learn a man overboard drill. 

You don’t go offshore racing without having drilled and drilled on 

the man overboard situation; who is the spotter, how quickly do 

you turn the boat. You know, the whole routine is just drilled until 

you can, as soon as somebody yells overboard, everybody knows exactly what they are supposed to do. 

For the first time these racing boats have to have a new and different drill, and that is a keel clearing drill. They sail through the 

South Atlantic on their course and they sail near the place that is 

farthest from land anywhere on the surface of the earth; and even 

out there they are still doing these keel clearing drills. When the 

boats came into Newport from Brazil on their leg that ended with 

us, you could see the boats in Newport Harbor as they came in 

within sight of each other. 

They had sailed all the way from Brazil and these races are still 

so close that they end up within minutes of each other, within sight 

of each other as they finish, so you really, really need to make sure 

that your vessel is operating at peak performance. And they have 

enough computers to know when it is off performance, so they then 

have to deploy—they know what is wrong, the keep clearing drill; 

and somebody has to go over the side real quick, with goggles and 

a knife and whatever else they need, to get the junk, the plastic 

junk, usually, that the keel has swept like a single comb tooth out 

of the ocean and get their boat operating back at speed again. 

So, it is an interesting physical comparison to the longstanding, 

ancient, well established man overboard drill. It is only now, only 

in the last few years that ocean racers now have to come up with 

a whole new drill that they have to practice, keel clearing, even in 

the farthest corners of the South Atlantic. 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you, Senator Whitehouse. 

Senator CARPER. 

Senator CARPER. Mr. Karas, I don’t know a whole lot about CocaCola’s World Without Waste campaign, but I am told that the goals 

are ambitious. I am told that it will really make a difference to improving international recycling practices and reduce waste in our 

oceans, and that is encouraging. What are the biggest challenges 

that your company faces in implementing these goals domestically 

and what can Congress do to support your efforts in this Country? 

Mr. KARAS. I think domestically the biggest challenge that we 

are trying to work through now, and I mentioned this in some of 

my earlier comments, at times I am dealing with sort of the waste 

infrastructure 1.0. I may have five different entities, public and/or 

private. One might be hauling, one might be operating the material 

recovery facility or the MRF. My end market might be somewhere 

off in the distance, and it is very disconnected. 

So, for us to be able to deliver 50 percent recycled content, I have 

to do it in a way that I have an adequate supply, adequate a good 

quality material, so I think the challenge is I am looking to see 

what the next 2.0 waste management system will be in the longterm. 

We have a combination of different efforts that we are doing to 

really work on vertically integrating that system, so, from a business perspective, if you are one and the same entity, I just toured 

112 

a MRF, material recovery facility, earlier this week. They are integrated with making cardboard boxes, so they pull the cardboard 

out of the materials coming into this site, drive across the parking 

lot and they are making brand new cardboard boxes. When they do 

it that way, it works; it has value. I think that is sort of the area 

that we are seeing as the biggest challenge, is how do we really get 

that system to work. 

I think the second piece is we have probably, it is something I 

mentioned earlier, about the culture right here in this Country. I 

really believe that people don’t understand the concept of the circular economy and we have very much a culture that is throwaway, 

so we are working on that space as well. 

Senator CARPER. Any question you have not been asked that you 

would like to be asked? 

Mr. BAILLIE. I just wanted an opportunity to respond to the systemic question that you asked. 

Senator CARPER. Oh, good. 

Mr. BAILLIE. I think there is nothing inherently bad about plastics, but in 1950 we were producing 2.3 million tons. 

Senator CARPER. How much? 

Mr. BAILLIE. Two point three. 

Senator CARPER. In what year? 

Mr. BAILLIE. In 1950. And now it is 500 million tons. So that is 

a massive increase. And we haven’t moved to that closed loop economy, so we are producing these plastics without a full cycle of what 

will happen to them going forward, and there is just too much of 

it. 

But when you talk about the source, it is really working with the 

industries and saying how can we produce plastics that can definitely be recycled. When you have multiple plastics, say, in a toothbrush—there are three types of plastics, often—it makes it much 

more difficult to recycle. So how can we create conditions where it 

is easy to recycle things? And things like coffee cups, we have plastics being mixed and layered with wood and with aluminum. Again, 

it makes it extremely difficult to recycle that. How do we simplify 

that process? 

If we can do that and then we develop more standardized approach across the United States in terms of recycling, we can bring 

recycling to scale. The things you do in D.C. are different than you 

might do in States across America. We have to standardize this 

process so we can work at scale and we can innovate at scale. 

Then we talked about innovation. I mentioned the Impact Investment Fund we are promoting, but there are much larger funds out 

there, and I think there is a real opportunity for Government to 

work with the private sector to develop these large funds to actually drive innovation. 

Then, finally, incentives. We talked about the five cents on a 

plastic bag, which makes a world of difference, or the five cents to 

collect a bottle, which makes a world of difference. We have to explore and deliver on these standards. 

Then, I think that the United States can then play a much 

stronger global role. We are now only recycling 9 percent of our 

plastics. Some of these other countries that we are talking about 

that are putting more waste into the world are actually recycling 

113 

more than we are. So, we should set a target of going from at least 

our 9 percent to what Europe is doing, which is around 30 percent, 

to ensure that we can then move into a leadership position in this 

space and lead with our innovation as well. 

Senator CARPER. Congressman Dooley. 

Mr. DOOLEY. If I may respond. I would say that the fact that we 

have seen an increased use of plastics, that has been a significant 

contributor to enhancing global sustainability. A few years ago, 

UNEP, the United States Environmental Program, at the request 

of one of their members, did a study in terms of trying to identify 

the environmental costs of plastics. They hired a firm called True 

Cost that went out and did this study, and they came back and 

they said, OK, it is about $90 billion a year. 

From a policymaker’s perspective, I said, what would you respond to a study that said that? You could be led down to say, well, 

then we ought to eliminate the use of plastics. What we did at 

ACC, we said, you know, you need to do a more comprehensive assessment. 

We went back to True Cost, we said, not only should you do an 

assessment of the environmental cost of plastics, but what would 

be the environmental costs of the alternatives. They did that and 

they came back to us and they said, it is a good news, bad news 

story. It is not 90 billion, it is 139 billion for the environmental cost 

of plastics. But the good news is, from a plastic manufacturer, is 

that the environmental cost of using alternatives to plastics was 

four times as large. 

So I think we have to be careful here when we are trying to develop policies that are going to ultimately enhance global sustainability, that we should do so in a manner that is really based on 

doing comprehensive assessments of the life cycle impact of the 

various materials. When you take that approach based on the more 

comprehensive study, it sends a signal to us as manufacturers that 

we have to do a better job of ensuring that the plastics that are 

increasingly being used are more easily recycled, that their energy 

and their chemicals can be more easily recoverable so that we can 

minimize their impact in terms of the environment, but still capitalizing on the positive environmental benefits from their use. 

Senator CARPER. Fair enough. Thank you. Thank you, Cal. 

Could I have one more question, Mr. Chairman? 

I am trying to remember the name of the new program they have 

over in China. I think it is called the Green Fence policy. It is a 

ban on importing plastic waste. As you know, China was our market for these materials and for a long time they previously accepted 

about 30 percent maybe a third of our plastic waste. In our Country, local municipalities are having more trouble now breaking 

even when collecting and recycling this waste. 

Anybody have an idea what are some of the best ways for the 

U.S. to address this new challenge? Any thoughts? 

Mr. DOOLEY. Again, I think that there are some real opportunities to use this as an inflection point where we could see opportunities to increase the value of this accumulating plastic waste. In my 

opening remarks, we identified some policies that we currently 

have in place in the United States that are impeding the flow of 

investment capital in developing the innovations that can transVerDate Aug 31 2005 10:43 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00117 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\_EPW\DOCS\32933.TXT VERNE
114 

form that mixed waste or plastic waste stream accumulated into 

energy as well as into going through a pyrolysis where you can 

turn it into feedstocks. 

Now, if you want to try to get a permit for a pyrolysis unit to 

do waste plastic, sometimes it is subject to being permitted as a 

hazardous waste facility versus what could be a recycling center. 

If you make that small change, you could, again, create a greater 

incentive for the flow of that investment capital to develop those 

new innovations. 

The same thing, if you could develop diesel or a syn fuel from a 

plastic waste stream, it doesn’t qualify for the alternative fuels 

treatment or renewable fuels. Making simple changes like that are 

going to encourage a lot of investment from a lot of startup companies, as well as a lot of large companies, to make investments that 

can add value and capture the energy and the value in that plastic 

waste stream. 

Senator CARPER. Were you this smart when you were a Congressman? 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. DOOLEY. I was smart enough to leave. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator CARPER. I will say in closing, for myself, this is a really 

important issue and I again want to thank Senator Whitehouse 

and Senator Sullivan for their great leadership on this, and our 

Chairman for holding this hearing and for Senator Inhofe’s strong 

interest in this issue as well. This is one I care about enormously. 

I am sorry there is so much other stuff going on that hasn’t allowed 

me to be here. 

One of my favorite witnesses, the guy who is the controller general of the Country, the head of GAO, General Accountability Office. His name is Gene Dodaro. I don’t know if you have ever met 

him, but he comes and testified fairly regularly on different committees. Sometimes he will be sitting right where you are, Mr. 

Karas, and he speaks opening statement, no notes. Answers every 

question, no notes. Finally, I noticed 1 day that when he would 

speak there was a woman sitting right behind him and her lips 

were moving when he spoke. 

I have been watching you and your responses, and there is a lady 

in a red dress right behind you, and I noticed that her lips were 

moving when you speak. She looks very familiar and I just want 

to say to Missy, welcome to our hearing; it is great to see you. You 

have another career ahead of you if you can take this show on the 

road. 

Thank you very much. 

Senator BARRASSO. Thank you, Senator Carper. 

Thank you all. This was very productive. 

Senator Whitehouse, thank you for your leadership. Thank Senator Sullivan as well. 

If there are no more questions today from the panel, members 

might submit written questions for up to 2 weeks, so the record 

will stay open for that period of time. 

But I really do want to thank all of you for being here, as well 

as what you are doing on this vital, vital issue. Thank you to National Geographic for your leadership and for putting visually 

115 

something that I think really caught the attention of the Country 

and the world. 

With that, this hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:52 a.m. the committee was adjourned.] 

[Additional material submitted for the record follows.] 

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32933.078

Plastic Pollution Is Now Spreading 

From Ocean Food Chains Into Land 

Animals, Thanks to This Insect 

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse. 

DAVID NIELD 

SEP 201 

We know that plastic pollution is a major problem for the world's oceans, but 

scientists just discovered a new way that discarded microplastics are making 

their way out of the water and into other food chains through mosquitoes. 

What's happening is mosquito larvae are ingesting microplastics as waterdwelling larvae, and those plastic particles are sticking around as they 

transition into flying mosquitoes. 

Those adult insects provide tasty snacks for birds and bats in the air above, 

which means microplastics are now ending up in the stomachs of land 

animals, not just marine creatures. 

This process is technically known as ontogenic transference, meaning it 

happens as the organism matures and moves habitats. 

Once the plastic-carrying mosquitoes have been eaten by birds and bats, the 

pollution can then make it further into other food chains and ecosystems, 

according to the researchers from the University of Reading in the UK. 

"This is eye-opening research, which has shown us for the first time that 

microplastics are able to navigate several life stages in flying insects, allowing 

them to contaminate all kinds of living creatures who would not normally be 

exposed to them," says one of the researchers, biological scientist Amanda 

Callaghan. 

"It is a shocking reality that plastic is contaminating almost every corner of the 

environment and its ecosystems." 

Callaghan and her colleagues fed fluorescent plastic microbeads to mosquito 

larvae in lab conditions then monitored their growth through a microscope. 
117 


32933.079

The plastic remained in place through the non-feeding pupal stage and into 

the adult insect, via the Malpighian tubules (structures equivalent to the 

human kidneys). 

Microplastics like these can take hundreds of years to be broken down in the 

environment, and the study showed that the smaller the plastic beads were, 

the more likely they were to stick around in the bodies of the mosquitoes. 

We already know that plastics polluting our oceans and waterways can have a 

damaging effect on wildlife and make progress through the food chain. 

Now we know these harmful, microscopic fragments stick around as 

mosquitoes change form and make their way out of the water too. 

Fluorescent microplastic in a mosquito abdomen. (University of Reading) 

Friends of the Earth plastics campaigner Emma Priestland, who wasn't 

involved in the research, said the findings were "disturbing" 

"Knowing that plastic can be transferred from the larval stage to the adult 

mosquito, which then serves as food to a multitude of larger animals, 

highlights the urgency with which we need to drastically reduce our use of 

plastic," Priestland told the BBC. 
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32933.080

As well as mosquitoes, insects like mayflies, dragonflies and midges start life 

in ponds and puddles before making their way into the outside world, where 

they're often eaten by bigger creatures - so the problem could go way beyond 

the boundaries of this study. 

We know that as plastic seeps into the natural world it can get passed further 

and further between animals and ultimately have serious consequences for 

natural ecosystems. 

Let's hope this new study helps underline the potential scale of the problem 

and spurs efforts to cut back on plastic use. 

"Much recent attention has been given to the plastics polluting our oceans, but 

this research reveals it is also in our skies," says Callaghan. 

The research has been published in Biology Letters. 
119 


32933.081

STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD 

of the September 26, 2018 

September 26, 2018 

Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Public 

Public Hearing, on the subject: 

"Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash 

on the Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health" 

http:/!www.epw.scnatc.gov/public/index.cfm/2018/9/clcaning-up-the-oceans-how-to-reduce-the-impact-ot~ 

man-made-trash-on-the-em·ironment-wildlife-and-human-health 

"Food waste is a multi-billion dollar problem" or "opportunity" according to 

Rethink Food Waste through Economics and Data (ReFED) \VWw.refed.com/-

ReFED and others are working diligently and successfully to reduce food waste. 

However, when a consumer discards food, the packaging that accompanies the food is also discarded. 

The Animal Digestible Food Packaging Initiative (ADFPI www.adfpi.org) is an effort to 

encourage/convince/inspire representatives of grocery stores, quick service restaurants, food manufacturers and food 

packaging manufacturers to establish a public-private partnership (PPP) with the objective of funding research 

necessary to identifY new food packaging materials that not only meet food safety, integrity and quality requirements but 

that are also digestible by animals so that grocery and quick service restaurant waste may be sent to a renderer for 

manufacture into anima/feed instead of being sent to a landfill. 

Because food packaging that meets food safety, integrity and quality requirements and that is digestible by 

animals either does not exist or is not readily available, and because the United States does not have an 

economically robust recycling industry, food waste along with its accompanying packaging generated by quick 

service restaurants and grocers, that is not beneficially used, is sent to a landfill for disposaL 

But if grocery stores and quick service restaurants were to utilize food packaging that meets food safety, 

integrity and quality requirements and that is also digestible by animals, food waste along with its 

accompanying packaging could be sent to a renderer for manufacture into animal feed 

http://www.nationalrcndcrers.org/publications/prcss-kit/nra-releases-industrv-vidcorcndering-the-sustainablcsolutionl- Recovered would be all the energy and natural resources that went into producing and manufacturing 

the wasted food and its inherent packaging, including its inherent animal nutrition value and its economic value 

as a feed source. 

No one industry, be it food or package manufacturers, quick service restaurants or grocers, is willing or 

financially able to assume the responsibility to fund millions of dollars of research necessary for the 

identification of new food packaging materials that would meet food safety, integrity and quality requirements 

and also be digestible by animals. 

If such food packaging is to be found, a food industry cooperative research effort will be required through 

creation of a public-private partnership (PPP) comprised of key stakeholders (including food and package 

manufactures, grocers and foodservice companies, renderers, pet food manufacturers, their trade associations, 

government agencies, foundations, think tanks and universities). 
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32933.082

September 26,2018 

Page 2 -Statement for the Record of the Senate EPW Public Hearing on 

"Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash 

on the Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health" 

Funding for such a PPP can be found through the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) 

https://toundationfar.org/ and the National Science Foundation (NSF) "Innovations at the Nexus of Food, 

Energy and Water Systems" program https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunitv.html'?oppld=JO 1132 

- FFAR and/or NSF funding would unleash the genius of students and professors at tbe Nation's land 

grant universities and other research organizations- Let us put them to work on the challenge to discover 

animal digestible food packaging that meets necessary safety, integrity and quality requirements! 

- FFAR" ... builds unique partnerships to support innovative and actionable science addressing today 'sfood 

and agriculture challenges. The Foundation was established by the Farm Bill passed in 2014 and charged with 

complementing and fUrthering the important work of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Leveraging public 

and private resources, FFAR will increase the scientific and technological research. innovation, and 

partnerships critical to enhancing sustainable production of nutritious food for a growing global population." 

- The NSF grant program " ... seeks to support research that conceptualizes FEW systems broadly and 

inclusively, incorporating social and behavioral processes (such as decision making and governance), physical 

processes (such as built infrastructure and new technologies for more efficient resource utilization), natural 

processes (such as biogeochemical and hydrologic cycles), biological processes (such as agroecosystem 

structure and productivity), and cyber-components (such as sensing, networking, computation and visualization 

for decision-making and assessment) ... " 

This public hearing is one example of the public's demand that manufacturers take responsibility for the afterlife environmental effects of single use packaging as exemplified by the Earth Day site, titled "Initiatives to Ban 

or Reduce Consumption o(Single-Use Plastics" at https://www.earthdav.org/plasticban/ and the Linkedin posts 

of Jack Cooper, ADFPI Executive Director, at https://wVIw.linkcdin.com/in/juck-coopcr21474b 14/detail/rccent-activitv/sharcs/ 

- Further, " ... increased consumer and regulatory concern toward single-use plastic and other packaging 

materials is a critical investment theme, especially for asset managers with an Environmental, Social and 

Governance (ESG) mandate ... " according to an extensive August 2018 Citi Global Perspectives and Solutions 

(GPS) Report, titled "Rethinking Single-Use Plastics: Responding to a Sea Change in Consumer Behavior" at 

https://ir.citi .com/ II A 9tF7xva3Sl J 5qL6ghGCV o Xt4 Wi3eDY s3Nd/tXPY7srxTM21 ihP4orVMVpvfvOW 

Another reason to support such a PPP is presented in a September 2018 University of Cambridge Institute tor 

Sustainability Leadership report: " ... The significant challenges presented by plastic packaging waste can only 

be solved through collaborative actions from business, government and society ... We do not know if it will even 

ever be achievable to totally eliminate plastic packaging waste. However, there is a need to act now, before all 

of these unknowns can be addressed, and to set a high level of ambition, even if it seems hard to achieve in the 

current context ... "- The report is available here: hllQs://ww\v.cisLcam.ac.uk/resources/circularcconom\'/towards-sustainable-packaging-a-plan-to-eliminatc-plustic-packaging-waste-from-uk-bottlcd-watcrand-sort-drinks 

- As well, according to a June 28,2018 Sustainable Brands http:/1\\WW.sustainablebrands.coml report, when 

individual food companies and their trade associations take a stand on issues the public cares about, like the 

after-life environmental effects of single use plastic packaging, consumers are " ... ready to reward brands that 

take stands ... Consumers want brands to stand up for issues in their areas of expertise ... {Consumer;] believe 

companies should provide ongoing support for issues that align with the types of products or services they offer 
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September 26, 2018 

Page 3 -Statement for the Record of the Senate EPW Pnblic Hearing on 

"Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to Reduce the Impact of Man-Made Trash 

on the Environment, Wildlife, and Human Health" 

companies {should] look to their primary business first to refine their purpose and prioritize relevant social 

issues ... It is clear that brands have much to gain from taking stances that fit with their organization's purpose 

and product ... The key is effectively communicating those stances ... " - The SB report is here: 

hnnl/www.sustainablebranc\s.com/ncws and views/marketing comms/sustainable brands/conS\l!1lers readv r 

eward brands take stands?utm source'"ncwsletter&utm medium~bran<!sweekly&utm camnaign~jun28 

- Also, according to an August 20, 2018 Boston Consulting Group report, titled "Tackling the 1.6-Billion-Ton 

Food Loss and Waste Crisis"" ... no one group, government, or company can ... {solve the food waste crisis on 

its own but] ... Companies that play a role in the food value chain stand to reap tangible business benefits ... 

{and] can burnish their brand ... " by addressing the issue: https://www.bcg.com/enus/publications/20 18/tackling-1.6-billion-ton-food-loss-and-waste-crisis.aspx 

Finally, plastic waste recycling is not projected to be effective and efficient in the United States and the EU for 

a decade or two: 

- The U.S. Plastics Resin Producers have set the following goals: I 00% of plastics packaging to be re-used, 

recycled or recovered by 2040 with 100% of plastics packaging to be recyclable or recoverable by 2030, 

according to a May 9, 2018 The American Chemistry Council's (ACC) news release at 

httos://www.arnericanchemistrv.com/Media!PressReleasesTranscripts/ACC-news-releases/US-PlasticsProducers-Set -Circular-Economy-Goals-to-Recycle-or-Recover-1 00-Percent-of-Plastic-Packaging-by2040.html 

- The European Union proposed EU plastics strategy calls for" ... all plastic packaging ... {to be] recyclable 

by 2030 ... " according to a January 16, 2018 European Commission News Release at 

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release IP-18-5 en.htm 

- Many cities are abandoning recycling programs because of soaring costs in the wake of new waste 

acceptance policies adopted by China, according a September 14, 2018 Bloomberg Environment story at 

https://www.bna.com/curbside-recycling-threat-n730l4482530/ 

- "More Recycling Won't Solve Plastic Pollution" is the title of an August 6, 2018 Scientific American 

"Observations" which argues that " ... It's a lie that wasteful consumers cause the problem and that changing 

our individual habits can fix it ... The real problem is that single-use plastic ... is an incredibly reckless abuse 

of technology ... At face value ... {Keep America Beautiful and other] efforts seem benevolent, but they ... shift 

the onus of environmental responsibility onto the public ... A better alternative is the circular economy model, 

where waste is minimized by planning in advance how materials can be reused and recycled at a product's end 

of life rather than trying to figure that out after the fact ... " 

https://blogs.scientificarnerican.corn/observations/more-recycling-wont-solve-plastic-pollutionl 

- Whether or not food and other packages become "recyclable," are actually recovered and "recycled" (that is, 

actually manufactured into new products), the plastics industry will continue to be robust according to this 

story: "Plastics Industry Flourishes in Response to Market Demand' is the title of an article in the Third 

Quarter 2018 issue of the Area Development Magazine which notes that" ... It's a good time to be in the 

plastics manufacturing business. Plastics manufacturers in the US. are continuing to enjoy increased demand 

for their products ... along with decreasing production costs ... Packaging ... is showing especially strong 

growth ... "- The article is here: http://www.areadevelopment.com/Plastics/03-2018/nlastics-industryflourishes-in-response-to-market-demand.shtml 

END 

Submitted on behalf of the Animal Food Packaging Initiative www.adfpi.org by Jack Cooper, Executive 

Director, 33 Falling Creek Court, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904- JLC@adfpi.org- Text to: 301 384 8287 
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Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 

University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario, Canada MSS 3B2 

October 7, 2018 

Email: chelsea.rochman@utoronto.ca 

Tel: 647-770-8135 

RE: Hearing: Cleaning Up the Oceans: How to reduce the impacts of man-made trash to the environment, 

wildlife. and human health?" 

Dear Chariman Bmrasso and Ranking Member Senator Carper, 

Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to submit testimony. I also want to thank you for giving 

time to this important issue. 

I am Dr. Chelsea Rochman, a professor in Marine and Freshwater Ecology at the University of Toronto. 

have been researching the issue of plastic pollution for more than a decade. During this time, I have 

watched the state oflhe evidence grow tremendously. Today, there is no doubt that anthropogenic 

debris of all shapes and sizes litters our oceans and freshwater ecosystems. This debris is found in 

hundreds of species of wildlife, including in the species we consider seafood. We know that plastic 

pollution harms indhidual organisms, wildlife populations and communities. These impacts, 

combined with evidence for accelerating plastic production and emissions into the environment, 

suggest the international community should come together to limit future environmental emissions 

of anthropogenic litter now, before they transform ecosystems irreparably. Below, I will speak 

specifically to microplastics followed by marine debris in general. 

lvficroplastics 

My research mainly focuses on microplastics (plastics 5mm in size) and demonstrates that 

microplastics are ubiquitous in the environment, including in seafood. My research has also shown 

that microplastics are associated with a cocktail of toxicants, including 78% of those we currently 

consider priority pollutants under the US EPA. It also demonstrates that microplastics can be toxic to fish 

and invertebrates. 

By weight, large plastic debris such as fishing nets, make up the largest percentage of plastic floating in 

our oceans. However, by count, microplastics by far exceed the number of plastic in our environment. 

Thus, as we design policies aimed at plastic pollution, we must be mindful to include policies 

specific to rnicroplastics. Because some sources ofmicroplastics arc unique (e.g., microfibers, tire dust, 

pre-production pellets), policies will also be unique to larger items of plastic waste. As such, it is 

important that we invest time thinking about creative and effective solutions for mitigating microplastics. 

Although we often think of mierobeads when we think of microplastics, the term microplastic 

incorporates a large diversity of plastic types, including those that were produced as microplastics (e.g., 

microbeads, pre-production pellets ofteu referred to as "nurdles") and those that are literally degraded bits 

of larger plastic products (e.g .• tire dust, microfibers and fragments of bottles, bags and film). The former 

is called primary microplastics and the latter is referred to as secondary microplastics. Secondary 

microplastics are the most common type of mieroplastic waste found at sea. Still, we must not forget the 

primary sources ofmicroplastics as well as the sources that emit secondary microplastics into the oceans 

(e.g., microfibers). These particles, specifically microfibers, are some of the most common microplastic 

types found in global ecosystems. 
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Researchers estimate that there are between 15 and 51 trillion microplastic particles floating around in our 

oceans, reaching from the poles to the equator. Microplastic particles are found in large concentrations in 

Arctic sea ice and are also present in sediments and wildlife from the deepest patts of the ocean. 

Consequently, this widespread contamination has led to the contamination of lOOs of species of wildlife 

across all trophic levels. Laboratory studies demonstrate that microplastics can lead to mortality, reduced 

growth, and decreased reproductive output in marine animals. Although we do not yet understand how 

they may affect human health, they are also found in sea salt, seafood and drinking water. 

Although policies that mitigate large plastic debris also reduce microplastic debris, we need to make sure 

we consider microplastics when we consider all of the policy options for plastic pollution. Policies 

specific to microplastics may include, but are not limited to, emissions standards for microplastics 

(e.g., from washing machine effluent, wastewater, storm water, etc ... ), filters on washing machines 

to trap microfibers, increasing participation for operation clean sweep and extend this model to 

textiles, material innovation, and banning microbeads. 

The above mitigation strategies are simple solutions to combat some sources ofmicroplastics. Still, when 

it comes to plastic pollution, we know the least about sources, fate and effects of microplastics. As such, 

while we begin implementing policies now related to known sources of microplastics, we must continue 

to put resources into research that helps us better understand what some other sources of 

microplastics are and which may be prioritized for policy based ou quantities and risk. 

Marine Debris in General 

Today's estimates suggest that about eight million metric tons of plastic enters the oceans annually from 

land. If we continue business as usual, this number is expected to increase by an order of magnitude by 

2050. In the US, I think we have at1 opportunity to lead in this space. The US can and should be a large 

part of the solution, and show other countries that reducing emissions of plastic is possible. 

Last year, I co-Jed a paper in the journal Proceedings of the Nirtional Academy of Sciences titled, "Why 

we need an international agreement on marine plastic pollution". Like many other contaminants, plastic is 

not constrained by borders. It migrates via air and water currents in and out of parts of the oceans that are 

beyond national jurisdiction. Because plastic pollution does not observe borders, neither should policy. At 

this time, there are no international agreements for plastic pollution. I recognize that the Clean Seas 

Initiative is a great first step, but I think it is time to move to something similar to the Paris Agreement 

and at a faster pace than in took to get to the Paris Agreement. To measurably reduce emissions of plastic 

pollution, we need defined reduction targets, signatories, methods of reporting progress and a global fund. 

I envision an agreemeut where countries sign on as signatories with a defined reduction target. For 

example, in the US we might agree to reduce 25% of our emissions by 2025. To meet reduction 

targets, each conn try needs to come up with strategies to do it. Because there is no one-size-fits-all 

solution, each country may take on its own set of unique solutions to reach its target. For example, 

countries may adopt container deposit schemes to improve recycling rates, eliminate the use of 

some single-use plastic items that are unnecessary (e.g., microbeads, straws), improve waste 

collection and management infrastructure, and agree to market only plastics that are recyclable 

and/or reusable in their region. For some countries, particularly in the developing world, aid is 

necessary to build new infrastructure for waste. These countries need access to a global fund, 

similar to the UNFCCC's climate fund. To build this fund, an extended producer responsibility 

program can be implemented. If the fund pulled in one penny for every pound of plastic produced, 

the fund would build by over $6.8 billion per year. Finally, each year countries would report on 

their success measuring the reduction of plastic emissions globally over time and ensuring 

signatories reached their goal. 
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With more than a decade of experience researching plastic pollution, I have a vast knowledge base on this 

issue, I have published many papers about the topic and have advised managers and policy-makers in 

several countries. For example, I presented at the Our Ocean Conference at the US State Department and 

in front of the UN General Assembly in New York City. I have also had one-on-one discussion with the 

offices of several congress- men and women in the United States. I would be more than happy to sit down 

with you and discuss the state of the science and how it might inform policy around this important issue 

both nationally and internationally. Please feel free to connect with me anytime. 

Many thanks for your time. 

Sincerely, 

Chelsea M. Rochman 

Assistant Professor 
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October 10, 2018 

GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

Deportment of Energy and Environment 

Senator John Barrasso 

Chairman 

Committee on Environment and Public Works 

410 Dirksen Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 205 IO 

Senator Tom Carper 

Ranking Member 

Committee on Environment and Public Works 

456 Dirksen Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

Subject: Written Testimony for recent U.S. Senate hearing entitled Cleaning Up the Oceans: 

How to reduce the impact of man~made trash on the environment, wildlife, and human health 

Dear Sen. Barrasso and Sen. Carper: 

Thank you for your leadership to reduce the impacts of trash on our nation's waterways. Trash is 

one of the great environmental challenges of our time and will not be solved without robust 

participation from federal, state, and local governments. We welcome this opportunity to provide 

written testimony and stand ready to work with you on further efforts to address this issue. 

The District has been a leader in the nation for over a decade on addressing trash in our local 

waterways. According to a 2015 article published in the journal, Science, researchers estimate 

over 8 million metric tons of trash enter the oceans. annually from land-based sources. 1 In a 

heavily urbanized area like the District, a large portion of that trash comes from litter being 

conveyed via storm sewer and combined sewer systems to waterways like the Potomac and 

Anacostia Rivers. In response to this problem, the District, in collaboration with U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and upstream jurisdictions, established a total 

maximum daily load (TMDL) for trash in the Anacostia River. As a result, the District is 

compelled by EPA and our own priorities to reduce trash in the Anacostia River as part of our 

efforts to make the Anacostia fishable and swimmable once more. Given that the District has 

declared 2018 the Y car of the Anacostia River, it is very timely for us to provide the Senate with 

a summary of our experiences. We are proud of all of our accomplishments and would like to 

share details of some of our efforts in hopes that this work can, and will be, emulated elsewhere 

throughout the nation. 

\ ~ Jambeck, J.R., R. Geyer, C. Wilcox, T.R. Siegler, M. Perryman. A. Andrady, R Narayan. & 

K.L Law. 20L"L Plaslic waste inputs from !and into the ocean. Science 347: 768-77 L 

WEARE * * *-------------------------------------------MMM8Mi tN!VIiRCl'N~~ENT 1200 First Street NE. 5th Floor, Washington. DC 20002 I (202) 535-2600 I doee.dc.gov oc 
126 


32933.088

Three important components have helped us to effectively manage trash in our waterways: 

regional partnerships, using sound science to inform policy, and taking multi-pronged, 

innovative approaches. 

Regional Partnerships 

The issue of trash impacting the Potomac River watershed began over a decade ago thanks to a 

regional collaboration facilitated primarily by the Alice Ferguson Foundation of Accoceek, MD. 

Since 2005, the Alice Ferguson Foundation has held an annual Potomac Watershed Trash 

Summit in the DC metropolitan area. This summit brings federal, state, and local government 

agencies, elected officials, and non-governmental organizations together to discuss efforts to 

reduce trash in the watershed. This would not be possible without grant funding from the NOAA 

Marine Debris Program, which has been an invaluable partner in regional efforts to address tbis 

issue. 

Example of trash conditions in Watts Branch, a tributary to the upper Anacostia River in Washington, DC 

Over the years, participants have implemented key efforts discussed at this summit including a 

regional anti-littering campaign, innovative local policies for reducing trash, and regional 

collaborations to establish the TMDL for trash for the Anacostia, one of the most urbanized 

tributaries to the Potomac River. The summit brought together leaders from the District, the 

state of Maryland, local Maryland counties, EPA, and local advocates to reach common ground 

on establishing the TMDL. Without this regional partnership it is very unlikely this effort would 

have been successful. As we will highlight more specifically, several new innovative approaches 

for trash reduction have been implemented since that time. 

In 2016, the District, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County reaffirmed their 

commitment to making the Potomac and Anacostia River free of trash by signing the Anacostia 

River Accord. The accord was signed by the District's Mayor Muriel Bowser, as well as 

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett, and Prince George's County Executive Rushem 
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Baker. In addition, the Anacostia Watershed Restoration Partnership, housed at the Metropolitan 

Washington Council of Governments, has convened a trash working group to develop consistent 

methods for tracking and reporting trash reductions across all three jurisdictions. This is further 

evidence of the importance of regional partnerships at combatting the issue of trash in our 

waterways. 

The next Potomac Watershed Trash Summit to discuss what the District, other jurisdictions 

businesses, and non-governmental organizations are doing to address trash in the Potomac River 

will he held on October 16'h, 2018 at George Mason University in Arlington, VA. 

Using Sound Science to Inform Policy 

One of the first things the District did to address the problem of trash in the Anacostia River was 

conduct a two-year comprehensive study of trash conditions. The District Department of Energy 

and Environment (DOEE) funded the Anacostia Watershed Society of Bladensburg, MD to 

conduct surveys of litter along the river and its many tributaries and monitor trash loads from 

storm sewer outfalls. The study provided two important pieces of information: (I) data on the 

most common types of trash in the Anacostia River and its watershed and (2) data on total 

weight of trash entering the Anacostia River on an annual basis. The first dataset informed 

District policies targeted to address specific types of trash most common in our waterways such 

as single-use plastic bags and expanded polystyrene foam products. The graph below shows the 

most common types of trash found out of 44 different categories sampled along DC shorelines in 

the Anacostia River, its tributaries, Kingman Lake (a semi-enclosed lake in the Anacostia River), 

and land in the Anacostia River watershed. The District utilized the second dataset to develop the 

trash TMDL and identify and strategically address hotspots in the watershed which are 

conveying above average amounts of trash to the river. 

ii(l% 

" 4S'jl; 

.S! ~ " .. 

'il ::15% () 

tl ii(l% 

" ~ 

0 "' 2IJ\II; " "' lSI& ~ 

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.. 

Type of Trash 

Graph displaying most common types of trash found by count in 2008 in the Anacostia River, its tributaries. 

Kingman Lake, and land in the Anacostia watershed. 
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32933.090

Since 2016, DOEE has been working with the Metropolitan Washington Council of 

Governments to sample trash along rivers and streams throughout the District. We provide this 

data annually to U.S. EPA Region IlL This work builds upon a larger monitoring dataset the 

Council of Governments has been collecting in the Maryland portion of the Anacostia River 

watershed since the early part of this decade, making it one of the most robust datasets for trash 

for a waterbody anywhere in the nation. Having this data is imperative to making future 

strategic decisions for implementation and infom1ing development of new policies. 

Multi-Pronged, Innovative Approaches 

As with most environmental challenges, there is no "silver bullet" for eliminating the harm trash 

poses to our waterways and wildlife. The District has devised a plan that utilizes innovative 

policies, trash capture technologies, education and outreach. 

As mentioned previously, our monitoring efforts helped us to determine the most common types 

of trash found in our waterbodics. The District utilized monitoring data described previously to 

justify the need to reduce three of the most common types of trash found during sampling: 

single-use plastic bags, expanded polystyrene foam products (commonly referred to as 

StyrofoamTM), and other food service ware. 

In 2009, the District enacted the Anacostia River Clean Up and Protection Act (also known as 

the Bag Law) to create a five-cent fee on single-usc plastic bags. Starting January l, 20!0, 

consumers in the District pay the fee at the time of purchase in a restaurant, grocery, liquor, or 

convenience store. DOEE employs an inspection team to ensure businesses are in compliance 

with the law. Revenue, fines and other contributions generated by the law goes into the 

Anacostia River Cle<tn Up and Protection Fund to pay for projects like trash capture devices, 

stream restoration, stormwater management projects, education, outreach, and administrative 

costs. In Fiscal Year 20!7, the Department found that 76% of businesses inspected were in 

compliance with the law. More information on the District's Bag Law, including annual revenue 

and expenditure reports, are available at 

In 2014, the District enacted the Sustainable DC Omnibus Amendment Acl, which includes 

restrictions on food service ware packaged and intended for consumption without further 

preparation. Specifically, a ban on food service ware made of StyrofoarnTM (foam) took effect 

January 1, 2016, and the law requires food service ware to be made of recyclable or compostable 

materials starting January 1, 2017. As with the Bag Law, DOEE inspects businesses to make 

sure they are in full compliance with the law. In fiscal year 2017, DOEE found that 88% of 

District businesses inspected were in compliance. Further information on the District's food 

service ware requirements is available at llt!J'~Jl."ID-"l'-'.~ILJ.\.Q'iLlS!QJ!.~S:L'.' . .<.2.<.'.'tl:llt; 

The District has also implemented innovative structural controls for capturing trash. Since 2009, 

the District has installed nine trash traps in the Anacostia River watershed. These traps have 

varied from proprietary products to custom devices designed by local non-profits. The pictures 

below display examples of the devices. These devices have primarily been funded by the 

Anacostia River Clean Up and Protection Fund and other local funding sources through grants to 
129 


32933.091

local nonprofits to design, install, and maintain these devices. The nonprofits also collect data on 

trash collected in the traps to further inform policies. Since installation of the first device in 

2009, these devices together have helped capture and remove over 60,000 lbs of trash and debris 

from the Anacostia River and its tributaries. 

Examples of trash traps installed in tributaries to the Anacostia River in the District. Top: Proprietary device known 

as a Bandalong Litter TrapTM installed and maintained by Anacostia Riverkeeper. Bottom: custom trash weir 

designed, installed, and maintained by the Anacostia Watershed Society. 
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Lastly, the District has led many education and outreach activities over the years to change 

behavior. In 2010, DOEE funded the Alice Ferguson Foundation (AFF) to conduct a study of 

littering behavior that guided the development of an anti-littering campaign throughout the 

District The campaign's central message, "Your Litter Hits Close to Home." was based on 

AFF's research that found people were most impacted by the effects litter has on their personal 

space, health, and well-being. Below is an example graphic from the anti-littering campaign. 

Other local governments in the Potomac River watershed have adopted these campaign 

materials. 

In closing, I want to again thank you and the Senate EPW committee for your interest in this 

important subject. As the nation's capital, the District has an important role to play in restoring 

urban waterways. We have set the stage for reducing trash in our rivers and streams using multifaceted, innovative approaches, but we are not done. We are truly alarmed by the potential 

impacts microplastics could have on our aquatic resources such as some of our valuable 

fisheries. A 2014 study published in the journal, Environmental Science and Technology, found 

microplastics to be present in four tidal tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay'. 59 of the 60 samples 

collected during the study contained microplastics. We are actively engaged with the EPA 

'- Yonkos, L.T., E.A. Friedel. A.C. Perez-Reyes, S. Gbosal. & C.D. Arthur. 2014. Microp1astics in 

four e'tuarine rivers in the Chesapeake Bay. C S.A. Environ. Sci. Techno!. 48: 14195-14202. 
131 

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Chesapeake Bay Program, the NOAA Marine Debris Program, and neighboring jurisdictions on 

research and management to address the issue. We hope Congress will also take a leadership 

role in finding solutions to this challenging pollution issue. 

I would encourage the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to peruse reports on 

our monitoring efforts. If you are interested in receiving copies, or have any other questions 

regarding our efforts to reduce trash in our please contact Matt Robinson of the 

DOEE Watershed Protection Division at or (202)442-3204. 

Sincerely,