The Transition | July 2023
People and progress in solving the ocean plastic crisis

About OpenOceans Global. Our work centers on mapping ocean plastic, curating the best solutions, and linking together a community of ocean plastic experts and leaders. Learn more on the Weather Channel's Pattrn interview, NBC7/39's Down to Earth segment, and ArcNews.

Past issues of The Transition.

A Continuing Call for 50 Ground Truth Images

OpenOceans Global is working on a pilot program with a satellite imagery firm and a machine learning consultant to identify beaches fouled by plastic from space. We need 50 ground truth images of densely packed plastic on a shoreline at least 5 meters square. If you can help, click here for the details.

OpenOceans Global Inspired at Esri User Conference

Esri, the world's leading GIS software company, hosted its annual user conference July 9 - 14, 2023. Esri software is used to solve some the most complex challenges to create a more sustainable, equitable and prosperous world. Esri Founder and President Jack Dangermond. asked the more than 20,000 attendees "what kind of world do you want to see? "Check out videos from the plenary session to be inspired.

A dramatic video showing how plastic pollution flows to the sea

Image credit: Instagram@seputartangsel

The monsoons came early this year to Southeast Asia. This image from an Instagram post dramatically shows how plastic might eventually reach the sea, rushing down a concrete channel in Indonesia during monsoon season. Click here to see the video.

Taking a Deeper Dive

Infrastructure use of plastic waste is promising but challenging

Image credit: National Academies of Science

The National Academies of Science July 2023 prepublication report, Recycled Plastic in Infrastructure, takes an in-depth look at how plastic waste can be recycled for use in transportation infrastructure. The results show promise, but a number of challenges must be overcome before progress can be made.

The study was mandated by the U.S. Congress. In response, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) asked the National Academies to identify:

• Opportunities for repurposing plastic waste in infrastructure,
• The characteristic and qualities of the plastic waste stream needed to enable cost-effective and safe applications that provide acceptable service and environmental performance, and
• How plastics recycling processes and upstream plastics manufacturing can be made more compatible with the recycling of plastics waste for use in infrastructure.

The report noted the following possible uses of recycled plastic in infrastructure, “some of which have been considered for decades.”

• Concrete additives and aggregates
• Asphalt pavement mixes
• Railroad ties
• Marine piles
• Drainage pipes

To date, “only one product, drainage pipe (where recycled plastic feedstocks are being substituted for virgin plastic feedstocks), has generated significant demand.”

Each of the possible uses has potential downsides. For example, although plastic has been used extensively in asphalt in India, the specifications and standards are significantly different in the U.S. It raises questions about the “long-term material and structural performance, pavement recyclability, and the potential for release of microplastics from the pavement as it wears.” More research is needed to address these issues and others.

Four types of plastic are suitable

Ironically, despite the need for more recycling, the report noted that there are limited supplies of recycled plastic, which is not surprising given last year’s report by the Ball Corporation that showed many states with recycling rates that bordered on non-existent. Significant and reliable supplies of appropriate recycled plastics will be required if it is to be successfully used in transportation infrastructure projects.

Only four types of plastic have the physical and chemical properties “with minimal contamination” needed. Descriptions are from the State University of New York.

1. Polyethylene terephthalate #1 (carbonated beverage bottles, water bottles, heatable food trays)
2. High-density polyethylene #2 (noncarbonated beverage (e.g., milk) containers, grocery bags, household chemical bottles)
3. Low-density polyethylene #4 (squeeze bottles and flexible films, (e.g., trash bags, bread bags, dry cleaning garment bags))
4. Polypropylene #5 (straws, cups, yogurt containers, ketchup bottles, hangers, automobile battery casings)

Competition is stiff for available supplies

These four types of plastic have suitable melting points and service temperature ranges, chemical resistance, and strength to be used in infrastructure. Demand for these recycled plastics is competitive, however. Many non-infrastructure uses compete for the limited supplies, including bottles, carpet, and clothing. The report says, “it will be important, from a societal standpoint, to understand the full economic and environmental benefits and costs of candidate applications to make the best use of these supplies.”

Report Recommendations

The report made the following recommendations (summarized for brevity)

1. The USEPA should support the research and data collection that will be required to understand and evaluate each use’s potential environmental, human health, economic, and performance implications.
2. The USEPA should expand the means for tracking and modeling the supply of recycled plastic and the demand that is generated by different applications.
3. The USEPA should build out the general concepts and goals of the 2021 National Recycling Strategy for improved plastics waste management and reuse.
4. The USEPA should build on the tools and guidance offered in its Green Chemistry program.
5. The USEPA should take steps to encourage and facilitate more collaboration among plastic manufacturers, suppliers, recyclers, and industrial and infrastructure users.
6. The USEPA should work with members of the community of practice to identify specific policies and regulations that have been shown or hold promise, to support and incentivize plastics recycling in an efficient and equitable manner.
7. The USEPA should lead in strengthening interagency coordination of federal agencies.
8. The USDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) should build on existing efforts that are underway to support a multiyear field-testing program.
9. The USDOT should work with states in collaboration with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, local transportation agencies, and other standards-setting organizations.
10. The USDOT should, with the involvement of modal agencies, inventory all current and prospective transportation applications of recycled plastics.

While the National Academies report is an important effort, it also underscores a core challenge: many organizations, rule-setting options, and information-gathering efforts will be involved to assess how recycled plastics can be used for transportation infrastructure. And this is just one segment of the overall approach that must be investigated to come closer to a circular economy.

Tracking Plastic News

Image credit: 9GAG

• Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Deadline for comments: July 31, 2023
• New Zealand expands its ban on hard-to-recycle plastics, Plastics News, July 20, 2023
• Recycled HDPE prices drop, Plastics News, July 20, 2023
• EPA proposal to cut plastics, chemical plant emissions draws intense interest, Plastics News, July 17, 2023
• Here's how female-led initiatives are tackling plastic waste in Zimbabwe and Malawi, World Economic Forum, July 10, 2023
• Material scientists set out to beat plastic packaging on three fronts. They succeeded, Anthropocene, July 7, 2023
• Beach Cleanup Annual Report, Surfrider Foundation, July 2022
• Scientists Propose New Sector-Based Framework to Address The Plastic Pollution Crisis, SEVENSEAS Media, July 2023
• How Plastics Are Poisoning Us, The New Yorker, June 26, 2023
• Recycling is not enough: Why businesses should reduce plastic production, Sustainability News, March 22, 2023

Help Locate Plastic-Fouled Coastlines

Each month we share an image of a beach fouled by plastic, like the one below. The images we share are confirmed by OpenOceans Global’s team, but there are many beaches in the world that we know are fouled by ankle-deep plastic that lack location data and backup information. You can help us find these beaches and put them on our ocean plastic trash map. To report a shoreline pervasively fouled by significant amounts of plastic debris, use our online plastic trash reporting app. Thank you!

This Month’s Coastal Hotspot: Mahim Beach, Mumbai

Image credit: NDTV/tweeted by @mumbaimatterz

Seven beaches in Mumbai, India (Juhu, Girgaon, Dadar, Madh, Versova, Gorai and Chimbai beaches)  are regularly fouled by plastic waste. When cyclone Tauktae hit the city in 2021, 62,010 kg of trash piled up on the city's beaches, most of it on Girgaon and Dadar beaches, which received 2,950 kg and 28,970 kg respectively, according to a May 21, 2021, story in Condé Nast Traveller. Mahim beach (see image above) was spared the worst of the damage but was still covered with litter, which, according to Condé Nast, came from the city’s contributions to the sea.

Solutions to the Ocean Plastic Crisis

See more solutions on our ocean plastic solutions page.  Have a solution we should know about? Submit it here.

This Month’s Featured Solution: Refillable

Image credit: Refillable

Why pay for packaging when you need only the product? That’s what the founders of Refillable asked when they founded this company focused on reducing waste from plastic packaging by allowing users to refill their everyday home care items in their existing bottles or other containers at their doorstep. Dishwashing liquid, detergents, cleaners, soap, shampoo, and other home care items are conveniently delivered packaging-free through a refill truck. The India-based company offers commonly used products that can be ordered online or through WhatsApp. Refillable operates in six cities: Mumbai, Bangalore, Surat, Pune, Lucknow, and Chennai. Refillable says that when using its products, “you're paying for what really matters, the product inside!”