With state legislators failing to pass plastic-reduction proposals two years running and Californians continuing to pour tons of plastics into the sea, the state’s Ocean Protection Council approved a host of fact finding, technical assistance and policy promotion initiatives Tuesday, Feb. 16, aimed at turning the tide on such waste.
Targets include reducing single-use plastic foodware, increasing recycled content in newly manufactured plastic, a possible ban of cigarette filters, establishing a United Nations plastics-waste measure, and reducing plastic content in commercial fishing gear, which is frequently lost at sea.
“It’s time to say, ‘Enough is enough,’” said state Environmental Protection Secretary Jared Blumenfeld, one of the council’s seven members. “We haven’t been as forward looking on this as we have on other issues.”
The council — a cabinet-level body composed of top state environmental officials, two environment-minded legislators and two community activists — is the state’s primary science-based advisor and coordinator for ocean-related issues. The state Coastal Commission, meanwhile, serves as a regulating and enforcement agency.
Twelve million tons of plastic enters the ocean annually, according to a study by Pew Charitable Trusts. It has been found in fish worldwide, including bottom dwelling marine life, and it’s found in people eating those animals.
That’s if the animals don’t die in the ocean first. Of 1,792 plastic-related deaths of sea turtles and marine mammals examined in an Oceana study last year, the most common cause was plastic ingestion, which disrupts digestion and leads to starvation. Of those deaths, 80% were threatened or endangered species, with the actual number of ocean fatalities caused by plastics believed to be much higher.
Butts, fishing nets
While the state has banned plastic bags and some coastal cities have banned straws and other single-use plastics, the Ocean Protection Council would like to a broader ban on disposable foodware. But before enacting such a ban the council’s initiative calls for analyzing the cost of alternative foodware, setting a “break-even” point, and providing state agencies and local governments with technical and logistical assistance in phasing out such plastics.
While disposable foodware is common among coastal and ocean trash, the most common plastic documented in 2019 California coastal cleanup data was cigarette butts. Pending research commissioned by the state Department of Health on whether cigarette filters reduce the harm of smoking, the council is prepared to promote a ban of those filters.
“All of the science shows that filters do nothing,” said Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Monterey Bay, a council member. “It was all a marketing ploy.”
Another key goal is reducing the amount of plastic in fishing gear, such as nets, which can be inadvertently lost at sea and pose an ongoing threat to marine life. Such fishing equipment “makes up at least 10% of all plastic pollution and as much as 70% of macroplastic pollution by weight,” according to the council staff report recommending the measures approved Tuesday.
Ballot initiative
Sweeping state legislation that would reduce single-use plastic waste by 75% went before the Legislature each of the last two years, but failed to come up for a final vote. A lead author, Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, has reintroduced the bill this year. Additionally, an even stricter initiative has been submitted for the 2022 ballot and is awaiting signature verification.
Opponents to the bill have included the California Chamber of Commerce, which complained the measure didn’t sufficiently address the need for a radical increase in recycling infrastructure, that funding was inadequately detailed, and that the state’s recycling agency was given too much authority. In its opposition letter, the chamber said the bill “will result in substantial negative repercussions for California businesses and the millions of Californians who will see higher prices or even some products disappearing entirely.”
At Tuesday’s online council meeting, a representative of the plastics industry noted that the council’s proposal was only made public Friday and asked for more time to respond.
But the council went ahead and unanimously approved the plan.
“We’re up against some very powerful and monied interests that are vested in the status quo,” Stone said. “California is very clear on what we need to be doing, but we just haven’t been able to get it done. We need the Legislature to take these issues more seriously.”
Allen, also a member of the council, described the state as having a “dysfunction of plastics management.”
“The problems are getting worse,” he said. “The amount of plastic … is skyrocketing and that’s being felt by our oceans and streams. We face the consequences of our boneheaded practices every day.”
Source: Orange County Register
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