The United States' contribution of plastic waste to land and ocean

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Law, K. L., Starr, N., Siegler, T. R., Jambeck, J. R., Mallos, N. J., & Leonard, G. H. The United States' contribution of plastic waste to land and ocean. Science Advances, 6(44), (2020): eabd0288, doi:10.1126/sciadv.abd0288.Plastic waste affects environmental quality and ecosystem health. In 2010, an estimated 5 to 13 million metric tons (Mt) of plastic waste entered the ocean from both developing countries with insufficient solid waste infrastructure and high-income countries with very high waste generation. We demonstrate that, in 2016, the United States generated the largest amount of plastic waste of any country in the world (42.0 Mt). Between 0.14 and 0.41 Mt of this waste was illegally dumped in the United States, and 0.15 to 0.99 Mt was inadequately managed in countries that imported materials collected in the United States for recycling. Accounting for these contributions, the amount of plastic waste generated in the United States estimated to enter the coastal environment in 2016 was up to five times larger than that estimated for 2010, rendering the United States’ contribution among the highest in the world.This work was funded by Ocean Conservancy through support from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations

The fundamental links between climate change and marine plastic pollution

Plastic pollution and climate change have commonly been treated as two separate issues and sometimes are even seen as competing. Here we present an alternative view that these two issues are fundamentally linked. Primarily, we explore how plastic contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the beginning to the end of its life cycle. Secondly, we show that more extreme weather and floods associated with climate change, will exacerbate the spread of plastic in the natural environment. Finally, both issues occur throughout the marine environment, and we show that ecosystems and species can be particularly vulnerable to both, such as coral reefs that face disease spread through plastic pollution and climate-driven increased global bleaching events. A Web of Science search showed climate change and plastic pollution studies in the ocean are often siloed, with only 0.4% of the articles examining both stressors simultaneously. We also identified a lack of regional and industry-specific life cycle analysis data for comparisons in relative GHG contributions by materials and products. Overall, we suggest that rather than debate over the relative importance of climate change or marine plastic pollution, a more productive course would be to determine the linking factors between the two and identify solutions to combat both crises

Leaching of chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood in a simulated monofill and its potential impacts to landfill leachate

The proper end-of-life management of chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood, which contains arsenic, copper, and chromium, is a concern to the solid waste management community. Landfills are often the final repository of this waste stream, and the impacts of CCA preservative metals on leachate quality are not well understood. Monofills are a type of landfill designed and operated to dispose a single waste type, such as ash, tires, mining waste, or wood. The feasibility of managing CCA-treated wood in monofills was examined using a simulated landfill (a leaching lysimeter) that contained a mix of new and weathered CCA-treated wood. The liquid to solid ratio (LS) reached in the experiment was 0.63:1. Arsenic, chromium, and copper leached from the lysimeter at average concentrations of 42 mg/L for arsenic, 9.4 mg/L for chromium, and 2.4 mg/L for copper. Complementary batch leaching studies using deionized water were performed on similar CCA-treated wood samples at LS of 5:1 and 10:1. When results from the lysimeter were compared to the batch test results, copper and chromium leachability appeared to be reduced in the lysimeter disposal environment. Of the three metals, arsenic leached to the greatest extent and was found to have the best correlation between the batch and the lysimeter experiments

Food Scraps to Composting...and Back to Food

Since the program began at UNH, more than half a million pounds of food residuals have been diverted from dining facilities at the University of New Hampshire. Finished compost is used in a campus garden, with produce coming back to the dining hall

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Construction and Demolition (C&D) Derived Biomass and US Northeast Forest Residuals Gasification for Electricity Production

With the goal to move society toward less reliance on fossil fuels and the mitigation of climate change, there is increasing interest and investment in the bioenergy sector. However, current bioenergy growth patterns may, in the long term, only be met through an expansion of global arable land at the expense of natural ecosystems and in competition with the food sector. Increasing thermal energy recovery from solid waste reduces dependence on fossil- and biobased energy production while enhancing landfill diversion. Using inventory data from pilot processes, this work assesses the cradle-to-gate environmental burdens of plasma gasification as a route capable of transforming construction and demolition (C&D) derived biomass (CDDB) and forest residues into electricity. Results indicate that the environmental burdens associated with CDDB and forest residue gasification may be similar to conventional electricity generation. Land occupation is lowest when CDDB is used. Environmental impacts are to a large extent due to coal cogasified, coke used as gasifier bed material, and fuel oil cocombusted in the steam boiler. However, uncertainties associated with preliminary system designs may be large, particularly the heat loss associated with pilot scale data resulting in overall low efficiencies of energy conversion to electricity; a sensitivity analysis assesses these uncertainties in further detail

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Construction and Demolition (C&D) Derived Biomass and U.S. Northeast Forest Residuals Gasification for Electricity Production

With the goal to move society toward less reliance on fossil fuels and the mitigation of climate change, there is increasing interest and investment in the bioenergy sector. However, current bioenergy growth patterns may, in the long term, only be met through an expansion of global arable land at the expense of natural ecosystems and in competition with the food sector. Increasing thermal energy recovery from solid waste reduces dependence on fossil- and biobased energy production while enhancing landfill diversion. Using inventory data from pilot processes, this work assesses the cradle-to-gate environmental burdens of plasma gasification as a route capable of transforming construction and demolition (C&D) derived biomass (CDDB) and forest residues into electricity. Results indicate that the environmental burdens associated with CDDB and forest residue gasification may be similar to conventional electricity generation. Land occupation is lowest when CDDB is used. Environmental impacts are to a large extent due to coal cogasified, coke used as gasifier bed material, and fuel oil cocombusted in the steam boiler. However, uncertainties associated with preliminary system designs may be large, particularly the heat loss associated with pilot scale data resulting in overall low efficiencies of energy conversion to electricity; a sensitivity analysis assesses these uncertainties in further detail

Marine plastic debris in the Arabian/Persian Gulf: Challenges, opportunities and recommendations from a transdisciplinary perspective

In recent years, the amount of plastic waste entering the marine environment around the world has gained increasing attention. Yet certain areas and regions remain relatively undocumented. Research findings on this topic within the countries adjacent to the Arabian/Persian Gulf comprised of Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates is relatively sparse. Significant gaps remain regarding the precise details on the quantity, sources and impacts of plastic marine debris as well as appropriate management responses. This article addresses these shortcomings from a transdisciplinary perspective, drawing on science, engineering and law. Based on an analysis and overview of the scientific research on plastic pollution in the region, an estimate of mismanaged waste is developed, both on a national level as well as for selected coastal cities. The article then explores the applicable international and regional regulatory framework to address marine debris in the Arabian/Persian Gulf region. It provides one of the first accounts of this regional sea from a comprehensive marine litter regulatory perspective, incorporating scientific findings as well as modelling techniques. The article suggests possible ways to achieve synergies and cooperation among actors and proposes novel approaches on methods to address the problem with a view to the transboundary nature of the issue. The key to success lies in dedicated cooperative efforts within the region, both between the public and private sector and between government and civil society