HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0107.031 2016-2018 PI COu:vc
COMM. 101
Murashige, Laura
From: Ardena Saarinen <ardena@hawaii.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2017 10:24 AM
To: Council Testimony
Cc: Chung,Aaron; Kanuha, Dru; Eoff, Karen; David, Maile; Ohara, Eileen; Lee Loy, Sue;
Ruggles,Jennifer; Richards,Tim;COH Mayor;Toguchi; Marcie
Subject: Bill#13 support COUNTY CLERK
Pp COUNTY OF HAWAII
RECEIVED
Timed /a.' Oar/ By `,�
Aloha, Date f,9 61/7
My name is Ardena Saarinen and I am a resident of Hilo, Moku o Keawe. I am writing in full support of Bill #13,
to ban polystyrene on Hawai'i island.
I personally do not believe there should be any exemptions, but I do understand we start with compromise. The
externalities we as residents of this island and this world end up paying are enormous. Manufacturing
companies have not been held responsible for cradleto grave costs of their polystyrene/styrofoam products,
and certainly have ignored the ethics of malama aina in favor of profits. Here are a few externalities that
concern me, and should concern you too:
Themes:
Cleanup Costs & Economic Benefits
•Plastic is costing cities, counties, states, & countries millions of dollars and our global economy billions.
Costs are passed to the taxpayers by burdening our storm water management systems with the need
for expensive best management practices and the costs of cleanups.
•Hawaii State Department of Transportation has produced a trash plan that shows styrofoam and plastic
bags as the top two contributors to the waste stream.
•The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) created a plastic cleanup valuation study for 90+
counties in California:
oCA taxpayers are paying $428 million per year to clean up plastic through storm drain
management, street sweeping, and cleanups.
oSan Diego County (with population of 1.3 equivalent to Hawaii) spends $14 million alone on
plastic cleanup
•United Nations Environmental Program Global Estimates are in the billions for the global cost to
cleanup plastics, $14 billion for marine plastic alone.
•
oThis cost is closer to $78 billion annually if all costs are considered, including the cost lost in
fossil fuel production and loss of resources.
•Burden on the public
oAccording to cleanup hours recorded across Hawaii's beach cleaning organizations and
volunteer hour base rates, we spent $750,000 - $1 million on beach cleanups in 2016 alone
Environmental Impact
•Further, for each ton of polystyrene not produced, 2.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions are
avoided. This directly supports Hawaii's greenhouse gas reduction goals as stated in the Aloha +
Challenge and as mandated by the US EPA.
•The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Waste Reduction Model (WARM) report shows that
burning polystyrene emits more carbon dioxide equivalent than other plastics. For each ton of
polystyrene incinerated, 1.64 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent are emitted.
1 Ref. To: . ..IJIr .:
Ref. Date i.R 0 8 209
•If burned at HPower, one compostable clamshell burns 1.76 times greater energy compared to one
EPS Foam clamshell of the same size. And burning compostable products come without the toxic
ash or smoke that EPS foam creates in the burning process.
•Fiber clamshells are also less than half the volume of EPS, so a restaurant could fit about twice as
many clamshells on the same amount of shelf space or have more space for other things.
•The material for fiber containers can be grown and then made here in Hawaii, so more jobs and
sustainable ones, not jobs that are exposing workers directly to large amounts of toxic chemicals.
EPS can also be made here, but raw, toxic source chemicals need to be shipped to Hawaii.
•EPS is designed to be used it once, and according to the US EPA less than 1% of foam is recycled
nationally. 0% of EPS Foam is recycled locally.
•EPS Foam is composed of over 90% air, so even when properly disposed of, foam products easily fly
out of trash bins and dumpsters, and they enter into the natural environment, eventually polluting our
ocean and negatively impacting ocean health and threatening marine wildlife.
•EPS Foam also breaks apart more easily and quicker than other plastics, making it more difficult to
clean up than other plastics and easier for animals to mistake as food and ingest
•According to the EPA Waste Reduction Model Report, 7% of plastic waste generation in US is
polystyrene. Of our total plastic recovery, polystyrene makes up 0.7% of recycled plastic
Mahalo a nui for leading us into a more sustainable future.
Ardena Saarinen
2