HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0107.136 2016-2018 Murashige, Laura
From: Rafael Bergstrom <rbergstrom@surfrider.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2017 12:15 PM
To: Council Testimony
Cc: Kanuha, Dru; Chung,Aaron; David, Maile; Eoff, Karen; Lee Loy,,Sue; Ohara, Eileen;
Ruggles,Jennifer; Richards,Tim; Poindexter,Valerie;COH Mayor;Toguchi, Marcie
Subject: StrongSupport for Bill 13 COUNTY CLERK
Attachments: HiCo ty Bi 113_SFO_Support.docx _... COUNTY OF HAWAII I
RECEIVED
Time %2;3OPiti 8y
Date ?/17
Aloha Hawai`i County Council Members,
I am writing in strong support of Bill 13 regarding Polystyrene Foam on behalf of the Surfrider Foundation's
O`ahu Chapter. Please read our full attached testimony and let me know if you have any questions (also copied
into body of email below).
Mahalo for your time on this important issue to protect our incredible ocean and natural resources.
Rafael Bergstrom
issues ofplasticpollution through
As an organization that engages thousands of volunteers each year on theg
beach cleanups, educational info nights, and stream cleanups, Surfrider is extremely familiar with the
detrimental effect these foam containers are having on our environment and ultimately our economy. Each year
we see more and more plastics aggregating on our State, County, & City beaches and foam is one of the most
found items during our beach cleanups. Polystyrene Foam, like plastic bags, has the characteristic of being
extremely light and brittle—thus leading to its escape and nasty ability to break into smaller pieces in the
environment. If it remains intact it clogs stormdrains and other runoff infrastructure and if it breaks into pieces,
it can end up in the stomachs of many marine and stream creatures. These effects are all detrimental to the
health of our ecosystems and leave an ugly scar on the landscape that provides the basis for our whole economy.
Through years of investigation and generating collective understanding of the issue, Surfrider and its
partners have found an undeniable amount of evidence that points to banning foam as a necessary step for our
counties within our State to move forward in a sustainable way. Our State Department of Transportation
Highways program recently identified foam and plastic bags as the two largest contributors to trash problems
around our State. These are unnecessary materials that are costing our tax payers millions of dollars each year to
clean up. The bullet points catalogued below highlight studies on Global,National, State, and County levels
identifying the financial cost of plastics like foam to our economy.
Surfrider advocates for our Cities, Counties, and State to rethink the way they create, handle, and discuss
waste. Our view is that we can become a leader in a regenerative economy in which we value reuse and
recovery over the single-use items. Single-use plastics, like polystyrene foam, are a fossil fuel driven, carbon
emitting industry that has no place in an island economy where space is limited and our environmental health is
the most important issue to our economy. Alternatives to foam and other forms of plastic are easily accessible,
with the most sustainable version being certified compostable products.
As the leading non-profit in Hawaii's Ocean Friendly Restaurants Program, Surfrider and its partners
have certified over 100 hundred businesses around the State that illustrate that foam free is not only the right
thing to do, but is an economically viable way to operate. Though the program is only a year old,the amount of
1COMM. No. °1
Ref. Tos
Ref. Dat AR 0 t�'
restaurants,demonstrating their ability to operate in this manner continues to not only grow, but be an incentive
for customers to frequent the restaurants as our population understands more and more the destructive effects
these types of plastics are having on our world.
While litter reduction campaigns should continue around the world, they are proving ineffective as a
way of keeping plastic contamination out of our oceans. Despite efforts to stop litter the amount of plastic
entering our oceans each year is rising exponentially, with predictions showing that by 2050 there will be more
plastic by weight in the ocean than fish. Each step that me make towards taking these items out of circulation
allows us to have a positive impact on reducing this toxic soup that is accumulating in our oceans.
The referenced bullet points below outline the economic, environmental, and human health impacts of
foam to our islands.
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.111
• The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) created a plastic cleanup valuation study for 90+
counties in California:f 21
o CA taxpayers are paying $428 million per year to clean up plastic through storm drain
management, street sweeping, and cleanups.
o San 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 billionsfor the global cost to
cleanup plastics, $14 billion for marine plastic alone.f 31
o This 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
o According 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
• It is argued that styrofoam is acceptable because we can incinerate it for energy. However,this
approach is not without significant impacts. According to the Hawaii DOH Clean Air Branch the
Covanta H-POWER plant emits 0.15 million metrics tons of carbon dioxide.[41(a potent greenhouse
gas) annually. Although touted as a"clean energy solution" for Hawaii, H-POWER only generates
about 3% of Oahu's energy needsj 1 while still emitting greenhouse gases through burning plastic.
• 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.L1
• 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.
2
• 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 comes 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 once, and according to the US EPA less than 1% of foam is recycled
nationally. 0% of EPS Foam is recycled locally.
• 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
Human Health
• Air pollution from polystyrene
o Styrene is reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen and a confirmed animal carcinogen
as reported by the National Institute of Health in their Report on Carcinogens (2011); this
conclusion is also endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences (2014)f]
o When combusted, styrene produces benzaldehyde (US EPA classifies this as a hazardous
substance), acetophenone (Group D carcinogen by US EPA, causes chromosomal damage on
hamsters, but hasn't been tested in humans), styrene oxide (main metabolite of styrene, which is
known as carcinogenic).
Surfrider Foundation deeply appreciates your time and energy in considering these important matters
and is available to answer questions that you may have.
Mahalo,
Rafael Bergstrom
Oahu Chapter Coordinator, The Surfrider Foundation
.................................................................................................................................... ...... .............................
f 1] http://www.stormwaterhawaii.com/swmp wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/1 0/Trash-Reduction-Plan FINAL-10-18-16.pdf
I21 https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/ca-pollution-in-waterways-I B.pdf
j www.unep.org/pdf/ValuingPlastic/
3
j4] http://energy.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ghg-inventory-20081.pdf
jsj www.islandpulse.org
jJ https://www3.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/tools/warm/pdfs/Plastics.pdf
j71 https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/styrene/index.cfm
Rafael Bergstrom
Surfrider Foundation Oahu Chapter Coordinator
808-445-2085
http://oahu.surfrider.org/
Photographer:http://www.raftography.com/
Instagram @Raftography
4
Vahu
Chapter
SURFRIDER
FOUNDATION
Hawaii County Council Bill 13: Polystyrene Foam Containers
In Strong Support
Aloha Hawaii County Council Members,
I am writing to you on behalf of the Surfrider Foundation's Oahu Chapter, in strong
support of Bill 13, relating to the ban of Polystyrene Foam Food containers in your county.
As an organization that engages thousands of volunteers each year on the issues of
plastic pollution through beach cleanups, educational info nights, and stream cleanups,
Surfrider is extremely familiar with the'detrimental effect these foam containers are having on
our environment and ultimately our economy. Each year we see more and more plastics
aggregating on our State, County, & City beachesandfoam is one of the most found items
during our beach cleanups. Polystyrene Foam, like plastic bags, has the characteristic of being
extremely light and brittle—thus leading to its escape and nasty ability to break into smaller
pieces in the environment. If it remains intact it clogs stormdrains and other runoff
infrastructure and if it breaks into pieces, it can end up in the stomachs of many marine and
stream creatures. These effects are all detrimental to the health of our ecosystems and leave an
ugly scar on the landscape that provides the basis for our whole economy.
Through years of investigation and generating collective understanding of the issue,
Surfrider and its partners have found an undeniable amount of evidence that points to banning
foam as a necessary step for our counties within our State to move forward in a sustainable
way. Our State Department of Transportation Highways program recently identified foam and
plastic bags as the two largest contributors to trash problems around our State.These are
unnecessary materials that are costing our tax payers millions of dollars each year to clean up.
The bullet points catalogued below highlight studies on Global, National, State, and County
levels identifying the financial cost of plastics like foam to our economy.
Surfrider advocates for our Cities, Counties, and State to rethink the way they create,
handle, and discuss waste. Our view is that we can become a leader in a regenerative economy
in which we value reuse and recovery over the single-use items. Single-use plastics, like
polystyrene foam, are a fossil fuel driven, carbon emitting industry that has no place in an
island economy where space is limited and our environmental health is the most important
issue to our economy. Alternatives to foam and other forms of plastic are easily accessible, with
the most sustainable version being certified compostable products.
As the leading non-profit in Hawaii's Ocean Friendly Restaurants Program, Surfrider and
its partners have certified over 100 hundred businesses around the State that illustrate that
foam free is not only the right thing to do, but is an economically viable way to operate.Though
the program is only a year old, the amount of restaurants demonstrating their ability to operate
in this manner continues to not only grow, but be an incentive for customers to frequent the
restaurants as our population understands more and more the destructive effects these types
of plastics are having on our world.
While litter reduction campaigns should continue around the world,they are proving
ineffective as a way of keeping plastic contamination out of our oceans. Despite efforts to stop
litter the amount of plastic entering our oceans each year is rising exponentially, with
predictions showing that by 2050 there will be more plastic by weight in the ocean than fish.
Each step that me make towards taking these items out of circulation allows us to have a
positive impact on reducing this toxic soup that is accumulating in our oceans.
The referenced bullet points below outline the economic, environmental, and human
health impacts of foam to our islands.
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:2
o CA taxpayers are paying$428 million per year to clean up plastic through storm
drain management, street sweeping, and cleanups.
o San 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.3
o This 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
o According 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
1 http://www.stormwaterhawaii.com/swmp, wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Trash-Reduction-
Plan FINAL-10-18-16.pdf
2 https://www.nrdc.orq/sites/default/files/ca-pollution-in-waterways-IB.pdf
3 www.unep.org/pdf/ValuingPIastic/
• It is argued that styrofoam is acceptable because we can incinerate it for
energy. However,this approach is not without significant impacts. According to the
Hawaii DOH Clean Air Branch the Covanta H-POWER plant emits 0.15 million metrics
tons of carbon dioxide4 (a potent greenhouse gas) annually. Although touted as a "clean
energy solution" for Hawaii, H-POWER only generates about 3% of Oahu's energy
needs5 while still emitting greenhouse gases through burning plastic.
• 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.6
• 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.
• 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 comes 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 once, and according to the US EPA less than 1%of foam is
recycled nationally. 0% of EPS Foam is recycled locally.
• 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
Human Health
• Air pollution from polystyrene
o Styrene is reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen and a confirmed
animal carcinogen as reported by the National Institute of Health in their Report
on Carcinogens (2011);this conclusion is also endorsed by the National Academy
of Sciences (2014)7
4 http://energy.hawaii.gov/Wp-contentluploads/2011/10/qhq-inventory-20081.pdf
5 www.islandpulse.org
6 https://www3.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/tools/warm/pdfs/Plastics.pdf
7 https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/styrene/index.cfm
o When combusted, styrene produces benzaldehyde (US EPA classifies this as a
hazardous substance), acetophenone (Group D carcinogen by US EPA, causes
chromosomal damage on hamsters, but hasn't been tested in humans), styrene
oxide (main metabolite of styrene, which is known as carcinogenic).
Surfrider Foundation deeply appreciates your time and energy in considering these
important matters and is available to answer questions that you may have.
Mahalo,
Rafael Bergstrom
Oahu Chapter Coordinator, The Surfrider Foundation