More Information About Aquatic Trash
EPA Resources
- EPA Sustainable Materials Management: Sustainable materials management (SMM) is a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire life cycles. It represents a change in how our society thinks about the use of natural resources and environmental protection. Visit the EPA SMM program website to learn more.
- National Recycling Strategy: EPA has developed a National Recycling Strategy, which identifies strategic objectives and actions needed to create a stronger, more resilient, and cost-effective U.S. municipal solid waste recycling system.
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Solid Waste Management Guide for Developing Countries: EPA developed the Best Practices for Solid Waste Management: A Guide for Decision-Makers in Developing Countries to share best practices with local decision makers in developing countries. The guide is available in English, Spanish, and French.
External Resources
The following are non-EPA external websites and resources that may be useful to researchers, students, educators, and professionals who are interested in the issue of aquatic trash. The resources are divided into the following categories:
- Resources for Educators
- Sources, Pathways, and Impacts of Aquatic Trash
- Solutions: Policies, Projects, and Strategies to Reduce Aquatic Trash
- Trash Data and Monitoring
Resources for Educators
- NOAA Marine Debris Program - Curricula: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Marine Debris Program website has a large collection of educational activities and materials focused on the topics of marine debris.
- Marine Litter Vital Graphics: GRID Arendal and the United Nations Environment Programme developed this report on marine litter, which contains a collection of high-quality infographics, which can be used in presentations, web pages, newspapers, blogs and reports.
- National Geographic Teaching Idea: Plastic Pollution: National Geographic provides suggestions to help educators find resources and design a lesson on plastic pollution for students in grades 6 - 8.
Sources, Pathways, and Impacts of Aquatic Trash
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Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste: The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) developed this comprehensive report that summarizes existing knowledge on the U.S. contribution to plastic waste generation, waste mismanagement, the paths these wastes take to the ocean, and the distribution and fate of these wastes once they leak into the ocean. This report responds to a request in the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act for a scientific synthesis of the role of the United States both in contributing to and responding to global ocean plastic waste.
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Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet : This report by Center for International and Environmental Law examines the impacts of plastic production, use, and disposal on climate. It looks at each stage of the plastic lifecycle to identify the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, sources of uncounted emissions, and uncertainties that likely lead to underestimation of plastic’s climate impacts.
Solutions: Policies, Projects, and Strategies to Reduce Aquatic Trash
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Ellen Macarthur Foundation - The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics & Catalysing Action: This report lays out a circular economy approach to thinking about plastic production and use. It also includes a plan for the global plastics industry to design better packaging, increase recycling rates, and introduce new models for making better use of packaging.
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Breaking the Plastic Wave: A Comprehensive Assessment of Pathways Towards Stopping Ocean Plastic Pollution: This report from Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ is a comprehensive assessment of the scale of the plastic pollution problem and the variety of solutions needed to address it.
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Plastic Pollution Prevention and Collection Technology Inventory: Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions developed this inventory to aid local governments, nongovernmental organizations, and other stakeholders in identifying technologies that may help to remediate hotspots of marine plastic pollution.
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The Plastics Pollution Policy Inventory: An updateable and searchable database consisting of public policy documents targeting plastic pollution in several languages, beginning January 1, 2000.
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NOAA Marine Debris Project Clearing House: An interactive map with details about marine debris projects funded by NOAA's Marine Debris Program.
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Waste in Our Waters: A Community Toolkit for Aquatic Litter Removal: This resource, created by the River Network, outlines what to consider when exploring how to strategically address litter and provides an in-depth comparison of various in-stream litter capture devices.
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Building Excellence in Stormwater Management: An online guide created by the National Municipal Stormwater Alliance to assist local stormwater managers in developing, maintaining, and improving effective and sustainable municipal stormwater management programs.
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UNEP Catalogue of Technologies to Address the Risks of Contamination of Water Bodies with Plastics and Microplastics: A paper covering available technologies to treat/prevent plastics both upstream and downstream with an emphasis on wastewater.
Trash Data and Monitoring
- California Trash Monitoring Methods and Assessments Playbook: A comparative analysis of several different methods for detecting, quantifying, and characterizing trash in the environment.
- Keep America Beautiful 2020 National Litter Study: A study on litter in the United States that focuses on the following components: Observed Litter, Littering Behavior, Attitudes About Litter, and the Cost of Litter.
- International Coastal Cleanup Reports: Ocean Conservancy reports on the key findings of the International Coastal Cleanup, including the top 10 item types collected.
- The United States’ Contribution of Plastic Waste to Land and Ocean: A 2020 study highlighting the U.S. as the top generator of plastic waste and a major contributor of plastic waste entering the coastal environment.