A mA United States	i PA 842 N 22 001
Environmental Protection	May 2022
Ifc,# LhI m * Agency
THE FLOW OF... TRASH FREE WATERS
ISSUE 16
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
UNEA Plastic Treaty	1
Forthcoming Microfiber Report ...1
Aquatic Trash Prevention
Information and Resources	2
South Atlantic Strategy	2
Trash Free Mystic	3
"Trash Blows" Anti-Littering
Campaign in Alabama			..3
Litter Study Findings in Kansas ,,.4
Trash-Related Projects Funded
in Long Island Sound	4
Trash Removal in the Great
Lakes	...5
"Keep the Sea Free of Debris"
Program in Florida	5
EPA Region 8 TFW Tribal
Program Handbook	.5
BP Restoration Funds Used for
Trash-Related Efforts	6
Keep The Gulf Clean: A Regional
Collaborative for TFW.	6
Two FY21 EPA GMD TFW Grant
Recipients Announced	6
TFW Program Trifold and
Factsheet	7
Report on Priority Microplastics
Research Needs				7
TFW Webinar on Successful
Campaigns	8
Curbside Disposal Campaign
Case Study Report	8
Other Updates	9
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HOW'S IT FLOWING?
United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Passes
Historic Resolution that Launches Negotiations on Globa
Agreement Addressing Plastic Pollution
On March 2, delegates to the
United Nations Environmental
Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi,
Kenya passed a resolution that
will commence negotiations on
establishing a new global
agreement to address the
worldwide concern of plastic
pollution. The resolution launches
an Intergovernmental Negotiating
Committee (INC) that will meet
and negotiate the objectives,
scope, and terms of the new
global agreement. It is expected
that the INC will conclude
negotiations by the end of 2024.
if successfully negotiated, the
UN wiii host a conference where
high-level delegates from
countries will attend and officially
sign on to the agreement. This
marks the first global agreement
on environmental issues since
the Paris Agreement in 2015. EPA
participated virtually on the U.S.
delegation to UNEA, assisting the
State Department negotiators on
the ground in Nairobi with
technical matters concerning the
resolution language. The global
agreement is expected to contain
legally binding and non-binding
approaches and wiii address
plastic pollution across the full
lifecycle, including upstream and
downstream solutions. Unique to
the resolution, among others, is
the specific reference to the
importance of lessons learned
and best practices of informal
UN w
environment
assembly
waste collectors which are
prevalent in developing countries,
especially countries with
inadequate formal waste
collection systems. EPA will
continue to work with the State
Department and other federal
partners as we work together to
negotiate a strong and effective
agreement that the LIS. can join.
Forthcoming Microfiber Report to Congress
In collaboration with the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris
Program (MDP), EPA's Trash Free Waters (TFW)
Program is developing a Report on Microfiber
Pollution to fulfill the requirements of Sec. 132 of
the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act. This report, compiled
on behalf of the Interagency Marine Debris
Coordinating Committee, wiii provide a definition
of "microfiber," assess the sources, prevalence,
and causes of microfiber pollution, and provide
recommendations for a standardized methodology
to measure and estimate the prevalence of
microfiber pollution as well as reduce it. After
completing a first draft of the report, EPA TFW
and NOAA MDP are now facilitating interagency
cooperation on an action pian for how federal
agencies and other stakeholders can address
microfiber pollution. The final report is scheduled
to be released for public comment this summer.

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MAY 2022 - ISSUE 1 6
THE FLOW OF...TRASH FREE WATERS
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Aquatic Trash Prevention Information and Resources for Stormwater and Solid
Waste Practitioners
In 2021, EPA Trash Free Waters, in collaboration with the National
Municipal Stormwater Alliance (NMSA), KCI Technologies, and
the American Chemistry Council (ACC), held three stakeholder
dialogue sessions to identify major challenges that municipal
stormwater and solid waste departments face when trying to
more effectively address the issue of trash in waterways. These
meetings brought together leading stormwater and solid waste
professionals from cities and towns across the U.S. The four main
challenges identified include:
1)	Municipalities Lack Funds and/or Staff Capacity to Effectively
Control Aquatic Trash;
2)	Lack of Public Understanding of the Problem of Litter and
Aquatic Trash and the True Cost of Waste Management;
3)	Insufficient Information About Various Interventions that
Municipalities Can Take to Reduce Aquatic Trash; and
4) Need for Enhanced Regional Cooperation Amongst Neighboring
Jurisdictions and Inter-Agency Cooperation Across Government
Offices in a Single Locale.
Following these meetings, the project partners compiled an
inventory of existing resources and information that municipali-
ties might find helpful. For each of the four major challenges
identified above, the inventory includes several potentially useful
reports, tools, and databases that are currently available for public
use. NMSA is leading the development of a comprehensive
summary report of the outcomes of the three stakeholder
meetings, expected later this spring. NMSA also pians to develop
and maintain a stormwater management and trash community of
practice. Additionally, NMSA will conduct research on the meth-
ods and metrics currently being used to measure trash capture
and loadings into waterways to improve harmonization and
standardization.
Release of the South Atlantic Strategy
EPA Region 4 has recently published a
South Atlantic Strategy fSASl document
which aims to help the South Atlantic
Region (North Carolina, South Carolina,
and the eastern regions of Georgia and
Florida) work together with their respective
municipalities, businesses, non-govern-
mental organizations, and concerned
citizens to explore more effective ways to
reduce the amount of iitter and misman-
aged waste that enters the Atlantic Ocean
from regional waterways. Over 150 local
stakeholders participated in 6 interactive
virtual workshops between April and June
2021. This document contains a summary
of their perspectives on 6 region-wide
goals:
1)	Encourage the use of best practices to
reduce downstream litter accumulation.
2)	Form public, private, and philanthropic
partnerships to obtain necessary re-
sources for litter capture, reduction, and
prevention.
3)	Standardize trash data so that decision
makers in the region can understand
sources and conduits to tailor litter-
reduction approaches.
4)	Encourage source reduction by affecting
behavior change and increasing aware-
ness of the impact of upstream commu-
nities on coastal areas.
5)	Ensure that communities enact and
enforce laws that prevent and reduce
littering.
6)	Develop and advance access to circular
economy models and other sustainable
materials management practices.
The strategy also includes an extensive
list of potential projects which can be
implemented to help meet the 6 goals
above. TFW is providing continued techni-
cal assistance to EPA Region 4 to support
two additional meetings this Spring to
regroup with stakeholders and identify
local project champions to guide imple-
mentation of project concepts as resources
become available. EPA and the SAS
stakeholders wiil work to develop a
mechanism for tracking implementation
and fostering peer-to-peer learning.
Cover of the EPA Region 4 South Atlantic
Strategy for Trash Free Waters document.
2

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THE FLOW OF...TRASH FREE WATERS
MAY 2022 - ISSUE 1 6
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Trash Free Mystic Implementation
In Spring 2021, TFW provided technical
assistance to EPA Region 1 and the Mystic
River Watershed Association (MyRWA) to
host three public sessions with dozens of
local municipal staff, community leaders,
representatives of nonprofits, and volun-
teers to discuss how to reduce the harmful
inflow of trash into the Mystic River.
Coming out of the sessions, partners
developed three promising project
concepts to address litter and mismanaged
waste in the watershed, including:
1)	A trash assessment to better understand
where the trash that goes into the Mystic
River and its tributaries comes from, with
the ultimate goal of developing strategies
that will have the greatest impact on
trash reduction.
2)	Inlet guard installment and street
sweeping enhancements to help
municipalities in the Mystic River
Watershed identify and implement
infrastructure installation and mainte-
nance best practices that will reduce
trash going into the waterways.
3) A stormdrain stewardship program
(Adopt-a-Stormdrain) to engage volun-
teers, raise public awareness, and
change behaviors to reduce the amount
of trash going into stormdrains and to
educate the public about the complexi-
ties of stormwater management and
trash pollution.
Project partner MyRWA then developed a
more specific project proposal for each of
the above agreed-upon concepts for
submission to various funding opportuni-
ties. MyWRA was recently selected as a
recipient of the Massachusetts Depart-
ment of Environmental Protection's MS4
(Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System)
Muncipal Assistance 2021 Grant Program
and will be awarded over $30,000 to
implement the above stormdrain steward-
ship program watershed-wide. The Mystic
River Stormwater Education Collaborative,
a group of towns and cities in the water-
shed dedicated to the common goal of
reducing stormwater pollution in accor-
dance with MS4 requirements, was
consulted on the grant application. Officials
from 13 local municipalities expressed
their support for the project and have
indicated interest in helping expand the
program to their communities. The project
will include the creation of individual
Adopt-a-Drain web portals in each partici-
pating municipality, marketing and
outreach to heip publicize the project and
educate residents on stormwater manage-
ment issues, and evaluation and mainte-
nance of municipal databases and a
watershed-wide map. MyWRA continues to
pursue funding for the additional projects
identified through the Trash Free Mystic
stakeholder engagement initiative.
REGIONAL PROJECT SUCCESSES
Launch of "Trash Blows" Anti-Littering Campaign in Mobile, Alabama
The "Trash Blows! Stow it!" Campaign has
been re-launched thanks to a partnership
between Mobile Bay National Estuary
Program, the City of Mobile, Partners for
Environmental Progress, Dog River Clear-
water Revival, and several other local
partners. This campaign has now expanded
upstream from its original implementation
in 2018 in the Town of Dauphin Island,
located near the entrance to Mobile Bay.
The goal of the initiative is to educate
motorists and encourage them to stow
their trash before it becomes iitter. Motor-
ists can reduce the chances of their trash
becoming roadside litter by disposing of
their waste before driving, installing a trash
receptacle in their vehicle, and signing the
"Trash Blows! Stow it!" pledge.
This effort is included in a recent video
production titled "Altering the Course: A
Journey Toward Trash Free Waters Along
the Alabama Coast." a 7-minute video
; :.ghlighting the history of estuary-lead
action on the local litter problem, dating
back to 2011.
The "Trash Blows! Stow It!" campaign logo.
3

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MAY 2022 - ISSUE 1 6
THE FLOW OF...TRASH FREE WATERS
REGIONAL PROJECT SUCCESSES
Litter Study Findings in Wichita, Kansas
The Environmental Finance Center at
Wichita State University (EFC) recently
released a report characterizing the
findings of the Wichita Litter Study funded
by EPA Region 7's Land, Chemical, and
Redevelopment Division. Data collected
during the study provides insight into the
types of litter commonly produced,
potential sources, and environmental
characteristics that may be linked to
amounts of litter present. In June and July
of 2021,70 local citizen scientists partook
in 24 cleanup events across 12 parks within
the city limits of Wichita - cleanups took
place at 12 sites, 6 weeks apart. Volunteers
were trained in EPA's Escaped Trash
Assessment Protocol and collected and
categorized 1,765 pieces of litter (> 4
inches) by material type and item type. An
additional 30 gallons of litter were smaller
than 4 inches and collected in containers
before being measured by volume, but were
not individually categorized. 47% of the
iitter collected was piastic, of which 75%
were food and beverage wrappers and
containers. Forty-nine percent (49%) of
tallied litter data were from the food and
beverage industry. Between the first and
second collection events, approximately
six weeks, there was an overall net increase
in both tallied litter data (> 4 inches) and
volume litter data (< 4 inches); however,
some parks had increases in litter while
others had decreases.
Data analyses support the hypothesis that
where people congregate (e.g., pavilion/
Total Materials
Plastics Collected
Other
21%
Food &
Beverage
75%
Foam
3%
Above: Wichita Litter Study findings highlighting the material type breakdown of collected
litter items. Below: Cover of the 2027 Wichita Utter Study, funded by EPA Region 7.
picnic areas; parking lots), more litter is
found despite the presence of trash bins.
The Litter Study can be used to draw
general conclusions that guide further
action to address littering behavior.
Recommendations for prevention and
reduction of litter included in the study
include: continued research into long-term
solid waste management adjustments,
exploring adaptations to landscaping and
maintenance plans, adopting the use of
reusable beverage cups and food contain-
ers, enacting new policies, and community
outreach and education. This publicly
available report was shared with the
City Council and City of Wichita Plastic Bag
Task Force as a resource for decision
making and future initiatives.
2021
Wichita
Litter
Study
Wichita State University
Environmental Finance Center
\
Trash-Related Projects Funded in Long Island Sound
On December 6, 2021, the EPA, National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Connecti-
cut Department of Energy and Environmen-
tal Protection, and New York State Depart-
ment of Environmental Conservation
announced 39 Long Island Sound Futures
Fund grants totaling $5.4 million to improve
the health and ecosystem of Long Island
Sound. Projects are expected to remove
over 97,000 pounds of marine debris from
the Sound and restore 25 acres of critical
habitat for fish and wildlife. One project,
"Reducing Marine Debris in Long Island
Sound Deploying Innovative Floating Litter
Traps" wiil provide $81,341 to Corneii
Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County to
deploy "Seabin" floating litter traps in Oyster
Bay and Hempstead Harbor, New York.
Corneii is also the recipient of an additional
$115,841 to remove derelict lobster fishing
gear from 18 square miles of marine waters
in Connecticut and New York.
4

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THE FLOW OF...TRASH FREE WATERS
MAY 2022 - ISSUE 1 6
REGIONAL PROJECT SUCCESSES
Trash Removal in the Great Lakes
The FY2020 Trash-Free Great
Lakes Grant Program, made
possible through the Great
Lakes Restoration Initiative
(GLRI), funded several projects
which emphasized and encour-
aged outreach and community
involvement in cleanup activi-
ties. In 2021,7 grant recipients
enhanced a total of 20,500 acres
of coastal habitat, engaged over
14,545 volunteers, and removed
more than 125,350 pounds of
trash through cleanups in the
Great Lakes watershed. One
grant recipient, the Great Lakes
Community Conservation Corps,
continues to cater cleanups for
teams of elementary and high
school students and provide
engaging educational curriculum
and experiential learning
activities in collaboration with
the Racine Unified School
District, the Racine Health
Department, and other public
schools in Kenosha, Milwaukee,
Ozaukee, and Sheboygan
counties. Great Lakes Communi-
ty Conservation Corps training
participants are hired as Peer
Mentors and disadvantaged
young adults are encouraged to
participate to engage in
leadership roles as they become
advocates and role models for
next-generation conservation-
ists. Future work includes
continuing collaboration with
private school partners and
youth-serving organizations.
Project partners expect to
exceed their initial goal of
repairing and removing trash
from 3,000 acres of beaches,
harbors, and riparian corridors in
southeastern Wisconsin by the
grant's end.
A second FY2020 Trash-Free
Great Lakes grantee, the
Macatawa Area Coordinating
Council, has focused project
efforts on the Kalamazoo River
area (Eastern Lake Michigan) to
educate and engage underrep-
resented volunteers from low
income and minority popula-
tions about trash pollution. The
project has already achieved
161% of their target number of
acres impacted by cleanups
and partners plan on hosting an
additional 10 cleanup events
before the end of the grant.
In September 2021, an addition-
al $727,130 was awarded to
partners in the watershed
through the FY2021 GLRI TFW
RFA. The City of Erie, Pennsylva-
nia and the University of
Wisconsin - Oshkosh will be
using the funds to install trash
collection devices and purchase
a trash skimmer boat, respec-
tively, to keep litter and mis-
managed waste out of Lake Erie
and Lake Michigan.
"Keep the Sea Free of Debris:
A Program for Teens in Underserved
Communities"
Florida Atlantic University
(FAU) has recently used
funding awarded through the
FY20 South Florida Geograph-
ic Initiatives Program to
establish a new "Keep the Sea
Free of Debris" Junior
Ambassador program in St.
Lucie County, Florida. This
program hopes to educate
disadvantaged teens about
marine debris, empower them
to be advocates for the ocean,
and inspire environmental
stewardship. FAU began this
effort by surveying 19
locations in the county: five
adjacent to freshwater canals,
eight along the Indian River
Lagoon and six on Atlantic
Ocean beaches. They found
that debris was most
abundant on the shores of the
Indian River Lagoon (estuary),
followed by ocean shores,
and then the banks of
freshwater rivers. Following
this initial survey, FAU
revisited a selection of the
sites for three weeks to
assess change in litter over
time, finding that the amount
and distribution of trash
remained consistent at each
location from week to week
and concluding that these
sites would be suitable
locations for camp beach
clean-up sessions.
Over a two-week pilot period,
FAU hosted a total of six
day-long camp sessions and
engaged a total of 144
children (ages 9-19) from
disadvantaged communities
throughout St. Lucie County.
The teens removed a total of
4,623 pieces (over 618
pounds) of debris from local
beaches and created 75
debris art displays. An initial
query revealed that 77% of
participants were surprised by
the marine debris that they
found in their community
during the program. In
addition, more than three-
fourths of the participants
indicated interest in attending
the full week-long camp
planned for this summer.
Through these combined
efforts, FAU and camp
attendees removed and
recorded 7,731 pieces
(approximately 717 pounds)
of trash from local beaches.
Plastics made up the majority
(70%) of the debris collected,
with cigarettes being the most
abundant single item.
EPA Region 8 TFW Tribal Program Handbook
The Trash Free Waters team in EPA's Region 8 office (including Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming) has
developed a handbook to assist Tribal governments, Indigenous communities, and other relevant stakeholders to develop and implement
projects that reduce trash in waterways on Tribal lands. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to trash pollution, this handbook
provides basic information on project design, implementation, and funding to serve as a starting point for those interested in taking action
to reduce escaped trash in their community. This resource was developed specifically for Region 8 Tribes, but much of the information
related to project development and funding opportunities may be helpful to tribal and other communities outside of Region 8 as well.
5

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MAY 2022 - ISSUE 1 6
THE FLOW OF...TRASH FREE WATERS
REGIONAL PROJECT SUCCESSES
BP Restoration Funds Used for Trash-Related Efforts
The Coastal Marine Extension Program at Mississippi State University (MSU) is overseeing
a pilot Strategic Stream Litter Mitigation Project that has deployed four Litter Gitters, an
in-stream trash capture device, in several Mississippi Coast waterways. These traps were
installed in December 2021 via $162,150 in funding from the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality from BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe restoration funds. MSU is
using the EPA's Escaped Trash Assessment Protocol (ETAP) tool to compile data on the
amount and types of litter and debris collected through the traps.
This initiative helps expand on existing trash capture efforts which were funded by the
EPA's Gulf of Mexico Program last summer, including the installation of two Litter Gitters in
Keegan Bayou and Bayou Auguste, outside of Biloxi, Mississippi. This project is also using
ETAP to count and categorize trash captured in the initial two traps, which have reportedly
collected several hundred pounds of litter already.
A screen grab from a video of Dr. Eric Sparks
of MSU speaking about the significance of
the Strategic Stream Litter Mitigation
Project.
Keep The Gulf Clean: A Regional Collaborative to
Promote Trash Free Watersheds
Groundwork New Orleans received over
$491,000 as a recipient of the FY19 Gulf of
Mexico Trash Reduction and Prevention
grant program. Groundwork New Orleans
has since partnered with Groundwork
Dallas and Groundwork Mobile County to
implement the "Keep the Gulf Clean" project
to both remove trash from urban drainage
systems and provide community education
on trash prevention.
The project seeks to improve water quality
and restore crucial habitats by encouraging
green infrastructure and other best water
management practices in three Gulf of
Mexico watersheds: Mississippi River/Lake
Pontchartrain Basin, Trinity River and
Galveston Bay, and Mobile Bay. This project
also directly improves resilience of coastal
communities by engaging youth, communi-
ty members and businesses in trash
prevention and reduction; developing
outreach and education programs about
nonpoint source pollution and the impacts
of trash on local waterways; and sharing
and communicating best practices and
lessons learned between these disparate
Gulf communities.
By establishing a long-term collaboration
between organizations along the Gulf
Coast, the project is extending its impact
and reach to other coastai communities by
developing replicable strategies for
reducing nonpoint source pollution and
engaging communities. As of December
2021, the project had educated and
engaged 1,217 individuals, strengthened 7
communities, enhanced 485 acres, and
removed approximately 35,192 pounds of
trash from Texas, Louisiana and Alabama.
In January, Groundwork New Orleans
teamed up with local partners to host a
"Culture of Cleanliness" campaign kickoff
event to inspire community members, local
government, and businesses to help
establish a clean, litter-free culture to
compliment the food, music, and Mardi
Gras culture New Orleans is already known
for.
View additional EPA Gulf of Mexico Division
successes in the 2021 Annual Report.
Two FY21 EPA Gulf
of Mexico Division
TFW Grant Recipients
Announced
Eckerd College in St. Petersburg,
Florida was recently awarded $499,638
in funding through the EPA's FY21 Gulf
of Mexico Division Healthy and
Resilient Gulf RFA to implement their
"Communities Count: Single-Use
Plastic Data to Change Policy" project
by creating a mobile application that
will help Pinellas County residents
digitally track their single-use plastic
consumption with the goal of keeping
waste out of the Gulf of Mexico.
A second grant recipient, Louisiana
State University, just received $499,582
to carry out their "Multi-Pronged
Approach to Trash Free Watersheds in
Baton Rouge" project. This effort will
help reduce and prevent surface trash
on city streets by engaging and
empowering communities and
businesses to implement water-filling
stations and replace unsustainable
products.
The official EPA news release an-
nouncing all eight Guif TFW grant
'inalists is expected soon.
Mississippi State U
• Mitigation Project
Principal investigator Stategic
6

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THE FLOW OF...TRASH FREE WATERS
MAY 2022 - ISSUE 1 6
NEW RESOURCES & PUBLICATIONS
TFW Program Trifold and Factsheet
The TFW team recently
designed a trlfoid brochure
outlining the TFW program's
mission, goals - prevention,
removal, and research - ser-
vices, and achievements. The
intention of this resource is to
help educate partners about
TFW as a voluntary, non-statu-
tory program. The resource is
available in both electronic and
printable format on our website.
A factsheet highlighting TFW
program accomplishments is
also available online. Since the
program's creation in 2013,
TFW has provided technical
and/or financial assistance to
over 80 projects in more than
half of the U.S. states and
EPA's Trash Free Waters Program
|	 Supporting Healthy Communities 	i
EPA's
Trash
Free
Waters
Program
Supporting Healthy
Communities and Vibrant
Our
Program
Our mission is to prevent trash from
getting into our waterways and remove
trash that is already in the environment.
We refer to the garbage polluting
rivers, takes, streons, and creeks as
"aquatic trash". If it is not properly
disposed of or securely contained,
gcrbage can easily become aquatic
trash. In fact, the majority of trash
found in our wcterways end oceans
originates on land.
We improve the hedth of our nation's
waterways and communities by
fostering effective partnerships,
providing informational resources, and
facilitating shared learning. To prevent
and remove aquatic trash, we work
with our patners in support of
community and place-based projects
that address the major sources of
aquatic trash, which include intentional
litter and escaped trash.
Directly in line with our stated m
our program goals are:
Reduce waste generation at the source
and change behaviors that cause trash
to get into the environment end our
waterways.
Remove trash from U.S. wcterways by
supporting trash capture solutions and
ether remediation efforts.
Improve understanding of the sources,
causes, pathways, and imposts of
aquatic trash (including microptastics) to
aid in the development of effective
solutions that reduce trash pollution aid
minimize its associated environmental
and public hedth risks.
Front page of the TFW Program factsheet. Front page of the TFW Program Trifold.
territories. The TFW Program has also published over 20 technical reports, tools, and resources to help
on-the-ground stakeholders address aquatic trash pollution in their communities.
A TFW Report on Priority Microplastics Research Needs:
Update to the 2017 Microplastics Expert Workshop
A Trash Free Waters Report on
life v Priority Microplastics Research
Needs: Update to the 2017
Microplastics Expert Workshop
Office ol Wetlands. Oceans and Waeislieds
December 2021
EPA-842-R-21-005
In June 2017, the TFW Program convened
a workshop that brought together subject
matter experts in the fields of environmen-
tal monitoring, waste management,
toxicology, ecological assessments, and
human health assessments to discuss and
summarize the risks posed by microplas-
tics to ecological and human health. The
resulting workshop report outlined priority
scientific information needs within four
broad categories of research:
1)	Field and analytical methods;
2)	Sources, transport, and fate;
3)	Ecological assessments; and
4)	Human health assessments.
In December 2021, TFW published an
update to the 2017 Microplastics Expert
Workshop (MEW) report to assist the
scientific research and funding communi-
ties in identifying information gaps and
emerging areas of interest within micro-
plastics research. This report includes a
status update on the state of the science
for each of the four categories listed above,
informed by conversations with 11 subject
matter experts and a targeted review of the
peer-reviewed literature. The document
also highlights factors which have led to an
increased understanding of microplastics
since 2017, including several significant
conferences and workshops, a large
growth in the number of micropiastics-re-
lated research papers, and external drivers
like the Save Our Seas Act 2.0 and U.S.
Strategy for Addressing the Global Issue of
Marine Litter.
Update of the TFW MtW Report on Priority
Microplastics Research.
7

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MAY 2022 - ISSUE 1 6
THE FLOW OF...TRASH FREE WATERS
NEW RESOURCES & PUBLICATIONS
TFW Webinar on Successful Campaigns
The Trash Free Waters Program's January
20th webinar - titled "Outreach and Educa-
tion for Trash Free Waters - What Makes a
Successful Campaign?"- drew 230 attend-
ees from local, state, and federal govern-
ment offices, NGOs, universities, and
businesses. The webinar featured three
expert speakers - Adam Lindquist, Director
of the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore's
Healthy Harbor Initiative; Katie Register,
Executive Director of Clean Virginia
Waterways of Longwood University; and
Ellie Moss, Founder and Principal at Moss
and Mollusk Consulting and primary author
of "Reducing Plastic Pollution: Campaigns
That Work"- who discussed lessons learned
and best practices for outreach campaigns
aimed at preventing aquatic trash. The
speakers provided the audience with
practical information on how to craft an
effective anti-littering or source reduction
outreach campaign and discussed com-
mon barriers to achieving desired behavior
changes and strategies for overcoming
these barriers. The TFW team received
overwhelmingly positive feedback regard-
ing the quality and usefulness of this
webinar, which is the seventh installment in
the TFW webinar series.
Curbside Disposal Education Pilot Campaign Case Study Report
The "Cleaner Communities and Water-
ways" Curbside Disposal Pilot took place
from July 2020 to May 2021 in Washington,
D.C. through a partnership between the
EPA's Trash Free Waters Program and the
local district government, including the D.C.
Mayor's Office of the Clean City (MOCC),
D.C. Department of Public Works (DPW),
and D.C. Department of Energy and
Environment (DOEE). The primary goal of
this initiative was to educate residents
about proper waste containment and
encourage behavioral changes to reduce
unintentional leakage associated with
curbside municipal trash collection. A total
of 8,000 DPW-serviced, single-family homes
in four target D.C. neighborhoods were
selected to receive a campaign sticker
articulating four simple actions to reduce
unintentional trash spillage. After 22 weeks
of data collection in the target communities,
our analysis suggests that this educational
pilot program had an overall positive
impact. In particular, there was a statistical-
ly significant reduction in the number of
overflowing and open cans across all
neighborhoods - behaviors which were
specifically mentioned on the campaign
sticker due to their correlation with trash
spillage. An executive summary is available
on the TFW website for a quick overview of
the project scope and findings. A more
thorough review of the data collection
methodology, analysis, results, and
recommendations coming out of this pilot
is also available for those interested in
adopting a similar campaign approach in
other communities.

Cleaner communities
and waterways
start here
¦ Keep lid closed and do not overfill the can.

0
Bag your trash before putting it in the can.
(Do not bag recyclables; place items loose in your blue can.)
Place trash in can outside shortly before pickup.
Call 311 or visit 311 .dc.gov for assistance
with cans needing repair or replacement.
"TrashFreeDC
cleancity.dc.gov
zerowaste.dc.gov
IIwdc =
DEPARTMENT
OFENERGY&
BfflBONMafT
Cmuriel bowser, mayor
In partnership with the U.S. EPA's Trash Free Waters program
www.epa.gov/trash-free-waters
The sticker design shared with 8,000 select D.C. residents to encourage proper waste disposal practices.
8

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THE FLOW OF...TRASH FREE WATERS
MAY 2022 - ISSUE 1 6
OTHER
VA Stormwater and Litter Conference
In December 2021, Layne Marshall of the TFW Program presented on the EPA's Escaped
Trash Assessment Protocol (ETAP) to participants of the annual Clean Virginia Waterways
Stormwater & Litter Workshop. Workshop participants were also informed about the 2021
Stormwater and Solid Waste Dialogues and the Trash Stormwater Permit Compendium, a
useful tool for Phase I and Phase II Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit
writers and stormwater management planners interested in how to insert effective trash
measures into their planning documents.
Upcoming 7th International Marine Debris Conference
The7- International Marine Debris Confer-	7TH INTERNATIONAL
ence C7IMDO is beina held September 18-23. Iffil MARINE DEBRIS
2022, in Busan, Republic of Korea. This is the
world's longest-running international confer-	Vv/NrtKcNvt
ence series dedicated to the issue of marine	18th - 23rd September 2022
litter and plastic pollution. 7IMDC will build on	busan, republic of korea
the momentum of past IMDCs by bringing together governments, industry, academia, civil
society, and all relevant stakeholders, to discuss the latest science, strengthen collabora-
tions, find solutions and catalyze action to address the urgent, global problem of marine
litter and plastic pollution. Participants will be able to submit abstracts and posters, attend
technical sessions and join field activities to learn more about these global issues. The call
for technical sessions has already closed, but attendees can expect sessions in a variety of
categories, from monitoring and research and technology and innovation to circularity and
private sector engagement. 7IMDC is accepting submissions of abstracts and posters until
April 8. Conference registration is expected to be made available soon. The official
conference program is scheduled to be announced on June 1.
Nurdle Patrol Update
The Nurdle Patrol has performed 11,708
surveys since it began three years ago.
Thanks to the help of more than 142
partner organizations and over 5,000
volunteers, they have surveyed 5,074
different sites across Gulf of Mexico-area
beaches, riverbanks, and lake shorelines. In
November 2021, Nurdle Patrol was
awarded the 2021 Conservation & Environ-
mental Stewardship Award for Coastal
Community by the Coastal Bend Bays
Foundation for their work educating and
advocating about plastics in the ocean,
engaging citizen scientists in data monitor-
ing efforts, and helping push plastic pellet
policy changes along the Gulf Coast.
Congrats!
Recommended Reading
Launch of the Inaugural Annual Trends
in Plastics Policy: A Brief
United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) ocean innovator - Duke Universi-
ty's Nicholas Institute for Environmental
Policy Solutions - recently launched the
inaugural Annual Trends in Plastics Policy:
A Brief. The updated report highlights key
trends and gaps in government approaches
to plastic pollution, including initial observa-
tions on how the COVID-19 pandemic has
affected the development and implementa-
tion of policies intended to address plastic
pollution. The report also provides details
on which plastic types are and are not
being targeted and the types of instru-
ments governments are commonly using. It
comes as global policymakers convene
during UNEA 5.2 to set an agenda for the
development of a global plastics treaty and
consider the capacity that each member
state has to implement comprehensive
plastics policy. This report complements
the Global Plastics Policy Inventory
database A webinar in late February
helped launch the report.
Global Plastics Outlook: Economic
Drivers, Environmental Impacts and
Policy Options
In February, the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD)
launched the Global Plastics Outlook:
Economic Drivers. Environmental Impacts
and Policy Options. This Outlook is the first
report to comprehensively take stock of
current plastics production, use and waste
generation, uncover the underlying eco-
nomic drivers and map the related environ-
mental impacts on a global level. The report
quantifies the current production, use,
disposal and key environmental impacts
throughout the entire plastics lifecycle and
identifies opportunities for reducing the
negative externalities. It also investigates
how plastics use and waste have been
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic across
sectors and regions. The report identifies
four key levers that are essential to bend
the plastics curve:
1)	markets for recycled (secondary)
plastics,
2)	technological innovation in plastics,
3)	domestic policy measures and
4)	international co-operation, including
international financing.
This resource will help decisionmakers
assess which policies can support a more
sustainable and circular management of
plastic materials. An interactive data
dashboard is also available, offering a
snapshot on the full lifecycle of plastics
across the world, including: production, use,
waste generation, and waste management,
including waste that is mismanaged or
leaked to the environment.
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