Cleaning Up Plastic Pollution: Who Pays The Price?

Plastic pollution is a pressing issue, with plastic bags and wraps being one of the most common types of litter. The clean-up costs are significant, with estimates ranging from 17 cents to 30 cents per piece of litter. In 2007, the costs of plastic bag clean-up at three landfills totalled $237,856, including $83,000 for a moveable wind cage and approximately 344 labour hours per week. Recycling plastic bags is also costly, with a $32,000 price tag for recycling one tonne of plastic bags, resulting in a final product worth just $400. These expenses are often borne by cities and governments, with the Australian government, for example, paying over $4 million annually to clean up plastic bags.

The cost of cleaning up plastic bags

Plastic bags are a huge environmental problem, with Americans using over 380 billion plastic bags and wraps a year. The cost of cleaning up plastic bags is high, with the City of San Francisco estimating the cost of clean-up and landfill at 17 cents per bag in 2004. This included the cost of contamination of the recycling stream ($1.09 million/year = 2.2 cents per bag) and collecting and disposing of bags ($3.6 million/year = 7.2 cents per bag).

In 2007, the Bowerman landfill spent $83,000 on a moveable wind cage to capture wayward plastic bags, and there were approximately 344 labour hours per week for plastic bag clean-up between three landfills. The overall costs in 2007 were $237,856.

Recycling plastic bags is also costly, with the process of recycling 1 tonne of plastic bags costing $32,000, while the final product is worth just $400. The Australian government pays over $4 million every year to clean up plastic bags, and it is estimated that litter clean-up efforts amount to as much as $11 billion per year in the US.

The cost of cleaning up plastic in storm drains

Plastic bags can cost cities thousands of dollars to clean up when they litter storm drains. The Australian government, for example, pays over $4 million per year to clean up plastic bags. The cost of cleaning storm drains varies depending on the type and size of the drainage system and the cause of the clog. On average, cleaning a storm drain costs between $200 and $600. However, severe blockages requiring hydro jetting can increase the price to $300 to $800 or more.

The city or municipality is generally responsible for cleaning public storm drains, while property owners are responsible for drain systems connected to the storm drain, such as catch basins, French drains, yard drainage pipes, or sump pumps. It is recommended that storm drains and French drains be cleaned 1 to 2 times per year to ensure proper drainage and prevent flooding.

Roto-Rooter hydro jetting is another option for cleaning main sewer drains, with costs ranging from $500 to $900. Some Roto-Rooter franchises charge a trip fee of $70 to $200, which may be deducted with additional work. Most Roto-Rooter franchises also provide a 90-day warranty on sewer cleaning.

While the financial cost of cleaning up plastic in storm drains is significant, the environmental cost is even more concerning. If plastic bags make their way into the ocean or other sensitive areas and impact or kill wildlife, the costs may be impossible to calculate.

The cost of recycling plastic bags

Plastic bags are a huge environmental concern, with Americans using over 380 billion plastic bags and wraps a year. The cost of cleaning up plastic bags is high, with the Australian government paying over $4 million every year to clean up plastic bags, and the City of San Francisco estimating the cost of clean-up and landfill at 17 cents per bag.

In 2007, the Bowerman landfill spent $83,000 on a moveable wind cage to capture wayward plastic bags, and there were approximately 344 labour hours per week for plastic bag clean-up between three landfills. The overall cost of plastic bag clean-up in 2007 was $237,856.

Recycling plastic bags is not an effective solution either, as it costs $32,000 to recycle one tonne of plastic bags, but the final product is only worth $400.

The cost of plastic bags is not just financial, but also environmental. Plastic bags can cost cities thousands of dollars to clean storm drains, and even if a plastic bag is thrown away responsibly, it can blow out of a trash truck or landfill and end up as litter.

The cost of cleaning up plastic in landfills

The overall costs of plastic bag clean-up can be substantial. For example, the Australian government is estimated to pay over $4 million per year to clean up plastic bags. In the US, litter clean-up efforts amount to as much as $11 billion per year, with 30 cents spent on cleaning up each piece of litter.

Recycling plastic bags is also costly. Recycling one tonne of plastic bags costs $32,000, yet the final recycled product is only worth $400. In 2007, the Bowerman landfill spent $83,000 on a moveable wind cage and approximately $237,856 on labour for plastic bag clean-up.

The financial burden of plastic clean-up underscores the importance of reducing plastic waste and exploring more sustainable alternatives.

The cost of cleaning up plastic in the ocean

Cleaning up plastic in the ocean is a costly endeavour. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is a circular ocean current polluted with a massive amount of plastic waste. Researchers have estimated that the Patch holds 1.8 trillion individual pieces of waste. The cheapest way to extract plastics from the GPGP is by boat, with shipping vessels attaching surface nets to their stern and dragging them along the designated area. Ocean Cleanup has introduced an operation called the Ocean Cleanup Array, which uses floating barriers placed within concentrated zones of plastic debris to capture waste for removal every 45 days. This approach is estimated to be 33 times cheaper than traditional methods of manually scooping up waste with nets. Over a 10-year period, these barriers could extract 42% of the debris within the GPGP at a total cost of $390 million.

However, the cost of cleaning up ocean plastic is not limited to boat time. Equipment and labour costs can also add up, with estimates ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 per day, or between $122 million and $489 million for a year. Additionally, not all debris items can be scooped up with a net, and some plastics on the ocean bottom become part of the ecosystem, making cleanup challenging and costly. Ocean Cleanup's System 03 aims to reduce the cost per kilogram of plastic collected by using a larger, net-like barrier that is towed by two ships to direct plastic to a central retention zone for removal.

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