10.2190/62EL-EY9R-G9RK-F9K7 62ELEY9RG9RKF9K7 3 The Impact of the Suffolk County, New York, Plastics Ban on Beach and Roadside Litter 337 351 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 62ELEY9RG9RKF9K7.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=62ELEY9RG9RKF9K7 4 Stella S. Ross R. L. Swanson State University of New York at Stony Brook Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, beach and roadside litter surveys were conducted. Using a modified Center for Marine Conservation data card format, litter was categorized by composition: plastics, "banned" plastics, glass, rubber, paper, metal, wood, and cloth. "Banned" plastics are retail food packaging products banned under Suffolk County's Plastics Law (Local Law 10-1988), passed in 1988 (this law has since been replaced by Local Law 3-1994, which replaces the ban with language encouraging the recycling of these plastics). Percent composition by count and by weight were determined. Results are compared and contrasted with available published litter data. We conclude that the Suffolk County Plastics Law, which was intended to offer several environmental benefits, would not succeed in reducing the cumulative impact of beach and roadside litter. R. S. Shomura and M. L. Godfrey (eds.), <i>Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Marine Debris</i>, 2-7 April 1989, Honolulu, Hawaii, U. S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-154. A Third International Conference on Marine Debris was held in May 1994; however, proceedings are not yet available. L. K. Younger and K. Hodge, <i>1991 International Coast Cleanup Overview</i>, Center for Marine Conservation, Washington, D. C., 114 pp., 1992. Suffolk County Legislature, Local Law 10-1988: A Local Law to Simplify Solid Waste Management by Requiring Certain Uniform Packaging Practices [for Retail Food Establishments] within the County of Suffolk, New York, 1988. R. L. Swanson, V. Breslin, S. Reaven, S. S. Ross, R. Young, and R. Becker, An Assessment of Impacts Associated with Implementation of the Suffolk County Plastics Law, Local Law 10-1988, Special Report #106 of the Waste Management Institute, Marine Sciences Research Center, SUNY at Stony Brook, New York, 255 pp., 1993. S. S. Ross, <i>The Environmental Impact of Food Packaging Legislation: The Suffolk County, New York, Plastics Law (Local Law 10-1988) and its Descendants</i>, Master's thesis, Waste Management Institute, Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 215 pp., 1994. R. Weisbrod, Special Assistant to the Commissioner, New York State Department of Conservation, personal communication, New York, July 1993. R. L. Swanson and R. L. Zimmer, Meteorological Conditions Leading to the 1987 and 1988 Washups of Floatable Wastes on New York and New Jersey Beaches, and Comparison of These Conditions with the Historical Record, Estuary Coast Shelf Science, <i>30</i>:1, pp. 59-78, 1990. New York City Department of Environmental Protection, <i>City-wide Floatables Study, Characterization and Quantification of Sources of Floatable Material</i>, Task 6.0. HydroQual, Inc., Mahwah, New Jersey, unnumbered pages, 1992. M. G. Forbes, Director, National Training Services, Training and Program Development, Keep America Beautiful, Inc., personal communication, Stanford, Connecticut, July 1993. Michigan Department of Transportation, <i>Special Report: Michigan Litter Composition Study</i>, prepared by Roadside Operations Sections Maintenance Division, Southfield, 30 pp., September 1986. L. Wiener, 1986 <i>Litter Composition Study</i>, Internal Report of Operations Planning, New York City Department of Sanitation, New York, 13 pp. plus Appendix A, December 1986. J. Miller and L. Gewirtz, <i>Further Results of the Litter Survey</i>, Letter to L. Riccio, Assistant Commissioner, The City of New York Department of Sanitation, New York, 9 pp., January 22, 1985.