Maui County banned the use, sale or provision of polystyrene food service containers on December 31, 2018 as a step to protect marine wildlife and bird populations, who sometimes mistake the small fragments for food and ingest them. The ban shows minimal improvements on beach since a large percentage of debris washing ashore comes from distant sources, marine researchers concluded. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Since a large percentage of debris washing ashore on windward Maui beaches is from distant sources, marine researchers concluded that local policies concerning specific single-use items, like polystyrene foam containers, are expected to make “minimal improvements” in the plastics pollution issue in Hawaii.

Following Maui County’s 2018 expanded ban on the use, sale or provision of polystyrene food service containers, a team from the Hawaii Pacific University Center for Marine Debris Research discovered slight changes in the amounts and types of plastics found at only some of the beaches studied, including Kealia and Po’olenalena in South Maui, Ka’ehu and Waiehu in Central Maui, and Puunoa in West Maui.

“We’re starting to see, maybe small improvements noted after the ban on a couple of beaches, but not on those other beaches that have the most debris,” said Jennifer M. Lynch, the co-director of HPU’s Center for Marine Debris Research.

“What is really needed is international conversations to reduce the bulk of marine debris coming here to Hawaii, and if we were to focus on local issues, boy, sea turtle entanglements in local nylon monofilament fishing line are a great concern.”

Lynch has worked for the National Institute of Standards and Technology since 2003 and became the co-director of the Hawaii Pacific University Center for Marine Debris Research in 2019.

Jennifer M. Lynch, the co-director of the Hawaii Pacific University Center for Marine Debris Research, discussed preliminary findings from a study that analyzed the quantities and composition of plastics following Maui’s 2018 expanded polystyrene ban. Maui Nui Marine Resource Council photo

The center was purposefully established in Hawaii, one of the most plastic polluted marine environments, according to a news release.

Lynch is one of eight co-authors of the recent study titled, “Did Maui’s expanded polystyrene ban (County Ord. No. 4457) improve the amounts or types of plastic pollution on Maui beaches?”

Preliminary data, which hasn’t been published yet, was discussed last week during Maui Nui Marine Resource Council’s Know Your Ocean Speaker Series via Zoom.

Lynch said last week that the study did not analyze the “effectiveness” of Maui County’s intentions of the policy, which is to protect marine wildlife and bird populations, promote public health, and reduce the amount of harmful materials entering the environment, but rather investigate how the ban changed the amounts and composition of plastics found at the five Maui beaches.

The research team hypothesized that the amounts of polystyrene foam on Maui beaches would maintain a steady rise without a policy in place and then begin to decrease post-ban.

The research team did monthly surveys at each beach, collecting data using two methods: NOAA’s 100-meter transect method from 2018 to 2019 at Ka’ehu, Puunoa and Waiehu, and line transect methods from 2018 to 2020 at Kealia and Po’olenalena.

The methods used made it “very difficult to analyze” and there were some “nuances” in the data, Lynch said. However, over 8,500 pieces of plastic were still collected and categorized by type at HPU’s lab to create preliminary data.

“The data is still worth analyzing for this important objective,” she said.

Michael Fogarty, executive director of Maui Nui Marine Resource Council, had said in a news release that the findings are “valuable” for the nonprofit, especially now as they launch a National Geographic-funded study of the streams and gulches that are “transporting plastic waste to Maui’s beaches and shorelines.”

Recent studies conducted by University of Hawaii at Manoa show that methane, ethylene, and carbon dioxide — major contributors to global warming — are emitted as polystyrene breaks down.

Polystyrene which is used in some food service containers can easily break down into smaller fragments that can last for decades on beaches and in the ocean, contributing to illness and sometimes death of marine and land animals that mistake the small fragments for food and ingest them, according to the Maui Nui Marine Resource Council.

Lynch said that currently, about 8 million tons of trash enters the ocean per year, which at this trajectory, will be equivalent to about two garbage truck loads of trash per minute by 2030.

“This is only a 70-year-old issue, but an exponentially increasing issue because our production of plastic is still on an exponential rise,” Lynch said. “That also means that plastic waste is also on a rise.”

About 87 percent of stranded turtles in Maui Nui is caused by fishery interactions, with “entanglement in lines” being the top threat, according to the Maui Ocean Center, Marine Institute.

In another study that Lynch co-authored, it showed that microfibers from clothing and micro plastics were commonly ingested by fish and turtle hatchlings.

A point source for plastic pollution is also the landfill, where wind gusts blow trash up and out to the ocean. Derelict fishing gear is another big threat to coral reefs, birds, and marine wildlife.

Given worldwide collaborations and efforts to combat pollution, “I do believe there’s a shift away (from polystyrene), that’s definitely happening,” Lynch said.

Data presented last week nearly mimicked an earlier study done in 2016 done by Lauren Blickley, which indicated that about 86 to 89 percent of items found at Puunoa and Po’olenalena are land-based materials, such as cigarettes, straws, golf balls, tires, personal care products and food wrappers.

Similarly to Blickley’s data, Lynch said that their study showed Waiehu collecting mostly ocean-based debris, such as ropes, buoys, hagfish traps, fishing lure and other gear.

At all three beaches, general-source debris like plastic bags, packing materials, bottles, containers and caps, which could come from the land or from boats out at sea, made up the smallest percentage of debris.

Lynch said that this data, as well as a follow up study in 2019, shows that leeward beaches get more land-based trash as opposed to windward coastlines, like Waiehu.

Still, food packaging was the top threat at all five beaches, most prominently at Ka’ehu, Lynch said last week during the meeting.

Overall, marine debris at leeward beaches declined just a tad, but “nothing significant” since Maui County’s ban in 2018.

“You don’t see dramatic changes in the marine debris post-ban,” she said. “In fact, it looks like Ka’ehu rose a little bit.”

Kealia, Po’olenalena and Puunoa were the only sites that saw some significant declines in marine debris, but it was not in polystyrene foam, but rather a blend of other polymers, some of which are found in floating ropes.

Only focusing on disposable food debris for the first six months post-ban, Kealia and Ka’ehu had no significant changes like researchers initially anticipated, but the next six months “might be quite telling for the impact of the ban,” Lynch said.

Still, Lynch said that the team could dive even deeper into the data to dissect any changes in the types of plastics found at beaches.

Even though there may not have been huge changes since the ban was expanded to include polystyrene food service containers, county policies can encourage more strides to a “plastic-free ocean.”

Effective March 1, the ordinance will expand again to include plastic utensils such as plates, trays, bowls, cups and lunch plate containers. Other banned items include plastic forks, knives, spoons and straws. Polystyrene foam coolers are also prohibited.

The ban will affect Maui County food providers that serve food or beverages in plastic disposable foodware after it has been ordered, as well as businesses that sell these items for use.

Several businesses, however, have already been making the shift to use compliant foodware.

“I think Hawaii is leading as one of the most environmentally friendly states in the United States,” Lynch said. “I think anytime that a policy is signed that is putting the environment first is definitely a good thing and is a good role model for putting the environment first, which we depend on greatly for.”

The authors of the study also included Kerrianne O’Malley, Sheena Weller, Melissa Jung, Kayla Brignac, and Regina Ostergaard-Klem of Hawaii Pacific University Center for Marine Debris Research; Cheryl King from Sharkastics; and Jens Currie from the Pacific Whale Foundation.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.

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