Single-Use Plastic Items Makes Up The Majority of Waste Found Across U.S. National Parks for The Second Year

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Results from Plastic-Free Parks TrashBlitz Underscore Urgent Need to Address Single-Use Plastic in National Parks

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA (January 31, 2024) — The 5 Gyres Institute published findings from Plastic-Free Parks TrashBlitz, an annual community science project that tracks waste trends in U.S. national parks. According to data submitted by volunteers, plastic is the most prevalent material polluting national parks and federal lands for the second year in a row.

Single-use plastic items made up the bulk of waste found, with food wrappers, cigarette butts, wipes, bottles and bottle caps, film, and bags included in the top 10 identifiable items. Notably, plastic fragments made up 25% of the entire study, exhibiting plastics’ tendency to break up into smaller and smaller pieces once in the environment.

The top brands identified primarily represent tobacco and food & beverage companies, including Marlboro, Camel, Gatorade, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Budweiser. For the first time, this year’s report also tracked brands to their respective parent corporations, finding Philip Morris International as the top corporate polluter in the study.

I am a climber, a trash data junkie and a scientist. I am stoked for the results of our extensive analysis of the trash in national parks and federal lands because it will allow us to better understand how to prevent the trash from getting into the environment and teach us personally how to be better rock climber stewards and how we can respectfully recreate in these special landscapes. ⎯ Dr. Win Cowger, Research Director, Moore Institute of Plastic Research

Project partners mobilized volunteers across the country to participate at national parks and federal lands like urban parks, forests, and monuments managed by the National Park Service. From April through November, hundreds of volunteers participated in 199 data collection and clean-up hauls across the country, inputting more than 8,000 pieces of trash into the TrashBlitz research platform. TrashBlitz volunteers also sampled data at Yosemite Facelift, an annual cleanup event in Yosemite National Park during which 1,476 volunteers collected 10,432 pounds of trash.

The data from Plastic-Free Parks TrashBlitz underscores an urgent need to address single-use plastic in national parks. In addition to passing legislation like the Reducing Waste in National Parks Act, which would ban several of the top items found, parks can take steps like increasing access to refill stations and implementing reusable foodware for on-site dining.

The report also recommends expanding TrashBlitz audits across the National Parks Service next year to better track trends. This year’s audit had plastic making up 66% of material recorded, compared to last year’s 81%, but with limited data, it’s unclear if this represents a trend across all parks. Notably, many park units have taken steps to reduce single-use plastic in the past year, like Yosemite Hospitality’s removal of single-use plastic bottles.

The full report from Plastic-Free Parks TrashBlitz can be found at 5gyres.org/PlasticFreeParks.

Nonprofit and brand partners supporting Plastic-Free Parks TrashBlitz include 5 Gyres, Accenture, Active San Gabriel Valley, Adventure Scientists, Azulita Project, Bee’s Wrap, Break Free From Plastic, BYOBottle, Center for Environmental Health, ChicoBag & To-Go Ware, Culture of Cleanliness, Epson America, Inc., Grove Collaborative, Habits of Waste, Heal the Bay, Heirs To Our Ocean, Inland Ocean Coalition, Klean Kanteen, Last Plastic Straw, LIDSOFF.org, Liquid Death, Mission:Clean Beaches, Moore Institute, No Trace Trails, Oceana, Parks Project, Pepperdine University, Plaine Products, Plastic Free Future, Plastic Pollution Coalition, Preserve, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Ray Brown’s Talkin’ Birds radio show, Save Our Shores, Sea Save Foundation, Shark Stewards, Student PIRGs, Sway, The Bay Foundation, The Last Beach Cleanup, Toad&Co, Upstream, and Yosemite Climbing Association.

About The 5 Gyres Institute

The 5 Gyres Institute (5 Gyres) is a leader in the global movement against plastic pollution with more than 10 years of expertise in scientific research, engagement, and education. With the original goal of answering a few key scientific questions about ocean plastics, co-founders Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins led 19 research expeditions in all five subtropical gyres, as well as many of the world’s lakes and rivers. 5 Gyres continues to lead with scientific research to drive upstream solutions through education, advocacy, and community building. Learn more at 5gyres.org and @5gyres.

About TrashBlitz

TrashBlitz is a data collection platform and community-focused research project created by The 5 Gyres Institute. The community-based project is designed to engage local stakeholders in measuring plastic pollution and other trash across various cities – from shorelines to riverbeds to urban neighborhoods – and utilizing data to generate relevant action plans. TrashBlitz provides robust research protocols, a web-based platform that identifies problem products and brands, and a network to bring diverse stakeholders together to co-create solutions to stop plastic pollution at the source.