PLASTIC DEBRIS; RIVERS TO THE SEA CONFERENCE

September 7, 2005 (Los Angeles) — As a sponsor of the 2005 Plastic Debris Conference held in Redondo Beach, staff from the City of Los Angeles Stormwater Program were also present handing out materials and information on what the City is doing to curb urban runoff—much of it made of plastic debris.

Stormwater Program Manager Shahram Kharaghani also presented

The 3-day conference included presentations related to the sources, impacts and solutions for plastic debris and trash in the marine environment, with emphasis on the land-based sources. Speakers from around the world were joined by local experts presenting the results of research in the fields of marine debris, urban runoff, and solid waste management. Participants also shared their insights about solutions to be implemented locally, statewide, nationally, and globally.

Conference Goals

The conference also hopes to raise awareness and bring attention to the issue of plastics in the marine environment with the goal of fostering action to stop the flow of plastics from urban areas to the marine environment. Other goals include:

• Present recent and previous research conducted by AMRF and other research organizations worldwide that quantify the problem and help us to understand the sources and impacts of the problem
• Address the types of human activity that cause the problem
• Bring together experts from the disparate environmental fields of marine debris, non-point source pollution, waste management, and storm water control, all of which are related to this issue, to dialogue and consider ways to harmonize their work towards reducing the release of plastic and other debris
• Foster a dialogue about solutions, which will lead to refining the draft Action Plan for the State of California. The Action Plan is one of the products of the Plastic Debris, Rivers to Sea project

For more information, visit the Plastic Debris web site.