Steve Jasiecki describes passing a construction site in which crews cut a section of plastic lumber to size, leaving snowy, white sawdust in the dirt. That sawdust may drift in a breeze or sink into the dirt, but the plastic residue will not decompose, at least not for thousands of years. Part of the environmental group Sustainable Margate, Jasiecki wants to keep that plastic debris out of the ocean and bays. “This is something that’s been in plain sight for all of us,” Jasiecki said. He said he has seen tiny pieces of plastic while kayaking in the area. He thought about the number of construction sites in shore communities. “A lightbulb just kind of clicked on in my head,” he said. “There are thousands of pounds of this stuff floating in the ocean.” Sustainable Margate member Sherri Lilienfeld drafted an ordinance proposal. The group sought input from the organization Clean Ocean Action, which reviewed the proposal, and from the local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, which has helped promote the idea.
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Margate’s Board of Commissioners approved a resolution calling on contractors to reduce the dust spread when cutting, sanding or drilling plastic or poly compound materials, although Jasiecki had advocated for an ordinance. Elected officials in Hamilton Township, Longport and Somers Point have also taken action this year, and momentum appears to be growing. Last week, Ventnor’s City Commission approved a new litter ordinance aimed at reducing the plastics spread from construction sites, mandating that contractors use an attachment to collect the dust when sawing or drilling the material, and cut in confined spaces wherever possible. The new ordinance in Ventnor also required contractors to cut over a tarp to collect the sawdust. The same day, Ocean City Council heard a pitch for a similar ordinance from the chairman of its Environmental Commission. Monmouth Beach enacted a similar rule in early summer. That community had enacted limits on plastics in 2018, before a statewide law took effect in 2022. The Ventnor ordinance cites the brand names Azek and Trex, but it applies to all plastic materials, pavers and to wood treated with chemicals. Both Azek and Trex manufacture outdoor decking and other construction material, and both tout their environmental impact; using recycled material in new construction.
Trex includes reclaimed sawdust and plastic film used in bags and other uses, which the company says keeps material out of landfills.
Azek describes itself as the largest vertically integrated PVC recycler in the United States. “We wholeheartedly embrace a responsibility to sustainability and seek to always act with purpose,” reads a description on the Azek website. But working with the material inevitably produces new waste. “In the past, it was wood. Sawdust doesn’t matter. It decomposes,” Ocean City Environmental Commission Chair Richard Bernardini told City Council last Thursday. “Now that we’re using Azek and Trex, basically, when it snows in front of a construction project, it’s all plastic that ends up either in the bay or in the ocean. It’s just sloppy site conditions by contractors, and I urge you to take action on this.” Those are not the only plastics used in construction. Vinyl siding has become all but ubiquitous, and PVC is also used for door and window frames, water pipes and other uses. Acrylic is used in windows, and even latex paint is a liquid plastic. “We’re not saying they should not use the materials,” Jasiecki said, adding they can often be a better environmental choice than wood. “They should be used responsibly.” Better collection of plastic sawdust and other scrap materials is an easy solution, Jasiecki said. He wants to bring the matter statewide, and is looking for a champion for the issue in the state Senate or Assembly. “This is such an obvious problem that can be remedied,” he said. Bill Stuempfig, vice chairman of the South Jersey Surfrider chapter, has been advocating for similar ordinances in South Jersey communities, including addressing the Ocean City Environmental Commission. The organization has an informational
web page , which says there are currently no rules governing plastic particles and dust released in construction. The proposals have often received a good response, Stuempfig said. “It’s really taken off. Next I’m going to tackle Cape May,” he said. Bernardini presented the Environmental Commission’s annual report to Ocean City Council. The suggestion for a microplastic ordinance received no comment from members of City Council at the meeting, but it will be considered, Council President Pete Madden said. “It’s on the radar,” Madden said Monday. “If it’s something we can do, we’ll certainly look into it.” Ordinances in other communities mean more work for construction crews. There was no response to a request for comment from the New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council, and there does not appear to be any high-profile pushback to the microplastic ordinances. Jasiecki said he has worked in construction, and that some crews have been receptive to the idea. “The ones we talked to want to do the right thing,” he said. “Contractors will be required to use vacuum attachments on saws, cut and drill lumber in confined spaces, such as a tent or hood, use tarps to collect dust, and properly dispose of these debris,” according to an explanation of the Ventnor ordinance
posted by the Surfrider Foundation. The group celebrated the Ventnor vote as a victory, saying their efforts have received little attention so far. “Plastic dust exacerbates the plastic pollution crisis; plastic particles have been found in drinking water, food, human bodies, and in practically every inch of the globe,” reads a statement posted on the group’s website. “Plastic is a petroleum-based product which degrades very slowly in the natural environment, contains toxins, and contributes to the climate crises. Plastic pollution poses significant health risks to humans, especially those in underserved communities where the majority of plastic manufacturing and waste management infrastructure is located.” In January, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law directing the Department of Environmental Protection to look at microplastics in drinking water, and the DEP and the Board of Public Utilities to look at ways to remove microplastics. Construction is far from the only way
microplastics enter the environment. Plastic wrappers and bags lost on the beach or blown from trash cans slowly break down into smaller and smaller pieces, but the material can take thousands of years to decompose. As a plastic line for a lawn trimmer wears down, those particles go somewhere. Experts say washing a fleece sweatshirt or using a toy shovel on the beach means releasing microscopic amounts of plastic in the environment. In 2019, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation
reported on a study in the south branch of the Raritan River, which recovered more than 4,000 pieces of plastic the size of a poppy seed or smaller. “It’s very bad news, since the Raritan River is a major drinking water source for 1.5 million New Jersey homes and businesses,” the organization reported. “But this problem is not unique. Across New Jersey, the nation and the world, microplastics in waterways are increasing.” An article
published last year by the National Library of Medicine states that microplastics are consumed by marine life, potentially harming the environment and finding their way into the human food supply. It sounds like an exaggeration, but plastic is
everywhere . Petroleum-derived plastics are found in our clothes, our food packaging, in our bodies and our construction materials. Traces of plastics residue have been found in remote ice fields in the arctic, at the bottom of oceans, atop Mount Everest and in the drifting sands of the Sahara Desert. Plastic manufacturing goes back more than a century, but world production of synthetic
plastics did not take off until after World War II. In 1950, the world produced about 2 million tons of plastic. By 1960, those early Barbie dolls and vinyl chairs brought it to 8 million tons, and plastic production began to exceed aluminum. A decade later, it was at 35 million tons, and by 2000, that number was at 213 million. The number doubled by 2019, when the world produced 460 million tons of plastic,
230 times the number for 1950.
GALLERY: ACUA, PolyGone debut microplastics removal program
Matthew DeNafo, the president of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA), at the event Thursday announcing the authority's partnership with PolyGone Systems for a microplastics removal pilot project and educational pavilion at the ACUA wastewater facility in Atlantic City. Yidian Liu, one of the co-founders of Princeton-based startup, PolyGone Systems, at an event Thursday announcing the Atlantic County Utilities Authority's partnership with PolyGone for a microplastics removal pilot project and educational pavilion at the authority's wastewater facility in Atlantic City. “With more plastic items being pursued every year, it is likely that microplastic will become a major health hazard facing our next generation, and that’s why we chose to focus on microplastics,” said Yidian Liu, co-founder of PolyGone. Johnatha Pennock, the director of the National Sea Grant College Program, speaking at an event Thursday announcing the Atlantic County Utilities Authority's partnership with PolyGone for a microplastics removal pilot project and educational pavilion at the authority's wastewater facility in Atlantic City. Judith Sheft, the executive director of the New Jersey Commission of Science, Innovation and Technology, speaking at an event Thursday announcing the Atlantic County Utilities Authority's partnership with PolyGone for a microplastics removal pilot project and educational pavilion at the authority's wastewater facility in Atlantic City. Nathaniel Banks, the co-founder of PolyGone Systems, speaking at an event Thursday announcing the Atlantic County Utilities Authority's partnership with PolyGone for a microplastics removal pilot project and educational pavilion at the authority's wastewater facility in Atlantic City. Nathaniel Banks, the co-founder of PolyGone Systems, at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority's wastewater facility in Atlantic City on Thursday, explaining the microplastic removal pilot program and educational pavilion the company partnered with the utility authority for. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday. Workers move equipment into place to demonstrate the Atlantic County Utilities Authority and PolyGone Systems’ microplastics removal system Thursday at the wastewater treatment facility in Atlantic City. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday. Nathaniel Banks and Yidian Liu, the co-founders of Princeton-based PolyGone Systems, at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City Thursday, for the announcement of the authority's partnership with PolyGone for a microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion. Nathaniel Banks, co-founder of PolyGone systems, explains the microplastics removal equipment recently installed at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday. The Atlantic County Utilities Authority partnered with Princeton-based PolyGone Systems in order to bring the first-of-its-kind microplastic removal pilot project and educational pavilion to the authority's wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic City on Thursday.
