Reducing Single-Use Plastics in Irvine, CA

Abstract

Home to about 310,000 Southern Californians (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.), Irvine is one of the leading cities in sustainability. From its push towards EV and fuel-cell transportation, renewable energy, and shift towards energy-efficient technology, Irvine is now focused on reducing the distribution, use, and resulting waste of single-use plastics (SUPs). Due to Irvine’s developed society, convenience and fast-paced lifestyles has given way towards a large reliance on SUPs—causing large amounts of waste that negatively impact the local ecosystems and infrastructure. In addition to plastic waste, the production and disposal of SUPs contribute to immense amounts of CO2 emissions, which contributes to the world’s climate crisis. As a result, some of Irvine’s current sustainability actions are focused on SUPs, like their recent Single-Use Plastic Ban proposal, which has failed to pass due to a lack of outreach and community concerns around the specifications of a large SUPs ban. This proposal assesses possible solutions through policy, educational and outreach programs to help decrease the reliance on SUPs on a business-consumer level, switching to more reusable materials, and water-bottle filling stations to reduce SUPs in Irvine—amounting to at least $2.6M in solution costs. However, this proposal uses cost-benefit analysis to assess the potential value of these solutions for the city, estimating about $410M in potential benefits.