This petition supports House Bill 100 "Highway Cleanup of 2021. For over 12 months, the Plastic Ocean Project (POP), Boot Scrap, and UNCW POP Chapter have been cleaning up the same 1000-foot section of Rt. 421, 6 miles south of the New Hanover County Landfill. Every month, they remove between 200 to 400+ lbs. of trash. In March 2021, they recorded 764 lbs. Where is it coming from? Trucks and trailers with unsecured loads heading to the New Hanover Landfill are the biggest contributors. Each month POP separates the debris recycling plastic bottles, glass, cans, cardboard, and paper. The large quantities of Styrofoam packaging are taken to UNC Wilmington to be recycled. But the bulk of what they find are construction materials.

The nuisance of debris landing in storefront entrances is not the only problem.  Nails and other sharp objects often fall off of the haulers resulting in costly repairs or replacement of tires for business owners and their patrons.  Furthermore, these businesses are burdened with the cost of time cleaning up their property and for the disposal of the debris.  When it is not removed, the debris can be swept away into the nearby Cape Fear River and potentially end up in the ocean.

Many vacationing visitors come to this area on Rt. 421 and the debris on the sides of the roads is a blaring eyesore, leaving a poor impression of our waste management and community pride.

Without proper enforcement, the county landfill loses revenue.   Leaving debris on the roadway, haulers have a lighter load. The discarded debris is collected by the NCDOT or POP, then taken to the landfill using a pro-bono voucher.  This results in 10s of 1000s of dollars lost in revenue for the landfill annually. 

Please support House Bill 100 Highway Cleanup of 2021.