Bottle bill states see drop in related litter, 2020 study finds
For all of the communities reporting observed increases in litter over the last year, Keep America Beautiful has an updated estimate on the scope of the problem: 50 billion pieces across the U.S. The organization this month released a report on its extensive 2020 research campaign, which for the first time measured litter along waterways in addition to along roadways.
KAB estimated the amount of litter along U.S. waterways and found it exceeds the problem along roadways (25.9 billion pieces of litter versus 23.7 billion). Across roadways and waterways, about 39% of litter is believed to be made of plastic.