EPA has provided technical and financial support for a number of projects designed to prevent trash from entering waterways. Click the links below to learn more about EPA-supported projects in the U.S. 

For information about EPA's international marine litter reduction efforts, see International Cooperation page. 

Trash Capture

• San Francisco Bay Area Trash Capture Demonstration Project
• Proctor Creek Trash Removal and Prevention
• A Comprehensive Strategy for creating TFW in Three Mile Creek (Mobile Bay)
• Bronx River Alliance’s Project WASTE
• Hayward Youth-Based Trash Capture, Reduction, and Watershed Education Project

Source Reduction

• Coyote Creek Trash Reduction Project: Clean Creeks, Healthy Communities
• Hydration Refill Stations in New York and New Jersey State Parks
• The “Don’t Trash Long Island Sound” Campaign
• Trash Free Piscataqua Watershed Planning

Food Service-Related Source Reduction Programs

• Maryland Coastal Bays “Protect Our Sand and Seas” Campaign
• Long Island Product Stewardship Institute Restaurant Guide
• ReThink Disposable: Packaging Waste Source Reduction Restaurant Program
• Santa Monica Bay National Estuary Program’s ReThink Disposable Pilot Project
• Reducing Food Service Plastics on University of California Campuses

Community Engagement

• The Trash Free Texas Adopt-A-Spot Tool
• Greater Houston and Galveston Bay Annual "River, Lakes, Bays 'N Bayous Trash Bash”

Research

• Salish Sea Hydrodynamic Modeling of Microplastic Hotspots
• Supporting the Development of a National Approach to Extracting Microplastics from Sediment
• CEC Stormdrain Litter Characterization in Washington & Vancouver