This year, many of us will take our first overseas holiday since the start of COVID-19, and for us, this Easter meant taking a beach holiday. We don't live particularly close to the beach, so we always seek some sand and surf if we can. This year has been our first for some time, and on arrival, we were overwhelmed by the amount of plastic beach litter we found. It's become a family ritual for us to do a beach clean whenever we visit a beach; it's our way of saying 'thank you' to the place we have visited and to the memories the ocean and sand have given us. I wrote a while ago about littering on the Island of Mallorca, but I confronted the issue of nurdles during our holiday this year.
What are Nurdles?
Nurdles are small plastic resin pellets which are the basis of all large-scale plastic production. They are used in manufacturing, and almost everything made of plastic starts its life as a nurdle.
Are nurdles a hazardous waste product?
Nurdles are small and are classed as microplastic because they are less than 5mm in diameter. These tiny plastic beads are a huge threat to the environment. Their size makes them prone to spillage and loss throughout the supply chain, and it is estimated that a staggering 445,970 tonnes of nurdles enter our oceans each year.
We already know that tiny plastic particles break down into ever smaller pieces and can be ingested by marine life. Nurdles, like other plastics, are made from Petrochemicals. Once in the ocean, they act like tiny chemical sponges, attracting pollutants and chemical toxins to their surface. This makes each nurdle even more dangerous for marine life, with each one carrying concentrated levels of the ocean pollution it floats in.
How do nurdles affect the environment?
Nurdles are the second-largest source of micropollutants in the ocean by weight, after tyre dust and as with other ocean debris, they are often mistaken by birds, fish, and other wildlife as food.
In May 2021, a container ship called the X-Press Pearl caught fire and sank off the coast of Colombo, Sri Lanka. In addition to other chemicals, it also carried 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and 87 containers of plastic nurdles. For many, it was the oil which posed the biggest threat to the local environment, with a huge effort to protect the country’s pristine coral reefs and the fishing industry. However, according to the UN, it was the plastic nurdles which posed the most “significant” harm. That day, around 1,680 tonnes of nurdles were released into our oceans, with billions washed up along the country's coastline.
The impact of the X-express Pearl disaster was felt by local villages, which were unable to fish, but more critically, it had a devastating impact on marine life. By late June 2021, around 200 carcasses had been counted. Aside from many fish, it is thought to have killed 470 turtles, 46 dolphins and eight whales.
Prior to this, in October 2017, two container ships collided, spilling 2.2 billion nurdles and again in February 2018, a container carrying around 2 billion nurdles fell into the sea. Both incidents occurred in the port of Durban, South Africa. The tiny beads began washing up along a 1200km stretch of coastline. We cannot find any definitive data on how this spill directly affected the local marine life.
Campaign for change
Spills like these have reignited campaigns by groups like Greenpeace to end the use of single-use plastics.
Is beach cleaning the answer?
Beach cleaning removes the plastic and other marine litter along coastlines everywhere. However, these efforts are concentrated on removing larger, unsightly pieces of litter and plastic. Smaller pieces of plastic, such as nurdles, are practically impossible to remove and accumulate on the shores.
But this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. How often have you found yourself sitting on a beach, just lying there, eyes closed, or people-watching? Next time, perhaps you and your family can agree to each find and collect 30 nurdles.
Once collected, ensure they are placed in a litter bin or take them back with you and dispose of them properly, and wash your hands thoroughly after collecting any beach litter.
You can also take part in more significant initiatives like the ones by The Great Nurdle Hunt. They offer great advice and details on participating in their global event.
During our holiday, we collected more than 200 nurdles, and we spent time collecting as many larger pieces of plastic and debris as we could. Among the items collected were over 100 plastic lolly sticks, a plastic toy soldier, bottle tops, plastic coating from electrical wiring, polystyrene and four tampon applicators.
Honestly, nothing we throw away is ever gone.
Cleaning the beach is not only great for the local environment, it's also fantastic education for our children. Moving around on the beach gives you a little exercise and a better tan, too. Just remember to apply sunscreen first!
by Helen Farr-Leander
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