‘Nurdles’ pollute our oceans as hundreds of thousands of plastic pellets found on coastline

Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets used in the manufacture of larger plastic products, as Ella Glover explains

It is estimated 230,000 tonnes - trillions of nurdles - could be lost to the oceans globally, every year (PA)

Hundreds of thousands of plastic pellets, known as nurdles, have been found on the coastlines of 21 countries that took part in a pollution survey.

Research by environmental charity Fidra found that 21 out of the 23 countries (91 percent) surveyed found the lentil-sized pellets on their beaches.

The 23 countries involved in the survey were: United Arab Emirates, Australia, Belgium, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Spain, United Kingdom, Guernsey, Greece, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, United States, South Africa and Italy.

The charity’s report said it is estimated 230,000 tonnes - trillions of nurdles - could be lost to the oceans globally, every year.

“Nurdles are small plastic pellets that look about the size of a lentil,” Heather McFarlane, a project manager at Fidra, told The Independent. “They’re the bits that are melted down to make nearly all plastic products, so they’re produced by plastic manufacturing plants -- they’re like building blocks for the plastic industry.”

Nurdles are used to make just about anything plastic, from a plastic water bottle to parts for a car.

Ms McFarlane added that the small pellets are transported globally on lorries and in big containers, which is often where spillages occur leading to nurdles ending up in the world’s waters.

Spillages are also likely to occur at the manufacturing site and the site they’re transported to, Ms McFarlane said.

Another form of microplastic, nurdles are destructive to the environment.

Fidra’s study references scientific studies that have shown that plastic on beaches can release Co2, ethylene, methane and propane gases that all contribute to the greenhouse effect.

They are often found in the digestive tracts of sea animals as they are easily confused for food.

Unfortunately, other studies referenced in the report claim that nurdles in the water are almost impossible to remove, reuse, or recycle.

However, if spillages can be better controlled and managed, the problem could be significantly reduced, Ms McFarlane told The Independent.

She said: “There are really simple measures that can be done right across the plastic supply chain, from limiting spills happening in the first place by looking at the equipment that you use and the procedures that you’ve got in place, to making sure that any spill is cleaned up properly.

“It can be as simple as having filters in drains or a dustpan and brush on standby, and there are lots of different ways that you can make sure that [nurdles] don’t get out if they are spilt accidentally.

“So it’s all it’s all about trying to make sure each step of the supply chain is doing their bit and making sure that they’re taking responsibility for nurdles and responsibility for not spilling nurdles, and cleaning them up if it does ever happen.”

Fidra organised a Great Global Nurdle Hunt that saw more than 900 volunteers spend a total of 730 hours scouring beaches for the tiny microplastic pellets during October, the results of which will be announced at Cop26 in Glasgow on Tuesday.

Megan Kirton, of Fidra, said: “Cop26 is a real opportunity to highlight pellet pollution to international decision-makers and we can’t thank all our volunteers enough for helping us show that this is a widespread global pollution issue that needs action now.

“We can’t keep using energy and fossil fuels to make plastic that ends up in the environment.

“Nurdle pollution demonstrates plastic is being wasted before it has even been used to make anything, which is a huge waste of resources and a threat to wildlife.”

Additional reporting by Press Association