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After finding record levels of plastic nurdles on beaches, environmentalists urge stricter laws

After finding record levels of plastic nurdles on beaches, environmentalists urge stricter laws

After finding record levels of plastic nurdles on beaches, environmentalists urge stricter laws

After finding record levels of plastic nurdles on beaches, environmentalists urge stricter laws

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  • A survey found a record number of spills on beaches worldwide.
  • Activists want new legislation to reduce them.
  • Plastic pellets are harmful to wildlife and are hard to clean up.
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Plastic pellets are harmful to wildlife and the environment and are hard to clean up. A survey found a record number of spills on beaches worldwide, and activists want new legislation to reduce them.

Environmental groups want to classify nurdles as marine pollutants to regulate their management and transit.

Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets used to make practically all plastic products, but industrial and transport spills mean many end up in the sea.

They can absorb chemical contaminants and release them to animals that consume them.

The Great Global Nurdle Hunt found a record amount of nurdles this year.

90% of 317 sites in 23 countries have them. Indonesia lacked nurdles.

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Limekilns, 17 miles from Edinburgh, is one of the worst afflicted regions in the UK; nurdles are everywhere.

Joanna McFarlane, head of CLP Nature Conservation Group, told Sky News: “We’re dealing with historical nurdle loss. Lots of nurdles have been here decades and they’re washing up, maybe being dragged up from the Firth of Forth and deposited, or they’re simply sitting in the bank.”

Sometimes half of a sand bank is nurdles.

Who is responsible for the nurdles poisoning our beaches and communities?

“Why isn’t someone responsible for the pollution on our beach? Children play in it, wildlife eats it; who’s responsible?”

Nurdle spills can unleash billions into the water.

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In 2021, a ship fire off the coast of Sri Lanka spilled 50 to 75 billion nurdles, the world’s worst spillage.

Megan Kirton, FIDRA project officer: “In addition to being unsightly and covering beaches in plastic, many marine species mistake nurdles for food.

Seabirds, fish, dolphins, and newborn turtles eat nurdles because they’re mistaken for food.

Animals feel full after eating nurdles and don’t eat properly.

Ms. Kirton continued, “Once nurdles are in the ecosystem, they’re almost tough to clear up, so we need preventative action.”

FIDRA is urging the International Maritime Organization to classify nurdles as marine contaminants.

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This changes how they’re transported.

Tanya Cox, senior technical specialist at Fauna and Flora International, told Sky News they are widespread contaminants.

Ms. Cox said pellets aren’t classified for marine transport.

“We need to classify nurdles as marine pollutants so they’re packaged more strictly, branded more clearly, and the existence of pellets on ships is told to the operators so they can store them safely below deck.

If it doesn’t happen, time is running out.

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