In 10 years 7,144 nurdle hunts have taken place across 73 counties, with nurdles documented from Canada to Kenya. Nurdle pollution is a truly global issue.
Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets and have entered our environment, sometimes by accident, but there they are, in the land and seas where they are ingested by wildlife.
Fidra, which takes its name from the Scottish island and wildlife haven, is a charity working with governments, industry and the public to find solutions to environment issues. Their newly published report The Great Nurdle Hunt 2013 – 2023, charts the project to report and find nurdles around the world over the last ten years.
Key Findings from 2013-2023
- 7144 nurdle hunts worldwide
- Nurdles have been found on every continent, except the Antartica
- Over the last 10 years volunteers have continuously hunted for over 1 year and 11 months
- 73 Countries have participated
- 395 Organisations have participated
Dani Whitlock, Project Officer, Fidra, said:
“As more plastic is produced more and more nurdles enter the environment. So, it is not surprising, but still shocking.
“Volunteers are finding more sites polluted by nurdles each year. Since 2013 over 20,000 people have taken part in the Great Nurdle Hunt, they are not only collecting vital evidence of pollution they are also a collective call for more action to end nurdle pollution. With plastic produced, transported and converted into products worldwide everywhere is at risk of pellet pollution and government and industry must be held to account.”
Results from the Great Nurdle Hunt reveal 86% of sites surveyed between 2013 and 2023 were polluted with plastic pellets called nurdles. Nearly all plastic products are made from nurdles and they are being mishandled and spilled during production, transport and conversion into plastic products.
The small plastic pellets are melted down to make nearly all plastic products. They are made, transported and used around the world in their trillions every year. As many as 445,970 tonnes are estimated to be entering the environment each year. Once in the environment nurdles are hard to clean up and are a major microplastic pollutant worldwide. Nurdles resemble fish eggs and can be mistaken for food by wildlife and have been found in the stomachs of turtles, seabirds and fish. Nurdles carry toxic chemicals on and in the plastic, as well as biological contaminants like E.coli.
The report provides evidence that with 10 years of data from the Great Nurdle Hunt documenting this ongoing problem it is clear current voluntary measures to stop pollution are not effective and industry and government must act.
Stopping pollution at source requires mandatory action on land and sea. For example, legislating for industry good practice(such as filters in drains and proper training for people handling pellets)could prevent 95% of pellet loss and changing the shipping rules on nurdles to require safer stowage could limit marine disasters. In addition to pollution prevention disaster response protocols, remediation and compensation is also needed for communities and wildlife impacted by nurdle pollution.
Muditha Katuwawala, is the Coordinator and Founder of The Pearl Protectors. Sri Lanka suffered from the world’s largest marine spill of nurdles in 2021.
Muditha Katuwawala said:
“Sri Lanka is still reeling from [Xpress Pearl] disaster in 2021, Sri Lanka is still seeing a lot of nurdle washing up every day along our coastline…nurdles are definitely something that we really need to focus on and have better implementation both reactively and proactively that mitigates any sort of pollution caused due to nurdles.”
Click on this link to access Fidra – Great Global Nurdle Hunt 2013-2023 – Report
