A nurdle is a pre-production plastic resin pellet about the size of a lentil. Everything that is plastic got its start as a nurdle. These tiny plastic pellets are shipped around the world and will eventually become a product that you get from the store. Everything from toys, to bags, to literally anything that is plastic is formed from nurdles. Recycled plastic is ground up into nurdles before being shipped and later mixed with new virgin plastic nurdles then melted and formed again into a new product.
Nurdle spills are common and are wreaking havoc on our marine life and water systems. Environmentalists say that nurdle spills are worse than oil spills because nurdles are almost impossible to clean up and will last forever.
Fish and other wildlife mistake nurdles for food and unknowingly ingest them. Nurdles are harmful when consumed for a few reasons. First, the plastic nurdle acts like a sponge in the water and absorbs chemicals and pollutants in the water. When eaten, the toxins are absorbed by the animal. Second, when many nurdles are consumed and make it to the digestive tract, it can cause a gastric perforation. Gastric perforation is when the stomach, large bowel, or small intestine rupture, leading to a painful death. Third, the nurdles can accumulate in the stomach and cause the animal to slowly die of starvation. Since the nurdles will last forever, after the fish, bird, or other wildlife has eaten it and died, it will still be there to be eaten by someone else.
Hong Kong, 2012. Six containers are knocked off of a ship during a typhoon. It is the worst typhoon in over a decade. The containers were carrying 150 tons of plastic nurdles. Nurdles begin washing ashore on Lamma Island and Lantau Island. Volunteers begin clean up efforts with 1000 volunteers going to Lamma Island and 200 volunteers going to Lantau Island. Nearly half of the 150 tons are recovered.
San Francisco, 2012. Multiple spills require cleanup in the San Francisco Bay.
South Africa, 2017. One container falls off of a ship in the port of Durban. A massive clean up effort is launched but only 23 percent of the billions of nurdles are cleaned up.
Pennsylvania, 2018. A semi-truck crash results in a large spill. Nurdles are released into Pocono Creek and the waterways of Lehigh Valley.
My two cents: People need to be informed about this issue. We need to use less plastic. I don't think that this is acceptable collateral damage. We need more regulations around the shipping of nurdles like there is with oil.
Rating: I give Nurdle Spill Disasters four out of five possible slow claps. This is going to continue until we greatly reduce the amount of plastic that we use. Stop buying plastic and manufacturers will be forced to change how they make their products. It's simple supply and demand. We perpetuate this problem by buying what's cheap. Plastic may not cost a lot monetarily, but the environmental cost is only beginning to be realized.
Nurdles in the sand. Lovely.
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