Preventing Nurdle Pollution: Proactive Solutions for a Global Crisis

The best solution is prevention when possible. Nurdles are intentionally manufactured microplastics often lost to the sea, and when the spill of nurdles occurred off the coast of Spain earlier this year, I wanted to come up with a way to prevent them from polluting the water and land.

Nurdles are blown into freight containers and shipped at sea, sometimes in a plastic bag. While the accidental or intentional release of cargo containers at sea is actually pretty rare, the impact that occurs can be profound. With plastic production expected to triple according to the OECD, there will be more nurdles ending up in the environment. The question becomes: how is the problem addressed? “Nurdles are the second largest source of primary microplastic pollution globally. Each year, an estimated 445,970 tonnes of nurdles enter the environment worldwide. The global scale of the plastic supply chain means almost everywhere can be impacted by nurdles. As the world’s plastic production continues to increase, the number of nurdles produced and spilled will continue to grow unless urgent action is taken”(https://www.nurdlehunt.org.uk/the-problem.html).

Plastic pellets or nurdles. Source: https://viajecaminodesantiago.com/en/news/spill-pellets-coast-galician/

A logical way to ship and store them is in square plastic bins that can be stacked inside the shipping container. If they were accidentally or intentionally released from a shipping container, the contents would float. This would also make them easy to recover at sea and on land. While fewer nurdles would be shipped if they were in plastic bins, the plastics industry would show it’s being proactive in addressing the issue. What is the carbon footprint to clean up as many pellets as can be recovered? What would be the financial cost to the plastic manufacturing company that made those nurdles if they were given the receipt for the cost of the cleanup?

Tumbled shipping container after a storm. Source: Twitter (https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/containers/record-low-number-of-containers-lost-at-sea-in-2023)

While most shipping containers sink when water makes its way into the container, it can take a while. In 1992, a container filled with plastic ducks and frogs was lost to the sea, releasing 28,800 plastic critters that still continue to wash ashore today (https://www.iflscience.com/28000-rubber-ducks-accidentally-embarked-on-an-epic-ocean-current-study-in-1992-58342).

Storms can loosen the cargo container moorings, but there are times they may need to be jettisoned for the safety of the crew as well. They are intentionally jettisoned overboard if onboard ship conditions warrant it (a fire is one example). The intentional pushing of containers overboard is part of the standard shipping process and is controlled by what is known as the “general average,” which allows shipping companies to push them overboard. “Defined by York Antwerp rules 1994 of General Average, these rules lay guidelines for the distribution of loss in an event when cargo has to be jettisoned in order to save the ship, crew, or the remaining cargo”(https://www.marineinsight.com/maritime-law/the-role-of-general-average-in-the-maritime-industry/).

30-year-old rubber duck flushed ashore. Source: https://www.iflscience.com/28000-rubber-ducks-accidentally-embarked-on-an-epic-ocean-current-study-in-1992-58342

Paint and tyre dust are the two leading causes of microplastics in our waters today. While paint on boats and ships is hard (impossible?) to prevent from getting in the water, we can address a lot of the tyre dust from getting into our streams, lakes, and oceans. A global effort to use gully pots (catch basins) in storm drains is one measure that can be taken to collect the microplastics from tyres, as well as paint from buildings polluting our waters. The inclusion of bioswales and rain gardens helps filter out the microplastics, as well as pollution from vehicles, pet waste, and other types of pollution. Tyre dust leads to the death of over 50 percent of Coho salmon in the Pacific Northwest, which researchers from universities in Washington State in the USA discovered several years ago. “But when 6PPD reacts with ozone, the researchers found that it was transformed into multiple chemicals, including 6PPD-quinone (pronounced “kwih-known”), the toxic chemical that is responsible for killing the salmon”(https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2020/12/03/tire-related-chemical-largely-responsible-adult-coho-salmon-deaths-urban-streams/).

Microplastic resulting from tire wear contain additives that are harmful to the environment: Source: https://evanstire.com/learn-and-avoid-the-dangers-of-worn-tire-tread/

6PPD-q is a chemical used in tyres to provide better traction, performance, and increase the durability of tyres. Microplastics and microrubber, along with paint, are the leading sources of microplastics in our streams, lakes, and oceans today. 

“However, when that same stormwater was filtered through a special rain garden soil mix – the fish lived. Rain gardens can be an important tool in limiting the amount of contaminated water reaching our streams and Puget Sound. In 2020, Washington Stormwater Center scientists discovered 6PPD-q and determined that it is highly toxic to Coho salmon”(https://extension.wsu.edu/raingarden/).

There is one crucial component that is missing from almost all LCAs, and that’s the recovery cost of materials.

Dead salmon: Source: https://earthjustice.org/article/whats-killing-the-salmon-in-our-urban-streams-a-mystery-is-now-solved

When workers pick up trash from roadsides and beaches, they are contributing to a phase of the material's life cycle that isn't considered. The same is true for when the debris is transported to a landfill, recycling facility, or incinerator. What is the carbon footprint for UOCEAN, The Ocean Cleanup, or any of the other small and large organizations that clean up our land, oceans, lakes, and streams?

Paper would have an extremely low recovery cost relative to its carbon footprint since it degrades quickly. The carbon footprint of materials such as plastic, glass, and metal would be higher in the deep oceans; however, the depth makes recovery impractical. Recoverable plastic may end up having a higher carbon footprint compared to other materials, given the amount of plastic that is now in our environment.

I used Canva to give a better representation of what a true LCA should look like. The red arrows represent material escaping into the environment, with green being recovered. The green, of course, is throughout, but for clarity’s sake in the image, I only placed it at the end.

I knew we were going to face a global plastic crisis. I’ve often wondered where we would be today with plastic pollution if I had addressed the plastic waste crisis back in 1989 when I got out of the United States Coast Guard.

I was on the United States Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Sea from 1982 to 1984. One of my jobs was to take bags of trash (containing plastic, food, metal, and chemicals) plus anything else one would find on a ship, cut a hole in the bottom, and dump the contents over the back of the ship. We then put the bag into a bin, but some of my crew members threw the bag overboard and said that the ocean is a large area and no one would know.

In the 1980's to 90's, I was ordered to throw garbage overboard directly into the sea. Source: WIX AI-generated Image.

After the first time being told to dump trash overboard, I approached my supervisor and requested a meeting with the Captain in order to address the issue of dumping trash overboard. I was told that while I was correct in assessing the situation, it was “not my place” to speak to the Captain about the issue because I was only a Seaman’s Apprentice, the lowest position in the US Coast Guard and Navy. The good news is that both services finally realized that dumping trash overboard is not a good thing and have addressed the issue through better onboard waste management practices.

When I’ve taught lessons about plastic and the environment to students and others, I let them know it is always their place to speak up when they observe something that they don’t think is correct. It doesn’t matter the age, rank, or position; everyone has an important voice to add. There can be no social justice without environmental justice.