The Great Global Nurdle Hunt begins

CITIZENS from around the world have an opportunity to influence the UN’s Global Plastic Treaty negotiations in December by heading to beaches, rivers or ports in search of plastic pellets.

Every year in September thousands of people and organisations participate in the Great Global Nurdle Hunt.

Nurdles are lentil-sized plastic pellets which are a source of microplastic pollution. They are the raw material which is melted down and used in the plastics industry.

According to Fidra, the environmental organisation which organises the event, it’s estimated that every year 445 970 tons of raw plastic material, in the form of plastic pellets, are spilled or lost on land and at sea, damaging the environment and ingested by animals. These nurdles are transported globally by road, rail and sea and are often lost with dire consequences for the environment.

Fidra project officer Dani Whitlock said: “The Great Global Nurdle Hunt provides crucial evidence of nurdle pollution but also shows decision makers that people really care and want to see further action to address this issue.”

Whitlock said the nurdle hunt ensured that evidence of this international plastic pollution crisis is mapped globally to share at the global plastics treaty.

Fidra and its partners want the UN Global Plastic Treaty negotiations to deliver legally binding legislation to ensure that all pellet handlers and operators across the supply chain deliver internationally standardised measures to prevent, contain and clean up pellet spills and losses. They also want reporting mechanisms about such losses to be transparent.

Since the first Great Global Nurdle Hunt in 2013, at least 20 000 volunteers have taken part in more than 7 000 nurdle hunts across all continents, said Fidra.

From Norway to New Zealand, more than 70 different countries have participated and 86% of the hunts have identified nurdles.

Fidra said every nurdle hunt helped build evidence of nurdle pollution across the world.

It said nurdles were washed up with marine debris during high tide and became trapped on the tide line, making that the best place for Great Global Nurdle Hunters to start looking for them. Plastic pellets can also be found in sheltered tracks and paths at the edge of the beaches and rivers. “This is where nurdles could have been blown or swept to during very high tides,” it said. Nurdles vary in colour and are often clear or white, becoming yellow over time.

Participants in the Great Global Nurdle Hunt should log nurdle hunt finds at www.nurdlehunt.org.uk to help build a global map of this microplastic pollution issue. Results must be submitted by October 1 to be included in this year’s report, which will be given to the UN.