Earth Wise

The Threat From Nurdles


Listen Later

Just when we thought we knew all about the environmental threats caused by plastics, environmentalists have identified yet another problem.  It is called a nurdle.

Nurdles are tiny pellets of plastic resin no bigger than a pencil

eraser that manufacturers transform into packaging, plastic straws, water
bottles and all the other things that are wreaking havoc on the environment.

It turns out that nurdles themselves are a problem because billions of them are lost from production and supply chains during handling, shipping and production every year, spilling or washing into waterways.  There is limited information on the extent of this kind of plastic pollution and global researchers are still struggling to make an accurate assessment.  A study last year estimated that 3 million to 36 million pellets escape every year from just one small industrial area in Sweden.

Eunomia, a British environmental consultancy, contends that nurdles

are the second-largest source of microplastic pollution and estimated that the U.K.
could be unwittingly losing billions of pellets into the environment every
year.

New research is revealing the ubiquity of plastic pellets, from the

bellies of fish caught in the South Pacific, to the digestive tracks of
short-tailed albatross in the north and on the beaches of the Mediterranean.

A shareholder advocacy group called As You Sow has filed resolutions

with Chevron, DowDupont, Exxon Mobil, and Phillips 66 asking them to disclose
how many nurdles escape their production process each year and how they plan to
address the issue.  Several of the
companies have responded with statements saying they are working to develop
solutions that keep plastic out of our environment.

**********

Web Links

There’s a Tiny Plastic Enemy Threatening the Planet’s Oceans

Photo, posted January 15, 2014, courtesy of Hillary Daniels via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Earth WiseBy Randy Simon

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

15 ratings


More shows like Earth Wise

View all
Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff You Should Know

78,688 Listeners

Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,246 Listeners

Planet Money by NPR

Planet Money

30,609 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,687 Listeners

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! by NPR

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

38,950 Listeners

Living on Earth by World Media Foundation

Living on Earth

467 Listeners

Science Quickly by Scientific American

Science Quickly

1,381 Listeners

Nature Podcast by Springer Nature Limited

Nature Podcast

756 Listeners

BirdNote Daily by BirdNote

BirdNote Daily

1,259 Listeners

The Academic Minute by Academic Minute

The Academic Minute

28 Listeners

Science Magazine Podcast by Science Magazine

Science Magazine Podcast

818 Listeners

Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science Friday

6,467 Listeners

The Book Show by Joe Donahue

The Book Show

34 Listeners

Everything Explained by WAMC

Everything Explained

20 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

113,121 Listeners

The Media Project by Rex Smith & Ira Fusfeld

The Media Project

39 Listeners

The Roundtable by Joe Donahue, Sarah LaDuke

The Roundtable

160 Listeners

51 Percent by WAMC

51 Percent

14 Listeners

A New York Minute in History by WAMC

A New York Minute in History

49 Listeners

The Capitol Connection by David Guistina

The Capitol Connection

22 Listeners

The Legislative Gazette by David Guistina

The Legislative Gazette

11 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,592 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,525 Listeners

The Atlas Obscura Podcast by SiriusXM and Atlas Obscura

The Atlas Obscura Podcast

1,739 Listeners