What are nurdles? A ‘sheen’ of plastic pellets is spotted in the North Sea after ship crash.
Small pellets of plastic are washing up on the east coast of England following the fiery collision of two ships in the North Sea last week.
Although not toxic, these nurdles present a deadly risk to wildlife if ingested.
Rereading the Pew Charitable Trust’s “Breaking The Plastic Wave” report to prep for tomorrow’s visit to Kenyon by one of the project’s leaders, Dr. Palardy. It’s equal parts sobering & inspiring. A tour-de-force of deeply informed, open-source analysis & system-level thinking. In short, no single solution (collect & dispose, #recycle, reduce & substitute) can do it - system change is needed. #plastic #OceanConservation #oceanplastics #reuse #chemicalrecycling
Tonnes of microplastics infiltrate Australia’s agricultural soils each year
How microplastics affects soil and food health
"We found every kilogram of compost contains between 1,500 and 16,000 microplastic particles. In weight, this equates to between 7 and 760 milligrams of microplastics per kilogram of compost. "
"In Australia, about 26% of compost produced at organic waste processing facilities is used in agriculture. So, we estimate that between 2.7 and 206 tonnes of microplastics is being transported to Australian agricultural land from compost each year."
"The absence of clear guidelines leaves composting facilities, waste processors, and end users vulnerable to unintended plastic pollution."
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https://theconversation.com/tonnes-of-microplastics-infiltrate-australias-agricultural-soils-each-year-study-shows-250624
#plastic #pollution #microplastics #waste #agriculture #soil #food #compost #landfill #regulation
