Hundreds of volunteers kick off a month of action to address plastic pellet pollution

The second-annual International Plastic Pellet Count kicked off on Saturday, with over 500 volunteers from Oregon to Texas to Maine and beyond combing waterways for plastic pellets. By collecting and counting the pellets, organizers hope to raise awareness of this pervasive form of pollution and spur action to tackle the problem.

Plastic pellets, or “nurdles,” are the building blocks of plastics manufacturing and are a big part of the plastic pollution problem. These tiny pellets are shipped to plastic facilities, where they are melted down and used to form many of the common plastic products you see everyday. 

At these plastic factories, nurdles that spill onto the floor, or get contaminated by dirt or other materials, are sometimes washed down drains. From there it’s just a quick trip through the drains and pipes before reaching local waterways and aquatic ecosystems. Because they’re small, lightweight and shipped all over, nurdles can also spill during transport. An estimated 10 trillion plastic pellets enter the oceans every year. 

Photo by Staff | TPIN

Like other types of microplastic that pollute our oceans, lakes and rivers, they pose environmental and potential public health threats. Plastic pellets can absorb toxic chemicals such as DDT, PCBs and mercury. These types of pollutants bioaccumulate, becoming more concentrated and more toxic as they move up the food chain. Birds, fish, turtles and other marine animals sometimes mistake plastic pellets for food, causing them to starve to death. 

Taking place through May, the International Plastic Pellet Count is organized by a growing coalition of national and international environmental and service organizations that are concerned about the environmental and public health impacts of plastic pellets. As of Tuesday, participants in 114 pellet count events had delivered their results to an online database with Nurdle Patrol. To date, those results include a total of 731,552 plastic pellets from 29 states and 4 countries.

Plastic pollution is so widespread that it can feel insurmountable. But raising awareness is the first step toward finding a solution, and we thank the thousands of International Plastic Pellet Count volunteers who are helping us do that. We hope more cities, counties, states and countries take action to stop this pollution so that future pellet counts will come up empty.

The International Plastic Pellet Count goes through the month of May. To sign up, go to pelletcount.org.