What are the tiny balls of plastic polluting our ecosystems?
Each year, between 50 and 180 thousand tons of plastic pellets are scattered across the EU. These tiny balls of plastic are used to manufacture most of our everyday plastic items, yet so many of them never make it to their destination: they end up dispersed in nature, polluting ecosystems and harming our health. Why does this happen? And is there a solution? ChatEurope’s Claudia Colliva and Justine Hagard went to one of the European beaches most affected by plastic pellet pollution – La Pineda, in Spain – to find out.
On a popular beach in Spain’s eastern coast, just south of Barcelona, the last thing you might expect to find are thousands of tiny balls of plastic scattered amidst the sand. And yet, plastic pellets are so much a part of the local ecosystem that, over time, residents came up with a deceivingly poetic name for them: “lagrimas de sirena” – or “mermaid tears” in English.
La Pineda beach, in Tarragona, is covered in these mermaid tears. It’s a “plastic beach” according to Cintia Bavera, of the executive committee of Surfrider Spain, an NGO that tackles ocean pollution.
Along with other volunteers, she often participates in beach clean-ups in La Pineda to try and remove the hundreds of thousands of plastic pellets that soil it. But their work – tedious and time-consuming – can feel a bit like looking for lots of tiny needles in a very, very big haystack. Especially considering the pellets keep coming.
Between 50 and 180 thousand tons of plastic pellets scattered across the EU
With 70% of Spain’s plastic produced in the region of Catalonia, there are over a dozen petrochemical companies located close to Tarragona, meaning plastic pellets are constantly being transported in and out of the area.
As is the case elsewhere in Europe, transportation and handling are the main sources of plastic pellet pollution because the bags used to carry the pellets often tear or break, causing a spill. The result: between 50 and 180 thousand tons of plastic pellets are scattered across the EU each year, ending up in our seas, and consequently in the marine food chain.
Now, pressure is mounting at the European level to tackle the problem. A new EU agreement aims to reduce pellet losses by enforcing stricter handling and transportation rules. Yet environmental groups like Surfrider are sceptical, maintaining that the agreement doesn't go far enough.
Claudia Colliva