Plett versus nurdle hurdle
With increased nurdle spills on local beaches in recent weeks, a local business owner is encouraging Plettonians to take some time off TV-watching and do a bit of beach “watching” instead, in efforts to overcome this major threat to marine life.
This is the call from Bitou’s Keep Plett Clean campaign as millions of these small plastic pellets keep washing up on local beaches.
Nurdles, which are used in the manufacturing of plastic products, started appearing on South African beaches after a massive nurdle spill in the Durban Harbour in October 2017, when a shipping container was knocked overboard in a collision with another vessel during a storm. About 49 tons landed in the ocean.
Scientists have expressed growing concern over nurdles as it not only concentrates and attracts background pollutants but also never breaks down completely – only fragmenting into smaller plastic particles. The pellets are furthermore mistaken for food by marine animals and end up in their diets. Not only are they toxic, but they cannot be digested, causing digestive blockages, starvation and death.
Keep Plett Clean founder Alison Bryant said they have now broadened their focus – which is making sure Plett is as clean as it can be – to include the town’s beaches. “The problem is massive. It is not only the nurdles you can see on the surface, but as you dig down, you find even more,” Bryant said.
Every Tuesday evening, Keep Plett Clean volunteers take to the town’s streets to pick up rubbish for an hour, but over the past few weeks they have been heading to the beach to collect nurdles.
Bryant has taken it a step further and has been motivating other groups, clubs and businesses to join the fight. “The beach belongs to us all and we all have a role to play to keep it pristine,” she said.
Bryant added that if everyone jumps in and goes down to the beach for an hour every week – instead of, for instance, watching TV – the impact would be great.
The nurdles can be dropped off at the Nature’s Valley Trust (NVT) office in Longships Drive or at the Plett Tourism offices in Main Street. The NVT functions as a depot to process and quantify what is collected and is looking into ways to reuse the nurdles so that they do not end up on landfills. So far the team has collected 174 351 nurdles weighing in at just under 5kg.
Keep Plett Clean volunteers and residents tackle the nurdle problem on Plett beaches. Photo: Chad Mansfield
‘We bring you the latest Knysna | Garden Route news’
Source: Knysna Plett Herald News