Plastic in the OceanEvery year, approximately ten million tons of plastic waste end up in the ocean. Learn more about what plastic pollution is doing to our ocean. Briefing Paper Clean-ups or cleanwashing? How plastic pollution cleanup technology can actually harm the environment and obstruct policy progress (2023) Plastic clean-ups have proliferated in response to the growing plastic crisis. Such clean-ups may involve large-scale unsupervised methods of plastic collection that do not discriminate between aquatic life, plastic and organic matter. As a result, the rise of these plastic cleanup technologies has raised red flags in civil society and academia. Report Refill Again This analysis found that a 10-percentage point increase in reusable packaging by 2030 can eliminate over 1 trillion single-use plastic bottles and cups. This shift has the potential to prevent up to 153 billion of these containers from entering the world’s oceans and waterways. Report Throwaway Packaging, Forever Chemicals: European wide survey of PFAS in disposable food packaging and tableware (2022) The study shows the widespread use of and contamination by PFAS in disposable food packaging and tableware in six European countries: the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Website Nurdle Hub The Nurdle Hub proposes solutions to plastic pellet pollution and offers a variety of resources and initiatives in order to tackle nurdle pollution. Website, Toolkit The Great Nurdle Hunt The Great Nurdle Hunt is Fidra’s flagship project working to end nurdle pollution. We provide the tools and information so that anyone can contribute to, and build evidence of this, issue. Film Oceans - The Mystery of the Missing Plastic (2016) Plastic never deteriorates, it simply breaks down into smaller and smaller particles that are invisible to the human eye. In this investigation, scientists search for the microplastic in the ocean. Small, mostly invisible, toxic, it has found a new home: the plastisphere. Report Underwater dumps: the plastic siege on biodiversity (2022) This report reviews the damage to various types of biogenic habitats, lists international obligations to protect those with the greatest biodiversity or fragility, and outlines actions that can be taken locally to complement policies aimed at stemming the flow of waste at the source. Position Paper Convention on Plastic Pollution - Plastic Treaty Essential Elements: Reporting and Monitoring (2022) This part of the Plastic Treaty Essential Elements series explains why a good reporting and monitoring framework is so important for the new international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, and what it should look like. UNEP-Programme UNEA Resolution 5/14 entitled “End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument” (2022) The official document of resolution 5/14 "End plastic pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument", adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly on 2 March 2022. Film The Plastic Problem The documentary looks at plastic and how it’s impacting the world and what potential alternatives or solutions are out there. Video Plastic Atlas (2021) The Plastic Atlas has the hard facts, data and figures to prove that the story of plastic that industry is telling us is a myth. Video A Plastic Surgery: Coca Cola's Hidden Secrets (2018) More and more businesses are promising to recycle, including the Coca-Cola Company, who sells 4000 plastic bottles every second. The film investigated the company’s pledges and discovered that their promises are as sugar-filled as their products. All contributions & media on Plastic in the Ocean
Briefing Paper Clean-ups or cleanwashing? How plastic pollution cleanup technology can actually harm the environment and obstruct policy progress (2023) Plastic clean-ups have proliferated in response to the growing plastic crisis. Such clean-ups may involve large-scale unsupervised methods of plastic collection that do not discriminate between aquatic life, plastic and organic matter. As a result, the rise of these plastic cleanup technologies has raised red flags in civil society and academia.
Report Refill Again This analysis found that a 10-percentage point increase in reusable packaging by 2030 can eliminate over 1 trillion single-use plastic bottles and cups. This shift has the potential to prevent up to 153 billion of these containers from entering the world’s oceans and waterways.
Report Throwaway Packaging, Forever Chemicals: European wide survey of PFAS in disposable food packaging and tableware (2022) The study shows the widespread use of and contamination by PFAS in disposable food packaging and tableware in six European countries: the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Website Nurdle Hub The Nurdle Hub proposes solutions to plastic pellet pollution and offers a variety of resources and initiatives in order to tackle nurdle pollution.
Website, Toolkit The Great Nurdle Hunt The Great Nurdle Hunt is Fidra’s flagship project working to end nurdle pollution. We provide the tools and information so that anyone can contribute to, and build evidence of this, issue.
Film Oceans - The Mystery of the Missing Plastic (2016) Plastic never deteriorates, it simply breaks down into smaller and smaller particles that are invisible to the human eye. In this investigation, scientists search for the microplastic in the ocean. Small, mostly invisible, toxic, it has found a new home: the plastisphere.
Report Underwater dumps: the plastic siege on biodiversity (2022) This report reviews the damage to various types of biogenic habitats, lists international obligations to protect those with the greatest biodiversity or fragility, and outlines actions that can be taken locally to complement policies aimed at stemming the flow of waste at the source.
Position Paper Convention on Plastic Pollution - Plastic Treaty Essential Elements: Reporting and Monitoring (2022) This part of the Plastic Treaty Essential Elements series explains why a good reporting and monitoring framework is so important for the new international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, and what it should look like.
UNEP-Programme UNEA Resolution 5/14 entitled “End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument” (2022) The official document of resolution 5/14 "End plastic pollution: towards an international legally binding instrument", adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly on 2 March 2022.
Film The Plastic Problem The documentary looks at plastic and how it’s impacting the world and what potential alternatives or solutions are out there.
Video Plastic Atlas (2021) The Plastic Atlas has the hard facts, data and figures to prove that the story of plastic that industry is telling us is a myth.
Video A Plastic Surgery: Coca Cola's Hidden Secrets (2018) More and more businesses are promising to recycle, including the Coca-Cola Company, who sells 4000 plastic bottles every second. The film investigated the company’s pledges and discovered that their promises are as sugar-filled as their products.
