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. Report Plastics pollution exacerbates the impacts of all planetary boundaries (2024) Through a review of the scientific literature on the environmental impacts of plastics, the research team shows that plastic pollution is now altering some major processes at the scale of the entire Earth system. This impact extends to global issues like climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, and the use of freshwater and land. Investigation Dirty Deals - Part One: Evidencing illegalities in the global plastic waste trade This investigation uncovers shocking evidence of how bad actors exploit regulatory weaknesses and legal loopholes in the global plastic waste trade, fuelling a thriving illegal market. The global plastic waste trade continues to pose significant environmental and health risks, and causes huge amounts of pollution of land, air and even soil. Report The Great Global Nurdle Hunt 2024 - Report The report presents numbers and figures of the 2024 Great Global Nurdle Hunt. Nurdles are plastic pellets produced from fossil fuels, recycled or biobased material. Each year, due to mismanagement across the entire supply chain and a lack of regulation, over 445,000 t of nurdles spill into the environment around the world, making them a major source of primary microplastic pollution. 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. 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
Report Plastics pollution exacerbates the impacts of all planetary boundaries (2024) Through a review of the scientific literature on the environmental impacts of plastics, the research team shows that plastic pollution is now altering some major processes at the scale of the entire Earth system. This impact extends to global issues like climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, and the use of freshwater and land.
Investigation Dirty Deals - Part One: Evidencing illegalities in the global plastic waste trade This investigation uncovers shocking evidence of how bad actors exploit regulatory weaknesses and legal loopholes in the global plastic waste trade, fuelling a thriving illegal market. The global plastic waste trade continues to pose significant environmental and health risks, and causes huge amounts of pollution of land, air and even soil.
Report The Great Global Nurdle Hunt 2024 - Report The report presents numbers and figures of the 2024 Great Global Nurdle Hunt. Nurdles are plastic pellets produced from fossil fuels, recycled or biobased material. Each year, due to mismanagement across the entire supply chain and a lack of regulation, over 445,000 t of nurdles spill into the environment around the world, making them a major source of primary microplastic pollution.
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.
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.
