The Plastic Pollution Problem
An estimated 5.5 quadrillion (that’s 5,500 million million) plastic nurdles, weighing approximately 250 billion pounds (lbs.) will be manufactured in 2011.
Plastics have revolutionised our lives
Plastic has many great qualities that make it highly desirable - it is lightweight, flexible, durable and very inexpensive to produce; it can also be chemical resistant, moisture resistant, and so strong that it is practically unbreakable. These qualities have meant that in a very short space of time, plastics have become utterly pervasive throughout the supply chains of the vast majority of the world’s industries.
Its strength is also its weakness
The problem is that the molecular bonds that give plastics their desirable qualities also make them highly resistant to natural processes of degradation. When plastic finds its way into our oceans, most of it will not biodegrade for many thousands of years - if at all.
Our oceans are turning into plastic soup
There are now millions of tonnes of plastic swirlling about in our oceans. Sunlight and wave action breaks it down into countless trillions of tiny pieces; these fragments attract toxins to them that are widely dispersed in the water; and plankton and fish are ingesting these poison particles. So this highly toxic material is entering our food chain.
