Marine Transportation Of Plastic Pellets Or Nurdles

Plastics are part of our daily lives. Besides being extremely lightweight, they are strong and durable. A majority of plastics are made from petroleum or natural gas and are generally inexpensive to produce, as most of them are byproducts of petroleum or crude oil.

From delicate artificial heart valves to lifesaving medical equipment, and from packing and packaging materials to industrial supplies, countless other items are made using various types of plastics.

The Birth of Plastics

The first plastic was created in 1856 by Alexander Parkes, an English inventor. However, the breakthrough came in 1907 when the fully synthetic, durable plastic was invented by Leo Baekland, a Belgian chemist working in the United States.

Over the years, several types of plastics have been made to manufacture millions of different kinds of products.

Pollution from Plastics

Currently, of the estimated 350 million tons of plastic that are generated each year, about 6 million tons find their way to our oceans and waterbodies as waste. Pollution from plastics is affecting our natural ecosystems at an alarming rate.

Plastic Pellets aka Nurdles

Today, most plastic products are made using small plastic pellets or granules. Also known as nurdles, it is used in plastic moulding and extrusion processes. Due to their widespread and mostly careless use and during transport, nurdles are sometimes released into our ecosystems, mainly the marine environment, where it stays without decomposing for a long time, causing harm to marine life.

They are found on seashores, on the seabed, as well as in the surface waters. They are often found concentrated in remote locations due to the movement of ocean currents. Over a period of time, marine life ingesting plastic pellets may die due to toxicity or develop physical impairment. In due course, this contaminated food source gets into the human food chain.

IMO and the Safe Transportation of Plastic Pellets

The International Maritime Organization [IMO] has continued to work on developing and implementing guidelines for the safe transportation of plastic pellets by sea. These guidelines mainly cover the safe stowage of containers carrying plastic pellets onboard cargo vessels, contingency planning, cleanup in the event of accidental spills, monitoring and analysis post-spill, cost recovery, etc.

Established in 1985 under the IMO, the Marine Environment Protection Committee [MEPC] was appointed to look into and address the various environmental issues stemming from maritime transportation. It covers pollution caused during the transportation of various chemicals, oil, etc. Mitigating the risk of losing plastic pellet-loaded containers overboard during transport is also one of its main objectives.

The IMO has in place a procedure for reporting lost freight containers. Such containers are dangerous to sailing vessels as well as marine life, especially in the case of leakages and spillage.

MEPC Recommendations

Some of the recommendations of the MEPC that met in March 2024 are as follows:

Packaging of plastic pellets in strong and good-quality containers designed to stay closed during transport.
Clear identification of containers carrying plastic pellets.
Mandatory reporting of such containers lost at sea and an efficient mechanism for retrieving them.
Special stowage and handling instructions, such as stowage under the deck or in sheltered areas on the deck, etc.
Having adequate facilities in port to receive and dispose of such wastes.
Marking of fishing gear and mandatory reporting to the relevant authorities in the event of its loss at sea.
Retrieval of lost fishing gear from the sea.
Raise public awareness of the situation and strengthen cooperation between international bodies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], etc.

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships [MARPOL] Annex V, prohibits ships from dumping any type of garbage into the sea except for food wastes, cargo residues or agents that are not harmful to the marine environment.

Plastic Trash in Our Seas

To put the havoc caused by plastic pollution into perspective, let us look at the case of the Pacific Trash Vortex or the Great Pacific Garbage Patch [GPGP]. It is an area in the Pacific Ocean that stretches over an area of 1.6 million square kilometres with an estimated 80 thousand tons of floating plastic garbage.

This area is spread out in the seas between Kuroshi in Japan and the states of California and Hawaii in the United States.

Dangers of Accidents to Cargo Vessels

In 2021, the cargo vessel MV X-Press Pearl caught fire, burned for about two weeks, and finally sank off the coast of Sri Lanka. Besides containers loaded with cosmetics and other chemicals, it was carrying several containers of plastic pellets. This deadly debris was released into the sea, causing serious damage to the marine life besides contaminating the pristine beaches nearby.

The floating garbage patch or the incident with MV X-Press Pearl are just two grave reminders. Oceanographers and ecologists say that there is a large heap of plastic trash under the water as well, perhaps of the same volume or even more.

A few years back, a warning was issued in one of the meetings of the World Economic Forum [WEF], which stated that by the year 2050, there may be more plastic in our seas and oceans than fish. Large plastic litter found floating on our oceans are dangerous to shipping vessels as they get entangled in the rudders or propellers. Marine creatures are often found strangled by discarded nets or ropes.

Types of Plastics

Different types of plastics take anywhere between 2 and 1000 years to decompose. For example, the decomposition of biodegradable plastics takes about 2 years. Microplastics used in the manufacture of cosmetics, toothpastes, etc. and polyvinyl chlorides [PVC] used in the making of pipes, insulations, cables, etc., take about 1000 years or more to decompose!

Can Lost Plastic Pellets be Retrieved from the Ocean?

While many methods of plastic pellet retrieval from the oceans are being floated around, it is a very difficult task. No method can guarantee a 100% success rate, and as a result, most of the lost pellets still float around, carried by winds and ocean currents, or sink to the ocean bed. They are often found littering the coastal areas, or end up inside marine life forms such as fish, marine mammals, crustaceans, etc., through their food.

Methods to retrieve plastic pellets from the water and beaches include sifting manually or using specialised boats fitted with large sieves. Heavy-duty vacuum cleaners are sometimes deployed to clean up the coastline. Plastic pellets are also separated from sand using water, in which the sand sinks while the plastic floats. All these methods are labour-intensive and expensive.

Irretrievable pellets usually break down into smaller microplastics due to friction or other forces of nature.