Plastic pellets still washing up on northeast beaches six weeks after shipping crash

Millions of tiny plastic pellets, known as nurdles, are still washing up on beaches across northeast England six weeks after a shipping crash at the Port of Tyne. Two vessels collided in July, spilling the pellets into the water. They have now been found on shorelines more than 60 miles away, from Amble in Northumberland to as far south as Scarborough.

The incident was described as the worst the port had ever seen. A crane collapsed, though the operator inside survived. The vessel involved, the BG Orange, was carrying containers filled with the pellets. One container alone held millions of them. But efforts to prevent further escape did not begin until three days after the collision.

A port official said: "There's a general misconception that nurdles were spilling out of this vessel for days and days and days. In the first five seconds of this incident, 17 tonnes of nurdles went in the river. We didn't know they were nurdles until Monday. We couldn't put a boom out to collect anything else that might have fell into the river until Wednesday because we couldn't have access to the ship and secure the containers."

Cleanup crews have been working for over a month. According to the environmental charity Fidra, three or four boats have been out for 12 hours a day, going into inlets where the pellets have gathered and scooping them up. The scale and duration of the cleanup have alarmed local communities and campaigners.

Campaigners point to a wider problem. "In the last 18 months alone, we've had two marine spills, and that is on top of the everyday pollution coming out of the UK industry. This is unacceptable because it is entirely preventable and 95% of pellet loss can be prevented, but we need regulation from the government to get that," one said.

There are also calls to change how pellets are classified and transported. "We need to learn lessons from this. We need to look at the categorisation. This is classed as non-toxic, but actually when birds and sea life eat this, it does have a devastating impact. We need to look at the way that it's transported in containers. Instead of one big bag, maybe lots of small bags, and where it's positioned on the ship as well. This was on the outside of the vessel. So there are three things that we can look at straightaway."

The cause of the collision remains under investigation. The port has questioned how such a serious incident could happen despite having pilots on board and CCTV coverage. Meanwhile, the International Maritime Organisation says it is already working on measures to reduce the risk of pellet loss at sea, and member states are developing a mandatory code or binding regulations to govern the transportation of pellets in freight containers.