‘Horrified’ - Protesters in South Shields call for tighter laws following River Tyne plastic pellet spill
Protesters have gathered at the South Shields seafront to call for improved laws on the handling of nurdles.
Environmental activists have gathered in South Shields to urge the government to impose tighter controls on the transportation and handling of plastic pellets.
It follows estimates that more than 25 tonnes of the pellets, known as ‘nurdles’, spilled into the River Tyne following a ship collision at the Port of Tyne on Sunday, July 19.
Fidra, an environmental charity that specialises in plastic pollution, has estimated that 25 tonnes would equate to around one billion individual nurdles.
Calls for tighter laws on nurdles
Protesters gathered at Littlehaven Beach on Friday afternoon (July 24) to call for the government to follow the EU’s example to mandate for ‘zero plastic pellet losses’.
Sophia Malik, a 39-year-old campaigner from Marsden, said: “The main thing we wanted to do was to get together as a community to show the government that we need some legislation around the handling and transportation of nurdles.
“The EU already has legislation in place and it would avoid huge spills like this.
“We wanted to help clean up but once we saw the specialist equipment involved, we’re going to leave it to the professionals.”
‘Horrified by all of this’
Amanda Edwards, a campaigner from Whitburn, has stated that the spill could have an impact on local businesses as people may decide to stay away from South Shields.
The 54-year-old commented: “The community is horrified by all of this.
“The beach is covered and they can carry things like E. coli - we’re meant to have one of the best beaches in the country but now, apparently not.
“There is a lot of people who would travel here over the summer, which brings a lot of money into the area.
“But now, there will be some who are deciding to avoid coming here because of this - it isn’t good for the area and is potentially going to have a long-term impact because people will always have this in the back of their minds.
“It’s frustrating.”
‘We need all hands on deck’
Matt Blair, South Tyneside Green Party councillor for West Park, has previously branded the spill as a disaster and highlighted the impact that it could have on the local environment.
He said: “This is a disaster for local wildlife, our environment and our food chain. Marine life could ingest these nurdles, and if that reaches our food chain, we all pay the price.
“That’s why we need everyone stepping up now. I want to see the Port of Tyne and all stakeholders fully engaged in this clean-up.
“What measures are in place, and what are the next steps to prevent this happening again?
“We need all hands on deck - our coastline deserves it.
“I also want to say well done to South Tyneside Council’s staff who were cleaning up with their hands when the alarm was raised.
“They [the council] have moved very fast to get specialists in to help with the clean up.
“The government had the chance to legislate on this but decided it wasn’t important - the EU has controls in place to stop things like this from happening.
“I’d like to see this country legislate on something similar going forward.”