Image Credit: Hillary Daniels, Flickr
Welcome to Higginson Strategy’s weekly round-up of international news relating to plastic pollution.
This week, a tanker and cargo ship collision in the North Sea has led to a large plastic nurdle spillage and clean-up operation by the UK coastguard. Environmental groups have criticised Bulgaria’s plastic waste reporting, with the government painting a ‘misleading’ picture of progress. According to the Marine Conservation Society’s annual UK beach survey plastic waste rose by over nine per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year. Egypt’s EPR will now include plastic bags in a bid to tackle pollution throughout the country. Finally, researchers from Scotland revealed the prevalence of microplastics in soil was more than 15 times its initial level after four years of sewage sludge application.
Plastic ‘nurdles’ washed up after UK ship collision
Tiny plastic pellets found washed up on England’s east coast are likely to have come from a collision involving a tanker and a cargo ship a week ago, the coastguard has said. The Stena Immaculate and cargo ship Solong collided in the North Sea, off East Yorkshire, last week triggering an explosion and fires.
The Chief coastguard revealed sighting in waters off the Wash of a “sheen that we now know to be plastic nurdles” and a team is working to clear them. The Wash, where pellets have been spotted, is a large inlet of the North Sea which stretches from just south of Skegness, in Lincolnshire, to a point near Hunstanton, in Norfolk. In a joint statement, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and Norfolk Wildlife Trust said they were “very concerned” about the pollution.
Read more here.
Bulgaria’s plastic waste recycling rate much lower than in official statistics, report reveals
A report by environmentalist group Za Zemiata and Zero Waste Europe revealed stark discrepancies in official data on Bulgaria’s plastic packaging waste management. Government statistics paint a misleadingly optimistic picture that clashes with on-the-ground failures, according to the groups.
The reportreveals that 132 municipalities reported recycling rates for municipal waste below 10 per cent for 2019 and 43 municipalities had rates of virtually zero. At the same time, national statistics on plastic packaging waste recycling showed a 50.6 per cent rate.
Single-use plastic waste on UK and Channel Island beaches up from last year
The amount of plastic waste collected on beaches rose by over nine per cent in 2024, compared with 2023, and more than three-quarters of a million pieces of waste were picked up by volunteers, according to evidence from the State of our Beaches report by the Marine Conservation Society.
The charity said nearly half (46 per cent) of the plastic waste was from public sources – household litter washing its way into our seas via rivers, drainage and sewage outlets, or blown or dropped on to our coastline. Among the most frequently recorded waste found on beaches last year were plastic caps and lids, which were collected from 88 per cent of beaches, and plastic bottles and containers, which appeared on 71 per cent of surveyed sites.
Read more here.
Egypt introduces fees to reduce single-use plastic bags
The Egyptian government issued a decision to classify plastic shopping bags as products subject to the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy, making manufacturers responsible for the entire lifecycle of their products, from production to post-consumer waste.
According to the Environment Minister, getting the decision through faced a lot of pushback from the industrial lobby and different industrial stakeholders. A fee of 37.5 Egyptian pounds per kilogramme of bags sold will be imposed starting June 3rd, 2025.
Read more here.
Prevalence of microplastics in soil increased 15 times in four years
Soil samples were taken every two years from a field in Hartwood, North Lanarkshire over a 25-year period and archived in the National Soils Inventory for Scotland. The samples revealed the prevalence of microplastics in soil was more than 15 times its initial level after four years of sewage sludge application.
In addition to discoveries around the quick increase in and longevity of microplastics, scientists from the James Hutton Institute and the Robert Gordon University found degradation varied between different forms of plastic. Microfibres from clothing – the most common type – and microfilms from packaging both broke down in the soil, while others, such as flakes from plastic containers and bottles, did not.
Read more here.