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Islanders Urged To Help Tackle Nurdle Pollution By Local Community Action Group

Planet Aware (PA), a local voluntary Community Action Group based on the Isle of Wight, is urging Islanders to take a stand against plastic pellet pollution.

The appeal comes after a well attended presentation on the subject took place on Friday (January 26) at Seely Hall in Brook and Compton Bay.

This was in partnership with environmental consultant and pollution response organisation Oracle Environmental Experts (OEE).

The aims were to raise awareness on nurdle pollution, to gain support from local and national government, to draw attention to ways of tackling this unrelenting issue to ensure plastic pellet pollution is on the IoW and UK agenda.

Isle of Wight MP, Bob Seely, alongside representatives from organisations such as the National Trust, Crown Estates, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Visit IoW, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, and local councillors and parliamentary candidates from all parties, participated in this initiative.

The PA team said:

“We are pleased our Island MP, Bob Seely, was able to join the group at the beach after the presentation.

"As many people, he was unaware of the numbers of pellets on our beaches and shocked by how “endemic” they were.

"He has committed to raising questions in parliament about the issue.”

Nurdles are lentil sized plastic pellets, on average 2 mm in diameter, that are manufactured to produce everyday plastic products.

They are transported all over the world. However sadly, container ship spills and poor handling practices along the supply chain result in frequent losses to the environment including our ocean and shores.

Presentations were given by PA volunteers Sarah Marshall and Andrew Dean, who explained their concerns regarding the number of nurdles recovered over the past year from several IoW beaches, including popular Island holiday destinations.

Planet Aware and OEE asks that if you see nurdles when on the beach you can help by doing a Nurdle Survey.

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