Help Beat Plastic Pollution

The environmental outlook of our post-Covid world hangs in the balance, that much is abundantly clear.

Please help us make sure it’s a world where ending plastic pollution is high on the agenda.

Lockdown has made progress in this area incredibly tough, but we now have an opportunity to get back on track – to protect fragile marine life that is threatened by plastic pollution.

We need your help to do that. By donating just £10, you could help fund our work to drive the policy change needed to bring an end to the unnecessary use and irresponsible disposal of plastics. Or, by donating £50, you could support our work with partners on the ground, which seeks to help them address plastic pollution on turtle-nesting beaches and in sensitive mangrove coastlines.

Plastic production continues to rise, and unless we act – through your donations – the consequences are going to be devastating for marine life.

So please, make a donation today and help beat plastic pollution.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, plastic has played an important role in healthcare and PPE, which has been so vital in protecting essential workers during this challenging time.

Lockdown measures resulted in increased pressure on recycling centres, and many settings like restaurants and cafés were forced to use more disposable takeaway packaging to stay open. More plastic waste, combined with staff shortages due to infection control measures, heavily compromised the ability of waste collection and recycling to cope, leading to an increase in landfill and incineration of excess waste. Not only this, but the development and passing of plastic regulation legislation in various countries has stalled over the past year.

Now that many parts of the world are beginning to emerge from lockdown, it is time to refocus our attention back on plastic pollution.

Credit: Bianca Roberts/FFI

While some forms of plastic pollution are easy for all to see, there is also a less visible problem that is affecting our marine life. Nearly all the plastic products we use are made out of tiny, lentil-sized pre-production plastic pellets, or “nurdles”. These pellets are one of the most commonly found microplastics on beaches, posing a serious threat to marine life.

Due to careless handling and transportation practices, pellets are spilled during each stage of the plastic manufacturing process, from the original production of the pellets to their conversion into products, and even during plastic recycling. Being small and light-weight, they easily wash down drains, into rivers and ultimately end up in the ocean. Globally, it is estimated that 230,000 tonnes of nurdles enter our oceans every year, risking damage to wildlife, which can mistake pellets for food.

Measures to address this easily preventable source of pollution are wholly inadequate.

For instance, if an oil tanker were to spill petroleum at sea, there are robust requirements to ensure an effective clean-up. When hundreds of thousands of plastic pellets are spilled from lorries or at factories, they are simply swept down drains and carried out to sea.

Credit: Dilyana Mihaylova/FFI

The effects on ocean life are devastating. Plastic pellets are easily mistaken for food by seabirds, fish and other wildlife as they bear a resemblance to fish eggs. Once ingested, the impacts on an animal’s health are numerous – most notably leading to a false feeling of fullness which causes animals to stop eating real food and starve.

What’s more, like other forms of marine plastic pollution, pellets attract toxic chemicals in the sea, which can then accumulate in animals’ bodies if they are eaten and compromise their fertility and lifespan. Concentrations of these contaminants increase up the food chain (bioaccumulation), and are potentially damaging to human health when we eat affected seafood.

Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is the world’s oldest conservation charity. Over the last 100 years, we have saved several species from extinction and even – with the help of our vice-president, Sir David Attenborough – helped bring mountain gorillas back from the brink. We work to protect plants and animals around the globe, and spend 94% of our income on charitable activities.

Our plastics work has got results. We’ve taken action and we’ve changed the law. Your donations today can help keep that going, and help get it back on track after Covid-19. Thank you.