User:Kemery1101/Plastic resin pellet pollution

There are two types of microplastics: primary microplastics and secondary microplastics. Primary microplastics are released directly into the environment, while secondary microplastics are created through photodegradation and weathering of larger pieces of plastic, like water bottles and fishing nets. Primary microplastics make up between 15% to 31% of marine microplastics and secondary microplastics make up between 69% to 81% of the microplastics in the oceans. Marine pollution is growing due to large-scale plastic producing corporations. In general, the production of plastic is continuing to increase an average of about 8% each year and as there is more plastic produced, more litter pollution will end up in waterways and the ocean. Nurdles are the second largest source of microplastics in the ocean. A study on a polyethylene production facility in Sweden found that between 3 and 36 million of plastic pellets enter the environment from production sites every year. These nurdles spill during transportation and production and due to inadequate precautions and regulations, millions of pellets of plastic end up in nearby waterways and eventually the ocean.

Current progress and solutions

Of the 300 million tons of plastic material produced each year, over 14 million tons end up in the ocean, and plastic production in continuing to increase. Marine litter as a whole is imposing environmental threats to marine ecosystems and policy solutions are crucial to better the ocean.

In 2007 California passed AB 258, which established measures that preproduction plastic producing manufacturers had to follow during the production and transport of plastic pellets. This preventative measure includes inspections by the Regional and State Water Board staff and enforcement of orderly production and transportation of preproduction plastic to minimize the amount of plastic resin pellets spills.

In 2015, the Microbead-Free Waters Act passed, which prohibits the manufacturing and distribution of primary plastic microbeads for cosmetic products. This ban will reduce the amount of plastic pellets that end up in oceans by preventing microbead particles from being used in cosmetic care products.