Petition · past parliament · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Ban the sea transport of plastic pellets ('nurdles').

Closed 40 signatures

What the petition asks

We want the UK Government to protect the marine environment by banning the import or export, by sea, of plastic pellets (known as 'nurdles') which are used in the manufacture of plastic products and which regularly end up in the sea in vast amounts.
Plastic is transported around the world as tiny pellets or 'nurdles'. Container ships regularly shed loads of these nurdles into the sea. The polluters are rarely identified.

The nurdles are irretrievable due to their tiny size, they look like food to many marine species, so are eaten and end up in the food chain (that's our food chain, folks). Their toxins cause profound damage to life.

You can more information here https://www.nurdlehunt.org.uk/the-problem.html

Timeline

31 Jan 2023 Petition opened for signatures
31 Jul 2023 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 40
Status Closed
Department Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Opened 31 Jan 2023
Closed 31 Jul 2023

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.