On 19 July about 18 tonnes of plastic nurdles, consisting of about one billion tiny balls, spilled into the River Tyne after a crash between ships at the Port of Tyne. It is believed to be the worst recorded incident of its type in Europe. In the months since, teams of volunteers have joined in efforts to collect the microplastics that continue to wash up on north-east England's coast.
But several questions remain. So what do we know about the spill right now - and what are we still waiting to find out? What is a nurdle and why do they matter?
Port of Tyne criticised over nurdle spill response Nurdles clean-up volunteers meet Port of Tyne boss A wind turbine installation vessel called the Wind Orca collided with a container ship berthed at the Port of Tyne. A gantry crane on the quayside collapsed and ended up lying across the ship. Two containers on the BG Orange were full of nurdles.
These are pre-production plastic pellets, about the size of a lentil, which are used as the raw material to manufacture nearly all everyday plastic goods. About 18 tonnes of these pellets spilled into the water because of the crash. Northumbria Police said it was investigating the collision and so far, no-one has been arrested.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is also investigating. The Port of Tyne previously said it, along with others, had asked the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to consider enforcing safer transportation methods for nurdles, something environmental groups have long called for. By the end of September about 28% of the nurdles had been recovered, according to scientists.
But the Port of Tyne, the Environment Agency and the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) said the numbers of nurdles washing up ashore had already "reduced significantly" by then and numbers were continuing to fall. They said they believed the full recovery of the 18 tonnes was not achievable. When asked what percentage recovery rate would be considered a success, the bodies said they would measure success via various metrics including shoreline surveys.
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