Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) investigators have released a film that exposes poor industry practice from ‘plastic injection moulding factories’, which is leading to a pollution epidemic of the nation’s waterways and coastline. Plastic pellets (aka mermaid’s tears) found scattered around plastics factories get into the drains/sewers and make their way to our beaches and into the ocean.
Mermaid’s tears
Little more than a few millimetres in diameter, these tiny plastic pellets have been nicknamed mermaids tears by campaigners and are one of the most prevalent litter item found on UK beaches. SAS volunteer beach cleanersfind them by the thousand at virtually every event we organise. By their very nature they do not biodegrade, adsorb harmful polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in concentrations up to a million times greater than the surrounding seawater and they can also be a deadly threat to sea life, which mistake them for food. Learn more here…