Millions of plastic balls washed up on Spain's beaches - threatening disaster

09 January 2024 , 21:26

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Some of the small plastic pellets washed up on the Galicia coast in Spain

A “major disaster” alert has been issued in Spain after millions of plastic pellets were found washed up on more than 30 beaches after an accident at sea.

The small objects have been contaminating the marine ecosystem of a large part of the Galician coast for weeks, since they were spilled from the merchant ship Toconao last month. A huge clean up operation has been ordered for the regions of Asturias and Galicia. The pellets are about five millimetres but each one could take between 50 and 70 years to disappear from the marine environment, if they are not collected in time.

Greenpeace Spain said: "Once again, Galicia is experiencing an ecological disaster on its coasts. Millions of plastic balls (pellets) have been flooding and sometimes complete bags arrive, which if detected can be easily collected. The worst thing many have already broken and millions of pellets are spread through the water column, reaching the beaches with each tide.

“Pollution from pellets and in general from plastics and microplastics is a very serious problem globally. In the European Union alone, it is estimated that around 160,000 tons of plastic pellets are dumped into the environment each year and up to 12 million tons of plastics of all types are dumped into the oceans annually. What is happening these days in Galicia is serious, but the worst thing is it is only a small part of this problem with global consequences."

"Unfortunately, almost a month after the spill, we still do not have official information on their composition. Although given their physical characteristics, they are very small, they constitute very polluting elements that will surely end up being integrated into food chains. "

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Volunteers helping clear the tiny pellets from the beach

"It is easy for many marine organisms, from fish to birds, to ingest them, mistaking them for food, as they look like small eggs, causing gastric problems and even death, and ending up integrated into the human food chain. It is also very likely that they will decompose little by little into even smaller microplastics, affecting filter-feeding organisms.

The alarm was raised weeks ago with the appearance of a high number of microplastics on several Galician beaches and environmentalists immediately raised the alarm. However, government officials only activated an emergency plan on January 5, by which time the pellets had reached the Asturias.

General secretary of the Union of Oceans of Asturias, Rafael Lobeto Lobo said: "There is a general current that comes in the same direction as the general circulation of the atmosphere, which comes from the Atlantic, which drives the pellets to Asturias. That same current is good for the climate right now but it is negative for the pellets because it drags them towards our beaches."

The Institute of Environmental Diagnosis and Water Studies warned the plastic pellets could reach "the entire Cantabrian coast" and urged their removal "as soon as possible" to avoid a greater impact, describing it as a “race against time”.

Antony Clements-Thrower