Today we are very excited to announce the results for The Great Global Nurdle Hunt 2024! Throughout September (1st – 30th 2024) volunteers and organisations have taken part in 257 nurdle hunts, gathering important evidence of nurdle pollution around the world, raising awareness and calling for action!
Download The Great Global Nurdle Hunt 2024 Report Here
Key results 1 – 30 September 2024:
- 257 Nurdle Hunts undertaken in 29 countries
- 90% of nurdle hunts found nurdles
- Nurdles were found in all but one of the participating countries
- Nurdles hunts took place for the first time in Mozambique and Guyana
- Over 1,300 volunteers took part
"In just one month we saw over 250 nurdle hunts take place in 29 countries around the world, including for the first time in Guyana and Mozambique! Fidra wants to thank the 56 organisations and over 1,300 volunteers who took part. They join the 20,000+ people who have taken part in Nurdle Hunts since in 2013 who are raising awareness, gathering evidence and calling for change.’’ - Jamie Clarkson, Project Officer - Fidra
Image Credit: Emma Thompson, United Kingdom
Nurdle hunts have been conducted since 2013 and their continued presence in the environment shows that current voluntary efforts to prevent pollution have been unsuccessful in addressing the issue and mandatory measures are urgently needed.
95% plastic pellet pollution can be prevented if the plastic supply chain is required to implement simple loss prevention measures such as training staff, changing packaging and adding filters to drains (Eunomia, 2018). The data collected by nurdle hunters across the world is vital to show the global scale of nurdle pollution and help organisations to drive for action to end nurdle pollution.
This year, data collected by nurdle hunters will be used by organisations at the United Nations Global Plastics Treaty’s final round of negotiations (INC-5), taking place in November 2024 in Busan, South Korea, to call for nurdle pollution to be comprehensively addressed in a final treaty text. As well as in the European Union as discussions take place on new regulations to address nurdle pollution in late 2024.
You can download your copy of The Great Global Nurdle Hunt 2024 report now. Find out the results of the Great Global Nurdle Hunt 2024, the results of 11 years of the Great Nurdle Hunt and how we can end nurdle pollution!
About the Great Global Nurdle Hunt:
Nurdles are plastic pellets produced from fossil fuels, recycled or biobased materials, by the plastic industry, this industrial feedstock is used to make nearly all plastic products. 445,000 tonnes of plastic pellets are lost by the industry each year due to mismanagement and a lack of mandatory pollution prevention measures (Oracle Environmental Experts, 2023).
Environmental charity Fidra established The Great Nurdle Hunt in 2013 to support our aim of preventing plastic pellet pollution. Volunteers visit beaches, riversides and industry sites year round and log their findings on the online nurdle map (at www.nurdlehunt.org.uk), providing vital evidence of this global issue. The Great Global Nurdle Hunt is a month long event to gather further evidence and highlight the issue around the world. Fidra is a Scottish registered charity and SCIO (SC043895).
Image Credit: Biosfera 1, Cape Verde
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Learn More
If you would like to learn more about nurdle pollution and access further resources and information on solutions visit our NGO Nurdle Information Hub