Thousands of plastic balls have been found every month for a year in the river Mark in Breda. These so-called nurdles enter the food chain and are harmful to human and animal health. How the balls get into the Mark is still a question mark. “But it’s not a one-off and that’s worrying.”
“Look carefully,” says Ron Bekker, while he runs his hand through the water and picks up some plant remains. “Sometimes they are even smaller than a pin’s head, but I already count about eight plastic balls. There are thousands here and that is serious.”
Ron, board member of Natuur- en Milieuvereniging Markkant, and his colleagues Marcel and Peter are standing on a floating plastic catcher in Breda’s river Mark twice a month. It is a kind of funnel-shaped pontoon that stops the litter through the current. “We actually came here to get the coarser, plastic material out of the Mark, but then we also discovered the nurdles‘ said Ron.
Simply explained nurdles plastic granules used by industry to make plastic products. A kind of intermediate step in the process from oil to coarse plastic. And it is not good if this ends up in the rivers and later also in the sea.
“If the fish gets poisoned, it will happen to us humans when we eat it.”
“It’s incredibly bad for the environment,” says Ramon Knoester, founder of Clear Rivers and inventor of the plastic catcher. “Microplastic, which includes these chemically infected granules, is very quickly mistaken for food by birds and fish. They eat it, the stomach gets clogged and eventually they die.”
“And if the fish gets poisoned, that happens to us humans too when we eat it,” continues Knoester. “To what extent is still unclear, but research is currently being done.”
The question is, of course, how these harmful plastic granules end up in the Mark. Are they dumped or is it an accident? “Any industry that works with these balls can be the cause,” says Ron Bekker of the Markkant Nature and Environmental Association. “These companies can be located in a large area, because two rivers converge here. From the south of Breda via West Brabant to Belgium.”
“The culprit must be traced quickly, because this really has to stop.”
“It is suspected that the plastic granules mainly entered the rivers through transhipment,” adds Ramon Knoester. “When they go from one producer to another, it is handled carelessly. I think they sweep or spray the site and the granules end up in the sewer system. And then in the event of an overflow back into the open water. And yes, this is absolutely criminal.”
“At first we thought it was a one-off,” says Bekker. “But we noticed that there is a constant supply of plastic balls. The municipality of Breda is now investigating together with the Water Board where they come from. I myself do not think that there is deliberate dumping. That would not be smart of the industry, because the plastic balls have value.”
Then he doubts a bit. “But an accident? Well, then it will be a long-term accident. Anyway, I would really like it if the person who caused it is traced as soon as possible. This really has to stop as soon as possible.”
