A NORTH Berwick-based environmental charity shared the findings of its global beach clean survey with delegates at COP26 in Glasgow.

Fidra’s Great Global Nurdle Hunt 2021 – the third it has carried out – comes off the back of the group’s annual Great Nurdle Hunt, launched in 2012.

And results from the survey, which discovered millions of tiny plastic pellets on beaches throughout the world, were revealed at the global conference last Tuesday.

Fidra was launched by Dr Becky Gait – formerly of North Berwick and now living in Australia – in 2011, when she brought together a group of parents and friends with a shared passion for the environment and expertise in science, public health, law and finance.

The group launched the Great Nurdle Hunt to document nurdle pollution and engage with industry and others.

The charity is now run by a team of nine, and four trustees, out of an office on North Berwick’s Westgate.

In this year’s Great Global Nurdle Hunt, 21 out of 23 of the countries that took part found the pellets, known as nurdles, on their coastline.

Megan Kirton, from Fidra, said: “COP26 is a real opportunity to highlight pellet pollution to international decision-makers and we can’t thank all our volunteers enough for helping us show that this is a widespread global pollution issue that needs action now.

“We can’t keep using energy and fossil fuels to make plastic that ends up in the environment. Nurdle pollution demonstrates plastic is being wasted before it has even been used to make anything.”

And the response from delegates and members of the public at COP26 to the group’s findings showed the importance of raising the issue, with some not having heard of nurdles before.

Megan said: “We were presenting the findings from this year’s Great Global Nurdle Hunt at our information stall in the Green Zone of COP26.

“The results were well received – we spoke to many interested members of the public, academics, NGOs and delegates about the pellet pollution issue.

“Many had not heard of nurdles or this pellet pollution issue before, so this opportunity helped us raise the profile of the issue and recruit more nurdle hunters from around the world.”

More than 900 volunteers spent a total of 730 hours last month scouring beaches for the tiny microplastic pellets.

Volunteers racked up a total of 274 hunts during October, with millions of nurdles estimated to be found in some of the worst hotspots surveyed.

Nurdles are small round pellets produced by the plastics industry and melted down to make nearly all plastic products.

Once produced in plastic manufacturing plants, nurdles are shipped and couriered to multiple destinations before they are made into a plastic product. At each stage of transport and handling, nurdles can be spilled into the environment.

Among those taking part in the survey was Melissa Nel, a volunteer co-ordinator and research assistant for the Orca Foundation in South Africa.

She found more than 10,000 nurdles in two days while participating in the event.

Melissa said: “After seeing the Fidra nurdle movement, we decided to focus our beach clean-ups on nurdle collecting.

“About one year ago, nurdles started washing up in huge numbers along Plettenberg Bay’s beaches and there has been a huge community drive to help assist in the nurdle problem – which has been amazing.

“But there is still a lot of work to do.

“It is the worst of times, but it is the best of times because we still have a chance to make a difference.”