Harmen Spek reports – 1 May 2020
Tuesday 21 April was a special day for Plastic Soup Foundation. It was the day on which plastic producer Ducor started cleaning the heavily polluted ports of Londenhaven and Brittanniëhavens in Rotterdam. Both ports are littered with a thick layer of plastic granules, also called nurdles, the raw material for many plastic products. Ducor had to clean because we convinced DCMR with an enforcement request: to have Ducor clean up the spilled nurdles.
We at Plastic Soup Foundation found the contamination so severe that we called in a lawyer and submitted an enforcement request to DCMR, urging them to better monitor plastic producers’ compliance with existing legislation. Also, we informed the news program Nieuwsuur, which made a report on location. Not only in Rotterdam but also in Zeeland and Antwerp, where at least as many plastic granules end up in the environment. This report led to a vigorous debate in Rotterdam’s city council and questions in the Parliament.
On the morning of the 21st, I drive curiously and expectantly to the Londenhaven harbor in the Botlek. I see a workboat lying on the road and quite a lot of activity on the bank next to it. On the prow of the boat, there is an excavator that reaches the basalt bank with its arm. Along the arm, there are two long flexible tubes with which the operators are working on the side. The Port of Rotterdam Authority hired the contractor HEBO for this job.
When I walk along the slope towards the workers, the images of Nieuwsuur are still on my eye, but to experience the pollution with my own eyes is a different matter. I am shocked! The number of grains can’t be described with a pen, and every now and then, I sink into the thick layer of plastic with my shoes as if I’m walking on fine sand.
And that feeling is right too. The plastic granules usually have a diameter of about 4-5 mm, but here is a dangerous mix of grains that are typically 1 millimeter or even smaller. Of course, they sink through everything. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of coarse plastic waste in the Londenhaven harbor, which doesn’t make it any more pleasant to look at.
Cleaning up is difficult, partly because this enormous ‘vacuum cleaner’ is still a test model for this application. There is a lot of delay due to blockages. It is, therefore, a complex task; the granules must, of course, be removed as effectively as possible, but also coarser plastic and natural material are vacuumed up, which causes blockages. It is very labor-intensive to lift the top layer of basalt stones and suck the grains away as deep as possible. In this way, the large bank is finished meter by meter, a hell of a job.
On the bank, Ducor itself is at least as busy; a changing plow of about five men is constantly busy cleaning up the coarse plastic waste in particular. Both the management and the staff are shocked: they have never seen such a degree of plastic pollution before.
They tell me that they are going to go through all their processes again and where possible, they will prevent this kind of plastic leakage. Ducor also wants to talk to other plastic producers in the area and remind them of their shared responsibility. Plastic Soup Foundation is happy with this new focus but would like to see it reflected in hard results; an approach at the source is essential as a complete clean-up is impossible.
According to the Port of Rotterdam Authority, which is having this operation carried out, this cleaning operation has resulted in four full big bags of 1 m3, each with plastic granules. That means 4,000 liters of granules! In addition, seventeen big bags full of coarse plastic were cleaned up—an enormous quantity in a relatively small area.
Conversations within the plastic producing sector will be needed. We know a lot more of these nurdle ‘graveyards.’ All companies in this sector will have to look seriously at their processes and once and for all take responsibility for leaking nurdles to the environment.
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