Plastic breakdown
Plastic breaks down into millions of tiny plastic particles, but never fully disappears. Learn more about the plastic break down process and its dangers.
Microplastics pollution
Plastic in the environment eventually falls apart into ever-smaller pieces. Microplastics are pieces smaller than half a centimeter but can be so small that they are no longer visible to the naked eye. Nanoplastics are barely visible even under the most modern microscopes. These are both referred to as secondary microplastics. Then, there are microplastics released through the wear of other plastic materials, such as fibers from synthetic clothing or the abrasion of car tires – these are primary microplastics. They also include microplastics that manufacturers consciously add to personal care products or paints because they fulfill a specific function. These microplastics end up in the ocean easily via drains or through other routes.
Microplastics pollution from tires & synthetic clothing
It is difficult to imagine the number of microplastics with which we all pollute the environment. After broken-down pieces of larger plastic debris, tire and clothing wear are the largest source of primary microplastics in water. In the Netherlands, seventeen million kilograms of car tire rubber enter the environment every year. That is 1 kilogram per inhabitant. The world average comes to 0.81 kg of tire wear particles per person per year. Machine washing and drying clothes is also a major source of microplastics pollution which is difficult to control. Five kilograms of synthetic clothing releases an average of nine million microfibers that are carried down the drain with the rinse water.
Microplastics in personal care products
Microplastics in personal care products are rinsed away with wastewater during use. Each use may contain 100,000 particles of plastic per scrub, as shown by English research. All those microplastics end up in water and, ultimately, in the oceans. In recent years, major cosmetics companies have replaced polyethylene particles with alternatives intended for scrubbing, but these companies do not mention that there may be dozens of other types of microplastics in their products. Polyethylene is found in various cosmetics such as eyeliners, mascara, lipsticks, powders and skincare products. The only guarantee for customers that a care product is truly free from all microplastics and nanoplastics comes from the brand itself. The ‘Look for the Zero’ logo, part of the international Beat the Microbead campaign, provides this possibility.
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Ghost nets
Ghost nets are fishing nets that have been abandoned in the oceans. Marine animals like turtles and dolphins get entangled in them and die.
Plastic production and decomposition
Plastic production keeps growing at a fast pace. But plastic is non-biodegradable and does not decompose. So what happens to it in the oceans?
