Ever heard of a nurdle? They sound adorable, like cute bookish cartoon characters from a children’s movie. But they’re far from loveable. Nurdles are tiny pellets of plastic the size of a lentil that get made into familiar products like water bottles and food wrappers. They're an environmental disaster – and they're polluting Port Phillip Bay in alarming numbers.

Citizen scientists in Melbourne from the Port Phillip EcoCentre and Tangaroa Blue Foundation have audited the factories and streets where pollution flows into Port Phillip Bay and found nurdles are escaping in huge numbers into Melbourne’s stormwater system and onto the city’s beaches.  

With lawyers at Environmental Justice Australia, these two community environment groups have written to Victoria’s Minister for the Environment, Steve Dimopoulos, and the state’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA), urging action and prepared a report about microplastics pollution.

Photos of nurdles and stock images of the bay for media use here 

Uncovering nurdle pollution 

For over a decade Port Phillip EcoCentre and Tangaroa Blue Foundation have been auditing sites across Melbourne for plastic pollution. In 2024 alone, volunteers conducted 22 site inspections targeting plastic industry operators. More than half of the sites were found to have either moderate, significant or highly significant nurdle pollution. They also assessed stormwater drain traps, finding thousands of nurdles. Three of the drain traps alone contained more than 10,000 nurdles. (More information can be found in this report)

Their work confirmed that a substantial amount of nurdles continue to escape into Melbourne’s stormwater system. 

April Seymore, the executive officer at Port Phillip EcoCentre Inc says: 

“From deep ocean basins to local waterways, plastic pollution like nurdles is spreading in levels of the marine ecosystem with devastating consequences.” 

“We want kids to play on beaches with beautiful shells, not shards of plastic. Laws exist to stop this and enforcing them would make a huge difference.” 

Tangaroa Blue Foundation chief executive officer Heidi Tait says:  

“Plastic feedstock pollution is one of the most preventable forms of pollution—it simply requires businesses to use strong housekeeping practices.” 

“The focus should be on serial offenders. Many businesses in the plastics industry are doing the right thing but those who consistently fail must be targeted for enforcement.” 

Environmental Justice senior lawyer Virginia Trescowthick says: 

“It’s critically important to use existing environmental protection laws to prevent plastics entering Victoria’s marine environment.” 

“There’s a compelling case for the Victorian EPA to use all of the tools available under the state's laws to prevent harm to the environment from microplastic pollution.” 

What are nurdles? 

Nurdles are a type of microplastic that are regularly spilled on factory loading bays and driveways and slip into urban drains, stormwater systems or rivers that flush out into Port Phillip Bay. Nurdles, also called plastic resin pellets, are the number one microplastic type found on beaches around the bay. 

They are often mistaken for food by seabirds, fish and other wildlife.  

How bad is Victoria’s microplastics problem? 

Between 2017 and 2020, the Port Phillip EcoCentre gathered the first data on microplastic pollution in the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers and Port Phillip Bay beaches. It estimated that nearly 2.5 billion pieces of plastic flow into Port Phillip Bay annually from the waters of the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers, of which over two billion are microplastics. Plastic litter is also increasing in both rivers.  

What is the difference between microplastics and nurdles? 

Microplastics are pieces of plastic smaller than 5 mm in diameter. Some microplastics are purposefully manufactured for industrial and domestic purposes (primary microplastics) while other microplastics are created by the weathering and fragmentation of larger plastic objects (secondary microplastics). 

Nurdles, also called plastic resin pellets, are a subcategory of primary microplastics and are used as a raw input for manufacturing. Plastic feedstock can take different shapes including flakes, powder, and recycled chips used to make all our plastic products.   

What reforms are needed to address this?  

It’s clear that the current approach isn’t working. And it’s critically important that existing environmental protection laws are used to prevent more nurdles entering our rivers and bays. In the letter that Port Phillip EcoCentre and Tangaroa Blue sent to the Environment Minister they recommended the following actions:  

• The Victorian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) must act now, using its full suite of powers under the Environment Protection Act 2017 (EP Act 2017) to prevent harm to the environment from microplastic pollution. 

• The EPA must use the permissions scheme to regulate plastic feedstock pollution from plastic industry operators, and it should also make a ‘position statement’ that clearly sets out information plastic industry operators ought reasonably to know to comply with their duties. 

• The Minister and EPA should amend Victoria’s Environmental Reference Standard to make express reference to plastics and microplastics. 

Media contact

Miki Perkins at [email protected] or  03 8341 3110 

The Port Phillip EcoCentre is a not-for-profit environmental group serving Greater Melbourne and Port Phillip Bay catchments. For 25 years it has provided a hub for scientists, schools, businesses, volunteers and decision-makers to help protect landscapes, waterways, wildlife and community wellbeing. 

 Tangaroa Blue is an Australia-wide not-for-profit organisation that has coordinated the Australian Marine Debris Initiative for over 20 years. Dedicated to the removal and prevention of marine debris, the organisation works with communities, governments, and industry to protect ocean ecosystems.