Microplastic pollution in Melbourne's waterways
Tiny plastic, big problem
Ever heard of a nurdle? They might sound adorable – like cute bookish cartoon characters from a children’s movie. But they’re far from loveable.
These tiny pellets of plastic, about the size of a lentil, are used as raw materials in the manufacturing of familiar products like water bottles and food wrappers.
When spilled, these microplastics enter stormwater systems and wash into rivers, beaches, and oceans – where they become a significant environmental hazard.
Right now, nurdles are polluting Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay in alarming numbers.
We’ve just published a report on the problem, Microplastic pollution in Melbourne’s waterways: Existing legal solutions, on behalf of Port Phillip EcoCentre and Tangaroa Blue Foundation.
What’s happening in Port Phillip Bay?
Citizen scientists from the Port Phillip EcoCentre and Tangaroa Blue Foundation have been investigating microplastic pollution across Melbourne. Their audits of industrial sites, stormwater drains and beaches have uncovered shocking levels of plastic contamination. They’ve uncovered nurdles escaping in huge numbers.
In 2024 alone, volunteers conducted dozens of site inspections targeting plastic industry operators. More than half of the audited sites were found to have moderate to highly significant plastic feedstock pollution, including nurdles. At three stormwater drain traps alone, over 10,000 pieces of plastic feedstock were found.
This is not a new problem. Research from 2017–2020 estimated that nearly 2.5 billion pieces of plastic flow into Port Phillip Bay annually from the Yarra and Maribyrnong Rivers, with over two billion being microplastics. Despite Victoria’s strengthened pollution and waste laws, microplastics continue to flood our waterways at an unacceptable rate.
The environmental cost of nurdles
Nurdles, also called plastic resin pellets, are one of the most common types of microplastics found on Melbourne’s beaches. They are often mistaken for food by seabirds, fish, and marine mammals, leading to ingestion, internal injuries, and exposure to toxic chemicals. The environmental damage doesn’t stop at wildlife – microplastics also accumulate in ecosystems, impacting water quality and potentially entering the human food chain.
As April Seymore, executive officer at Port Phillip EcoCentre, warns:
“From deep ocean basins to local waterways, plastic pollution like nurdles is spreading through the marine ecosystem with devastating consequences.”
Why is this happening?
Nurdles typically spill at factory sites during transport, handling or storage. Poor housekeeping practices and lack of enforcement mean many of these tiny plastics end up in stormwater drains, eventually flowing into our rivers and oceans. While many companies handle their plastic waste responsibly, serial offenders continue to pollute Melbourne’s waterways with little consequence.
As Environmental Justice Australia senior lawyer Virginia Trescowthick explains:
“It’s critically important to use existing environmental protection laws to prevent plastics from entering Victoria’s marine environment. There’s a compelling case for the Victorian EPA to use all available tools under the state’s laws to tackle this crisis."
What needs to change?
Despite the growing evidence, regulatory action has been slow. To address this issue, Port Phillip EcoCentre and Tangaroa Blue, with the support of Environmental Justice Australia, have exposed the problem of microplastics in Melbourne’s waterways and written to Victoria’s Minister for the Environment, Steve Dimopoulos, and the state’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA), urging action.
Represented by EJA, the two groups call on the Victorian government and EPA to:
- Enforce existing environment protection laws – The EPA must use its full suite of powers under the Environment Protection Act 2017 (EP Act 2017) to prevent harm to the environment from microplastic pollution.
- Regulate plastic feedstock pollution – The EPA must use the permissions scheme to require industry operators to implement best-practice housekeeping measures, and make a ‘position statement’ outlining how plastic industry operators can comply with their duties.
- Update environmental standards – The Minister and EPA should amend Victoria’s Environmental Reference Standard to explicitly include plastics and microplastics to improve accountability and regulation.
Plastic pollution in Port Phillip Bay is preventable – but only with action.
It’s clear the current approach to regulating plastic pollution isn’t working. And it’s critically important that the EPA and Victorian government use existing environmental protection laws to prevent more nurdles entering our rivers and bays
The tools to address this crisis exist; it’s time for the Victorian government and the EPA to use them. We all want Melbourne’s beaches covered in seashells, not plastic shards.
Virginia Trescowthick is a senior lawyer in EJA's pollution team, where she helps community groups to use the law to protect the environment and human health from pollution and waste.
She has represented local communities to stop a range of large polluting projects including gas import terminals and open-cut mines.
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