Background
Plastic pellets generally refer to roundish plastic granules in the microplastic size range (<5 mm) that are used in the manufacture of plastic products. Plastic pellets can end up in the environment throughout their life cycle, during production, transportation, storage, and use. Locally large pellet accumulations have been observed on several European beaches for years. It is obvious that several coastal areas across Europe suffer from repeated pellet emissions. In Finland, no systematic data has been collected on the prevalence and extent of pellets. Light plastic pellets can travel long distances with water currents, which makes mapping work and especially identifying emission sources difficult. A method suitable for the tidal beaches of Central Europe has been developed for monitoring pellets but it is not fully applicable on the beaches of the Baltic Sea.
Objective
The project aims to develop a plastic pellet monitoring method in cooperation with Estonian and Latvian researchers, to be suitable for beaches in all countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. The project also encourages citizens to report their pellet observations using the Rosgis web service via the Syke website, to produce a broader overall picture of the distribution of plastic pellets.
The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has funded the project with EUR 125 000 from the Baltic, Barents and Arctic Cooperation Funding Programme (IBA Funding Programme). IBA funding is used to implement Finland's national objectives in multilateral cooperation in the Baltic, Barents and Arctic regions.