Microplastics: The waste you’re probably eating for breakfast

Microplastics are found everywhere in our environment, from the depths of the oceans to the very air we breathe.

These tiny pieces of plastic even end up in the food we eat, posing the serious question: “How dangerous are these tiny pollutants to our health?”

Poor waste management and unsustainable industrial practices are responsible for bringing microplastics into our day-to-day lives – and the situation is only getting worse…

What are microplastics?

Microplastics are small pieces of plastic less than 5mm in size.

They might be intentionally produced, for jewellery and clothing, for example, or broken down from larger plastic products over time.

The problem with microplastics is that because they’re so small, they easily spread to every area of the environment and can be consumed by wildlife and even humans.

The majority of microplastics (35%) come from synthetic textiles, which spill out into the ecosystem after clothes are washed and drained. The rest comes from tyres (28%), city dust (24%), road markings (7%), marine coatings (4%), personal care products (2%) and plastic pellets (0.3%).

Plastic waste pollution is also a big contributor to microplastics, something eco-friendly skip hire firm SunSkips takes very seriously.

How poor waste management creates microplastics

Sustainable waste management is a huge part of preventing microplastics from being released into the environment.

Waste like single-use plastic bottles and packaging that ends up in landfill, littered or fly-tipped are a big source of microplastics.

At SunSkips, we’re well aware of the dangers of plastic pollution in the environment and employ stringent recycling techniques to prevent it, including diverting plastic to energy from waste facilities. Plastics are separated via a screening system involving an overband magnet to pull out metals and a flip-flow screen to sieve out small pieces of waste.

Running sophisticated waste transfer sites to keep plastic waste contained is another important part of the solution to microplastics. For example, SunSSkips’ new site in Haverhill is equipped with drainage interceptors to prevent contaminants polluting the sewage systems.

But even with the best intentions to filter out microplastics, the non-biodegradable pollutants are already out there, and exactly how much of it is pretty hard to wrap your head around…

MORE: Plastics that can be recycled: a guide to sorting plastics in the UK

Microplastics flooding oceans in the trillions

Experts from Kyushu University in Japan estimate a shocking 24 trillion pieces of microplastic floating around in the world’s oceans.

Microplastics can enter waterways through storm water runoff, which carries plastic debris from streets and other surfaces into rivers, lakes, and oceans. In some tragic cases, microplastics end up in the water because they’re simply dumped there by unscrupulous waste carriers and industries.

Research into microplastics in marine life that have consumed microplastics found potential harm to the reproductive systems and livers of fish. When aquatic life consumes microplastic, it not only endangers their health, but possibly that of the human beings that will end up eating them.

 

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Concerns about microplastic have gathered pace as more and more is being discovered in marine life. This is particularly worrying where it concerns shellfish, because humans eat the entire animal, including the stomach and the microplastic along with it.

In 2017, Belgian scientists estimated that the average mussel aficionado in the country could be consuming as many as 11,000 pieces of microplastic a year, but that was just the tip of the iceberg…

Are microplastics dangerous to humans?

With so much microplastic in the environment, scientists are keeping a keen eye on its effects on human health, but determining how harmful they are is a complicated task.

More recent studies claim we actually consume between 78,000 and 211,000 bits of microplastic a year – and that’s considered an underestimation. Put in terms that are a bit easier to visualise, that’s about a credit card’s worth of microplastic we’re tucking into every week.

Salt, sugar, honey, beer, fruit, vegetables, and drinking water have also been found to be contaminated.

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Microplastics have been discovered in the lungs of surgical patients and in the blood of donors, meaning we’re far beyond the point of preventing microplastics from entering the human body.

But the question as to whether microplastics are especially harmful to our health has still gone unanswered.

Microplastics could affect human health by damaging cells, triggering inflammation and causing immune reactions, but exactly how dangerous this is is unclear.

Humans ingest and inhale all manner of foreign objects and our bodies are pretty good at getting rid of the stuff that’s best coughed or sneezed into a tissue.

Microplastics in human blood probably isn’t ideal though, so it makes sense to take action to reduce the amount of it in the environment before we find out we should have acted sooner.

What can we do about microplastics?

Ending the scourge of microplastics starts by addressing the production of virgin plastics.

The UK’s plastic packaging tax, which came into effect in April 2022, aims to do exactly that, levying packaging containing less than 30% recycled plastic at a rate of £200 per tonne. And the Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (England) Regulations 2017 ban the production of cosmetic products containing microbeads, like exfoliants.

Single-use plastics are designed to be discarded once they’ve served their purpose, so choosing more sustainable alternatives like reusable drinking receptacles and cloth bags can stop microplastics at the source. It’s not always easy to adopt better plastic consumption habits, but awareness campaigns like Plastic Free July are a great opportunity to get started, even with a few small changes.

Sustainable waste management services like SunSkips are the best choice to bring down microplastics, avoiding unlicensed waste carriers that fly-tip plastic waste rather than use legal channels to recycle it or send it to an energy from waste facility.

New technologies for tracking plastic waste might turn the tide of microplastics in our oceans by giving authorities a clear trail to follow the culprits and bring them to justice.

MORE: 5 huge risks of improper waste management

Microplastics might be small, but they’re making a big impact on our environment and public health.

It’s one of many reasons to ditch plastic packaging in favour of more sustainable alternatives and practise good waste management habits to keep our environment – and our breakfasts – free of microplastics.

SunSkips uses a meticulous screening line to filter out fine waste items and sort them into the right recycling categories to get the most value out of them. Get in touch with our expert team to learn more about how we can make your plastic recycling processes more environmentally friendly.

Feature image courtesy of Florida Sea Grant/Flickr