Three weeks on from the accidental collision between the Wind Orca and the berthed BG Orange at the Port of Tyne on 19 July, where a reported 17 tonnes of plastic nurdles spilled into the River Tyne, the community-led clean-up shows no sign of slowing down. Volunteers have contributed more than 5,300 hours in total – almost 4,900 of them hands-on beach clean-up across 2,336 sessions, plus 400+ hours of co-ordination and manufacturing behind the scenes – recovering an estimated half a tonne of nurdles across the region.
Campaigners warn the clean-up remains a race against time, especially with the spring tide approaching. “The swell could churn up the sand, bringing buried nurdles back to the surface and into the river,” says Sally McGee, a local surf instructor and campaign spokesperson. “This is an important window in which we have to act. Every volunteer, professional and government resource needs to be focused on recovering as many pellets as possible before the tide carries them out to sea.”
NIFCA access welcomed, but port pressed to do more
The community welcomed the involvement of NIFCA (the North Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority) on the water this week, but the separate two hour window of volunteer river access offered between 8-10 am on Tuesday morning left campaigners demanding the Port needs to do more: “The community is really pleased to see NIFCA out on the water,” says McGee. “Their presence is a clear indication that collective pressure can lead to meaningful action. This is an important boost for everyone who has been working tirelessly to respond to the spill.”
“However, what we are asking is for the Port of Tyne to use its extensive connections within the maritime community to mobilise trained volunteers and appropriate vessels. It should not be the responsibility of the community to identify, recruit and coordinate boats with the specific skills and equipment that the Port itself has said are required. If the Port recognises that more vessels and trained personnel are needed on the river, then it is the Port’s responsibility to put out that call and use its own networks to bring them in.”
Community pushes officials on accountability
On Friday 7 August, community representatives met the North East Combined Authority (Mayor Kim McGuinness’s office) and the Northumbria Local Resilience Forum in a listening session held ahead of a government briefing with Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) later that day. The Mayor’s office said it had raised concerns directly with Defra, calling for legal and regulatory change to prevent similar incidents in future and publicly recognised the work of thousands of volunteers, who were offered a new formal route into recovery planning through the Local Resilience Forum.
Community representatives also challenged recent public messaging from government agencies and the Port of Tyne describing the response as “rapid”, arguing that overstating success risks damaging public trust. They pressed officials on where responsibility ultimately sits, saying it remains unclear how the recovery effort is divided between the Environment Agency, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Port of Tyne, local authorities and volunteers themselves.
Volunteers reiterated that their earlier calls for more boats were not requests for untrained volunteers to be sent out on the water, but for the Port of Tyne to deploy experienced professional vessels already on the river, including marina safety boats and marine police, which volunteers say have been available but under-used. They also asked for direct contact with the Environment Agency, having been repeatedly redirected between departments; officials agreed to help facilitate this and said they would intervene if the pattern continued.
Government minister visits the North East
On Monday, MP Stephen Morgan from Defra visited the North East to meet with local officials and affected communities, saying he will help to ensure clean-up happens as quickly and effectively as possible. The ‘nurdlers’, who feel they are still leading a large share of the clean-up, hope Morgan will improve resources and personnel to speed up recovery, and press the Environment Agency for better transparency.
Wildlife continues to suffer
Nurdles are not toxic in themselves, but readily absorb pollutants and chemicals from seawater, and are frequently mistaken for food by birds, fish and other wildlife, according to North Tyneside and South Tyneside councils. Volunteers have recorded video evidence showing seagulls, ducks, swans and cygnets in the River Tyne and on local beaches appearing to eat nurdles.
“Nurdles are scattered among seaweed, rocks and sand, with seagulls, black-headed gulls and crows pecking at them along the shoreline where they usually feed on small worms, fish eggs and larvae,” says Leo Hargreaves, a Nextdoor Nature Officer at Northumberland Wildlife Trust. “Birds, fish and marine mammals frequently mistake them for food, filling their stomachs with indigestible plastic that can cause starvation or internal injury,” explains Hargreaves.
Campaign backs new pellet-loss law
Campaigners also point to a new EU law, Regulation (EU) 2025/2365, which requires large handlers of plastic pellets to carry out risk management plans and independent audits. “Such a change in law would be a vital step towards preventing this from happening in the future,” says Hargreaves. “Each year an estimated 445,970 tonnes of nurdles enter the environment. The scale is hard to imagine.”
The campaign is backing the UK Parliament petition calling for the government to mandate this EU law. The “zero plastic pellet loss” petition needs 10,000 signatures to secure a government response, and closes on 13 September.
Grassroots support keeps growing
The campaign’s grassroots infrastructure continues to grow. A team of volunteer seamstresses has now produced more than 500 reusable mesh collection bags, and a network of community equipment hubs (NESTs) allows volunteers to collect nurdle clean-up kits before heading to the beach. The Port of Blyth has continued to show what cooperation can look like, with around 40 port employees joining beach cleans at both Blyth and Cambois last week.
Organisers say the priorities are clear: authorities must match the pace already set by the community, provide a transparent account of what has and has not been achieved, and give a clear answer on how many nurdles remain unaccounted for – and who is responsible for recovering them.
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