Water, Sewage & Effluent September October 2018 | Page 25

Recently, the UK launched the long-
awaited ban on microbeads — the
microplastics that could previously be
encouraged to make environmentally
friendly choices and to bring their
own containers. 
There is also a growing concern
about the number of cotton buds being
washed up on beaches after being
flushed down the toilet. In Scotland,
a major campaign has already led to
many retailers converting to paper-
stemmed buds instead, but plastic
ones are still being sold. So, to put a
stop to that, Scotland is going to ban
them completely. 
The last straw
MSP Kate Forbes’ ‘Final Straw’
campaign is driving a movement to
Sealed fate. No words can do justice to describe the devastation to marine life caused by plastic litter.
Water Sewage & Effluent September/October 2018
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In one 100mℓ tube of ‘scrub’ cosmetics, 100g of microbeads are released into the water system
and yes, ultimately into the seas — and even ending up in the human food chain. 
innovations
Microbeads et al
found in things like toothpaste, face
wash, and body scrub — followed by
Canada, with the US set to follow later
this year.
The tiny plastics are so prolific that
as many as 100  000 could be washed
down the drain in just a single shower.
In one 100mℓ tube of ‘scrub’ cosmetics,
100g of microbeads are released into
the water system and yes, ultimately
into the seas — and even ending up in
the human food chain. 
Prime Minister Theresa May is
driving a zero-waste environment,
urging supermarkets to set up
‘plastic-free aisles’ in which all the
food is loose, where shoppers are
litter that gets stuck in storm drains
and is washed into rivers and out to
sea; the legal and illegal dumping of
garbage and appliances; and plastic
resin pellets inadvertently spilled and
unloaded by plastic manufacturers. In
a 2010 report by Ocean Conservancy,
it states that 60% of all marine debris
in 2009 consisted of ‘disposable’ items,
the most common being cigarettes,
plastic bags, food containers, bottle
caps, and plastic bottles.