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Report nurdle pollution on our beaches and learn about our cleanup efforts.

What are nurdles?

Clumps of burnt nurdles seen on the shore next to a car key for scale (enlarged, left).

On 10 March 2025, a container ship collided off the East Yorkshire coast, spilling pellets - called nurdles - from the containers onboard, triggering a major offshore emergency response. The ship carried 196 containers, 15 containing plastic pellets. The pellets are small pieces of plastic used in plastics production, typically the size of a lentil. From 16 March, clumps of burnt plastic (see image) were observed at sea and washed ashore on beaches in Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

Beach cleanup

Local authorities and beach owners are surveying beaches regularly for pellets washing ashore, and have a regular program in place to clean up pollution where it is reported.

HM Coastguard, counter pollution specialists, east coast local authorities, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, and others have been working together to gather these pellets from the sea and clean up beaches as they wash ashore. We have seen pellets involved in the fire clumped together and loose, undamaged pellets.

Public health, wildlife and other animals

The public health risks on shore are very low and the plastic pellets are not toxic but can pose a risk to wildlife and other animals if ingested, so we're cleaning up as much as possible.

Please keep dogs on leads for now, and don't touch any pellets you find. Our cleanup team wears gloves and uses litter pickers as a precaution because they handle the waste.

Report plastic pellets (nurdles)

Reports can be made via our online form below and are incredibly helpful in planning our cleanup efforts. North Norfolk District Council is coordinating the reporting on behalf of all local authorities and will forward all reports to the appropriate areas.

Start report

What happens next

We are responding to all reports received, prioritising the most sensitive areas, and will respond to your report as soon as possible. We have found that more pellets often wash ashore following each high tide, meaning multiple beach cleans are necessary. It may appear that there hasn't been much cleanup, but rest assured, efforts are ongoing.