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Teaching Economics

In the News

The External Cost of Nurdles

Graham Watson

17th February 2017

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What is a nurdle? Anyone who has seen me bat can answer that question. However, apparently, it's also a small plastic pellet and one of the major sources of marine pollution.

The article notes that "campaigners estimate that up to 53 billion of the tiny pellets escape into the UK's environment each year." Which is a lot of nurdles, almost a lifetime's batting.

However, pressure from environmentalists has seen a number of companies pledge to reduce plastic use, with one of the most notable being Johnson and Johnson switching the stem of their cotton wool buds from plastic to paper.

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Graham Watson

Graham Watson has taught Economics for over twenty years. He contributes to Tutor2U, reads voraciously and is interested in all aspects of Teaching and Learning.

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