SMALL PLASTIC PROBLEM

The story about plastic recycling (“Bagging an opportunity”, November 12) devotes exactly one sentence to the problem of microplastic in the water and even then does not actually use the word.

There is a growing consensus that turning plastic bottles and the like into textile yarn is the worst way of disposing of the stuff. Doing so increases surface area, which evidence suggests attracts toxins, and the material’s tensile strength makes it harder for small organisms to pass through their digestive tracts.

Every time such synthetic fabrics are laundered, countless bits of lint make it through water treatment plants into waterways.

Malcolm Jackson (Raglan)