Plans to scrub out microbeads in NZ
Tiny and toxic microbeads look set to be all-but banished as New Zealand follows international leads in moving towards a ban.
Environment Minister Nick Smith made the announcement in Wellington yesterday, though Green Party co-leader James Shaw pointed out New Zealand was a ‘‘slow follower’’, and most big markets were further down the road of banning the beads.
Microbeads are tiny plastic beads – less than 5 millimetres in size – used to give products texture, act as an abrasive, or provide visual interest, documents supplied by Smith’s office say.
They are largely used in personal care items such as facial scrubs, cleansers, and toothpaste.
The proposed ban, which could come into force by July next year, would exclude microbeads from all personal care products.
It would be enforced by the Environmental Protection Authority, which could impose fines of up to $100,000 for companies that ignored the ban.
‘‘The use of plastic microbeads in personal care products like facial cleansers and toothpaste makes no sense when there are biodegradable alternatives like apricot kernels and groundnut products that achieve the same results,’’ Smith said.
About 100 personal care products in New Zealand have microbeads. It’s estimated about 10,000 tonnes a year of plastic microbeads are used globally.
‘‘Under current estimates, by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than there are fish,’’ Smith said.
The use of such microbeads in crucial medical products would be exempt from the ban.
Shaw said most of the countries from which products with microbeads came had already banned them. This included the United States, which banned them more than a year ago.
Removing the beads would not have any negative impact on products and, if anything, would push for technological innovation that would only improve them.
Wiki Waitai, from Wellington company Wiki Skincare, never used plastic microbeads in her products, and said there were plenty of natural alternatives that were better for people and the environment. These ranged from husks to sand and sugar.
‘‘People have been using [plastic] micro-abrasion ... for so long they have forgotten where exfoliating originated from.’’
Early in 2016, Unilever, L’Oreal, Clarins and Clearasil all pledged support for an Australian campaign to stop using the microbeads.
Johnson and Johnson had also said it was working towards removing them from Neutrogena, Aveeno and Clean and Clear.
Auckland University biology associate professor Mary Sewell was not aware of any New Zealand manufacturers using microbeads, meaning the ban would, in effect, be only on imported products.
The Cawthron Institute described the beads as ‘‘persistent environmental pollutants’’, of which there were more than 15 trillion pieces of in the world’s oceans.
‘‘New Zealand is not immune,’’ Cawthron coastal and freshwater scientist Louis Tremblay said.
‘‘Microplastic particles were detected at eight out of 10 locations on coastlines in the Canterbury region, and similar scenarios are likely across New Zealand.’’