Environment Minister Nick Smith announces that the Government will ban microbeads from most common personal care products.

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 on Freyberg Beach in Wellington on Monday afternoon, 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 5mm in size – used to give products texture, act as an abrasive, or provide visual interest, documents supplied by Smith's office say.

SUMMER REPORT/RNZ The government is planning to ban products containing plastic microbeads such as facial scrubs, cleansers, and toothpastes.

They are largely used in personal care items such as facial scrubs, cleansers, and toothpaste.

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The proposed ban – which could come into force by July next year – would exclude microbeads from all personal care products.

RMIT University Plastic microbeads isolated from face and body scrubs.

It would be enforced by the Environmental Protection Authority, which could impose fines up to $100,000 for companies ignoring it.

"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.

Microbeads' use 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, which was when New Zealand should have done the same thing, he said.

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, to 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.



"We are behind the rest of the world, as many countries have already banned these 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."

SCRUBBING OUT MICROBEADS

​What are they?

Tiny beads of plastic that give products texture, or act as exfoliants.

What are they found in?

Some deodorant, shampoo, hair conditioner, shower gel, lipstick, hair colouring, shaving cream, sunscreen, insect repellent, anti-wrinkle cream, moisturisers, hair spray, facial masks, baby care products, eyeshadow and mascara.

Why should they be banned?

They wash into the oceans, and have been described as "persistent environmental pollutants".