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Foam (PU) earplugs were introduced in the 1980s and have taken over a significant share of the world ear plug market and 75 % of all earplugs used today are foam earplugs. 

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Millions of disposable earplugs and their wrappings are disposed every day and sent to landfill, or worse, enter our rivers and waterways. They are not biodegradable; nor are they recyclable. Being small and light, they infiltrate our waterways and cause devastation in much the same way as plastic straws. 

 

In fact, the average worker wears three sets of disposable plugs per day – one for the first session of the day, a second set after lunchbreak and a third set after tea break (or more if there are toolbox meetings, training sessions etc during the workday).

In a small factory of just 100 employees exposed to noise, the number of used earplugs that would be thrown away is approximately:

• 300 pairs per day

• 1,500 pairs per week

• 6,000 pairs per month

• 72,000 pairs per year

• 360,000 pairs in 5 years

 

The sad reality is that this is occurring in workplaces all around the world, with many more employees, each and every day. The total number of earplugs tossed in the garbage or left lying on factory floors over the past few decades is simply staggering. And just how does this thoughtless practice align with the environmental policies of these same companies?

An analysis conducted by Marcus Erikson and colleagues to estimate the amount of plastic pollution currently residing in the world’s oceans found that 92.3% of all samples collected contained plastic materials and of the visual surveys conducted, they identified that the most frequently observed larger plastics were synthetic polymer foams

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Because foam earplugs are so light, they pollute the waterways

the same as plastic straws. So not only are they

not biodegradable, they are an environmental nightmare
 

While they are popular amongst consumers because they are

cheap, they have contributed to landfills’ overflowing, mainly because

they are designed to be used just once. They are also more costly in terms

of the long-term consequences of their disposal and environmental implications.

 

We need to act.