Major supermarket chains and beauty product manufacturers have committed to phasing out the use of microbeads in Australia, following US legislation to ban the tiny plastic particles that damage waterways and oceans.

Coles and Woolworths have promised to stop using microbeads in their own products from 2017, while global companies including Unilever, Beiersdorf​, Johnson & Johnson and The Body Shop have already commenced the phase-out.

Australian companies move to phase out microbeads from beauty products. Credit:Getty Images

Microbeads are small pieces of plastic commonly found in facial cleansers, body scrubs and soap. They are washed into waterways where they settle into sediment.