Proposal of measures to reduce micro plastic pollution from plastic pellets
date: 28/01/2024
Currently, between 52 and 184 thousand tonnes of pellets are released in the environment each year due to mishandling throughout the entire supply chain. Plastic pellets are one of the largest sources of unintentional micro plastic pollution.
Micro plastics are persistent, very mobile, and hard to remove from nature. They are found all over the world, even in the most remote locations, and in the human body. The risks related to high levels of human exposure are a cause of grave concern. Plastic pellets are found in water and soil, including agricultural lands, and harm ecosystems and biodiversity. Pellets are known to be eaten by a range of marine and coastal species, such as sea turtles, seabirds and shellfish, and once ingested they can cause physical harm or death.
The need to address the growing presence of microplastics in the environment was identified in the EU Plastics Strategy, the Circular Economy Action Plan and the Zero Pollution Action Plan.
The overall regulatory approach is threefold:
- reduce pollution caused by plastic products (as these degrade into microplastics once in the environment);
- restrict the use of intentionally added microplastics in products; and
- reduce unintentional micro plastic releases.
The Commission proposes that operators act in the following priority order: (1) prevention to avoid any spills of pellets; (2) containment of spilled pellets to make sure they do not pollute the environment; and, (3) as a final option, clean up after a spill or loss event.
More specifically it is being proposed:
- Best handling practices for operators: Depending on the size of the installation or transport activity, operators will have to abide by certain best handling practices. These have already been implemented by frontrunners.
- Mandatory certification and self-declarations: To assist national competent authorities in verifying compliance, larger operators should obtain a certificate issued by an independent third party, while smaller companies should make self-declarations of their conformity.
- A harmonized methodology to estimate losses: To help operators monitor their losses and tackle some of the remaining data gaps, a harmonized methodology will be developed by standardization bodies. It should also increase accountability by increasing awareness of the impacts of different practices on the environment and human health.
- Lighter requirements for SMEs: as the pellet supply chain has a large share of SMEs, lighter requirements will apply especially to micro and small operators.
The Commission proposal for a Regulation on preventing pellet losses will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council. All economic operators, both EU and non-EU, will need to comply with the requirements set out in this Regulation within 18 months of its entry into force.
The Commission will continue to work on reducing micro plastics pollution, including in the context of implementing existing and forthcoming legislation on products and waste and by leading global efforts to end plastic pollution.