The European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety (ENVI) has voted to widen the definition of plastic pellets to also include powders, cylinders, beads and flakes.
The proposed regulation was adopted with 71 votes in favor, five against, and one abstention. The full European Parliament is scheduled to vote during its April plenary session.
The new rules would require all groups carrying out economic activities that involve the handling of plastic pellets to ensure that losses are avoided. Where spills and losses occur, they would be responsible to take immediate action to contain and clean-up those spills and losses.
The regulation would also require financial officials to establish a risk assessment plan for each installation that handles more than1,000 metric tons of plastic pellets, with lighter requirements for small and medium businesses.
Members of the EP want the plans to contain information on the number of tonnes of plastic pellets handled per year and the chemical nature of each polymer contained in plastic pellets kept on site. They also propose that all storage and transport containers carrying plastic pellets should be labeled with a specific pictogram and information linked to their danger, potential to harm the environment, the need to avoid release and collect any spillage.
The proposal was introduced in the aftermath of a pellet spillage on Dec. 8 when a cargo ship called Toconao — a Liberia-registered vessel chartered by shipping giant Maersk — lost six containers in deep water more than 80 kilometers off the Galician coast in Spain.
At least one of those containers allegedly belonged to Poland-based plastic manufacturer Bedeko Europe, who denies the charge, stating "no responsibility" for the incident despite its name appearing on the lost bags.
Rapporteur João Albuquerque, who introduced the bill, said the regulation "comes at a time [when] it is increasingly important to raise awareness and take measures against microplastic pollution."
“We have all seen the importance of stricter rules, especially after the disaster that happened in Galicia, but plastic pellet pollution goes beyond that,” Albuquerque said. “I am happy that the political groups were able to reach a consensus and strengthen Parliament’s position regarding the vital step of prevention, which translated into a majority at today’s vote. I hope this position is maintained in the next mandate and that we will be able to negotiate a strong, prevention-based regulation that will lead to a significant decrease of plastic pellet pollution, which poses such a risk for human health and the environment.”
The EU produced and handled around 57 million tonnes of pellets in 2021. Between 52.140 and 184.290 tonnes of pellets are estimated to have been lost to the environment in the continent in 2019.