European Commission proposes plastic pellet spillage prevention plan

52,000-184,000 tonnes of pellets are released in the environment annually due to mishandling. This proposal aims to ensure necessary precautionary measures are in place to reduce this problem by up to 74%.

Proposals on prevention

The measures will have priority order: prevention of spillage, containment of spillage, and the clean-up of spillage if it still occurs.

The proposals include:

• Best handling practices for operators
• Mandatory certification and self-declarations
• A methodology to estimate losses
• Lighter requirements will apply to smaller operators

Next steps

All economic operators would need to comply with these new requirements within 18 months of its entry into force. The EC says it will continue to work on reducing microplastic pollution through various legislations to end plastic pollution.

Current industry efforts

In 2021 European Plastics Converters and PlasticsEurope signed an agreement to introduce a certification scheme to reduce pellet loss throughout the supply chain.

This forms part of Operation Clean Sweep (OCS), an operation aimed at achieving zero pellet loss worldwide. Over 1,200 European plastics supply chain companies have since signed onto the OCS.