Subject: Regulatory supply chain measures to stop plastic pellet pollution in the sea
Plastic pellets are the raw material used in the manufacture of plastic products. Due to pellet spills, they are the second most significant source of microplastic pollution in our oceans, adding to the estimated 12 million tonnes of plastic that end up in the oceans every year. This is all the more alarming given that plastic production is projected to double by 2035.
The non‑governmental organisations Surfrider Foundation Europe and Rethink Plastic have published a report on this problem. It illustrates five recent examples (in Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden) where the industry and its voluntary initiative Operation Clean Sweep have failed to stop contamination from plastic pellets.
Yet a solution to prevent this pollution already exists: mandatory supply chain accreditation, incorporating a certification system.
On 10 February 2021, Parliament adopted a resolution on the New Circular Economy Action Plan calling on ‘the Commission to tackle plastics, including microplastics, in a comprehensive way; [urging] the Commission ... to reduce, through new mandatory regulatory measures, the unintentional release of all microplastics at source, including for example from ... production of plastic pellets ...’.
In the light of the above, will the Commission urgently propose legislative measures to regulate the whole plastic pellet supply chain?
Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius on behalf of the European Commission (14 April 2021)
The Commission is aware of the risks for the environment and human health of microplastic pollution including from pre- production plastic pellets. Both the European Green Deal (1) and new Circular Economy Action Plan (2) point to measures to be taken.
Several initiatives are ongoing. Under the regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) (3), based on the Scientific Committees opinion of the European Chemicals Agency (4), and where appropriate, the Commission may propose to restrict intentionally added microplastics and impose instructions for use and disposal, as well as reporting obligations covering plastic pellets and compounding to improve handling of pellets and increase transparency.
Such proposal needs to obtain the positive vote of the Member States in the REACH Committee and pass the scrutiny of the European Parliament and the Council.
In order to address plastic pellet losses comprehensively, the Commission has launched an impact assessment study to assess all possible reduction measures and instruments i.e. from voluntary action to the use of legal instruments. Different actors of the value chain agree that any future reduction measure should apply to the entire plastic pellet supply chain.
The Commission also supports reduction measures internationally, e.g. in the international convention for the protection of the marine environment in the Northeast Atlantic (OSPAR) where a recommendation to reduce plastic pellets releases in the environment is being prepared.
The Commission is also leading efforts at international level to reach a global agreement on plastics focused on prevention of plastic pollution, by addressing the entire life cycle of plastics (5).
⋅1∙ https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en
⋅2∙ https://ec.europa.eu/environment/circular-economy/
⋅3∙ Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and
Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC, OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p. 1‐849.
⋅4∙ https://echa.europa.eu/documents/10162/a513b793-dd84-d83a-9c06-e7a11580f366
⋅5∙ COM(2020) 98 final and SWD(2020) 100 final.
