The EU strikes a landmark agreement to prevent plastic pellet pollution across land and sea
At midnight today (9 April), the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission reached agreement on a long-awaited EU regulation to prevent plastic pellet losses in the environment, a major source of microplastics pollution.
The decision came in the wake of yet another disastrous pellet spill in European waters off the English coast due to the collision of two ships, starkly illustrating how frequent pellet loss has become.
Although EIA and our partners in the Rethink Plastic alliance regret broad exemptions for small entities handling plastic pellets, we welcome this ground-breaking regional approach to reducing a preventable source of pollution.
Plastic pellets lost at sea and washed ashore
EIA Legal and Policy Specialist Amy Youngman said: “This agreement represents a tremendous show of EU leadership in the global fight against microplastic pollution.
“The EU has recognised plastic pellets for what they are – a major source of microplastic pollution and a serious environmental threat. Binding prevention rules, supply chain obligations and maritime measures are major steps forward.
“However, loopholes, delays and arbitrary exemptions and thresholds risk stunting its impact. Now is the time to back bold words with bold action and ensure this law is delivered in practice.”
The deal preserves a clear objective of zero pellet loss objective with a focus on prevention as the top priority, followed by spill containment and, as a last resort, clean-up of pellet spills and losses. This, combined with mandatory measures to use appropriate packaging, equipment, training and infrastructure, marks a significant improvement over existing voluntary initiatives and reflects growing recognition that only proactive spill prevention can effectively reduce microplastic pollution.
The regulation also follows a true supply chain approach, addressing spills and losses from all actors, EU and non-EU carriers, across all stages, from production to conversion, transport, storage, cleaning and reprocessing.
Crucially, the maritime sector was included in the scope of the regulation – a long-overdue inclusion following a string of shipping disasters. By making previously voluntary International Maritime Organization (IMO) recommendations legally binding, the EU sets a powerful example for global leadership on pellet pollution at sea.
However, despite this progress, the final agreement exempts the majority of small- and medium-sized enterprises from independent oversight, even though they make up the majority of the plastics supply chain, accounting for 98 per cent in conversion and 97 per cent in transport and storage.
Instead of applying a risk- or quantity-based approach, the regulation exempts operators managing fewer than 1,500 tonnes per year per installation – a high threshold (75 billion pellets handled annually by a single facility).
More concerningly, even small companies managing more than 1,500 tonnes per year will benefit from reduced obligations, including a one-off certification to be completed five years after the regulation comes into effect. Without regular oversight, this approach undermines the regulation’s core objective of comprehensive, supply chain-wide prevention.
EIA has been advancing a supply chain approach to tackling plastic pellet pollution as a leading member of the Rethink Plastic alliance since 2019. Our Ocean campaigners continued to champion this approach throughout 2023, calling for mandatory measures, reporting and transparency.
These recommendations were ultimately reflected in the Commission’s legislative proposal, published in October 2023, and the work extended to active engagement with the European Parliament and Council to secure a more ambitious outcome. EIA’s joint work at the International Maritime Organization to secure mandatory measures for transporting plastic pellets by freight container at sea provided critical expertise that helped unlock the inclusion of maritime measures in the final regulation.
Youngman added: “EIA was and continues to be critical in campaigning for measures at the International Maritime Organization around shipping pellets in the maritime sector, first in getting it on the agenda and then in the voluntary guidance we helped develop, which will now be translated into the regulation after our advocacy efforts in the EU.
“While the regulation is a crucial first step, we will continue working to ensure similar measures become binding and are applied at the international level.”
