Debate: Preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution
Date: MONDAY, 22 APRIL 2024
Speaker: Ylva Johansson
Language: EN

Microplastic pollution caused by pellets is a significant problem. In 2019, between 52 000 and 184 000 tonnes of pellets were lost to the environment in the European Union. Plastic pellet losses at all stages of the supply chain cause negative impacts on the environment and, potentially, on human health. They are a persistent source of pollution of our rivers, seas and the ocean. Once in the environment, plastic pellets are difficult and costly to clean up. Accidental losses, like those off the coast of Spain and Portugal earlier this year, are occasional, but can create sudden and significant negative impacts on affected communities, livelihoods and ecosystems. Reducing microplastic pollution directly benefits the fishing and aquaculture sectors, as well as other sectors, like tourism. It is an excellent example where protecting the environment goes hand in hand with supporting local economic activities. Therefore, with our proposal, we aim to prevent and reduce pellet losses by up to 74%. This will take us closer to our ‘Zero Pollution’ ambition, with a minimal burden on SMEs. The Commission welcomes warmly the support of the European Parliament for the proposal and many of the proposed improvements of its core elements. These improvements concern in particular the definitions, the key handling requirements for all actors and stages of the pellet supply chain, and the compliance check system. They also concern the annual 1 000 tonne threshold for third-party certification, and the lighter requirements for microenterprises, as well as the assistance to stakeholders to comply with the requirements and the standardised methodology to estimate pellet losses. However, the text being discussed today also contains a number of changes on which the Commission needs, at this stage, to reserve its position. These include new obligations for economic operators such as labelling all storage and transport containers, shorter deadlines for notifying renewals of risk assessment plans and self-declarations, and making all the measures listed in Annex I mandatory. We are concerned about the new obligations for small enterprises, notably about mandating third-party certification, annual internal assessment and awareness and training programme, and also about new obligations for non-EU carriers. We need to look carefully at the new obligations for the competent national authorities and for the Commission. Overall, our priority is to strike the right balance between ambition and feasibility. For that, we must continue to aim for a simple and coherent framework for the responsible handling of pellets. We need, for sure, a radical change, away from the laxness of the current approach and the poor handling at all stages. At the same time, we should avoid an excessive burden on our economic operators. Regarding the broadening of the regulation’s scope to include maritime transports of pellets, as maritime transport is international in nature. The Commission is determined to continue to work on global rules in the International Maritime Organisation to ensure harmonisation of international, national and regional rules. In particular, it is important that mandatory rules are agreed on three aspects: transport information, quality packaging and safe storage. At the same time, the Commission is open to consider inclusion of maritime transport of pellets in the regulation, provided that coherence with the developments at the International Maritime Organisation is ensured, and that the competitiveness of the European industry is not jeopardised. I look forward to listening to your views and your suggestions.