- The EU has agreed binding rules to reduce plastic pellet pollution, aiming to tackle up to 184,000 metric tons of annual leakage into the environment.
- Provisional measures will require companies to prevent spills, implement risk management, and report losses — but reliance on self-reporting may limit accountability, environmental groups argue.
- Campaigners have welcomed the deal but criticized loopholes, delays for maritime transport, and lighter rules for small businesses, warning these could undermine the regulation’s impact.
A coalition of leading European environmental groups has cautiously welcomed a “landmark” agreement by lawmakers in Brussels on new rules aimed at curbing a major source of microplastic pollution in the world’s oceans.
The provisional deal, reached last week between the European Council and the European Parliament, introduces binding EU-wide legislation on handling plastic pellets or “nurdles,” pea-sized granules used to make plastic products. The regulation covers the entire supply chain, from production to shipping, and is expected to take effect two years after it is formally adopted.
The Rethink Plastic alliance, which includes Greenpeace, the Environmental Investigation Agency and ClientEarth, called the deal a “meaningful first step” in a joint statement, but warned that loopholes and delays would weaken its impact.
“This agreement represents a tremendous show of EU leadership in the global fight against microplastic pollution,” said Amy Youngman, legal and policy specialist at the EIA.
“Now is the time to back bold words with bold action and ensure this law is delivered in practice.”
As much as 184,000 metric tons of pellets pollute the environment across Europe each year, equivalent to up to 7,300 truckloads. Just last month, a shipping collision off the English coast spilled thousands of pellets, contaminating beaches and conservation areas.
Once in the ocean, the granules linger for decades, leaching toxins and harming marine life.
The new rules say companies and transporters must focus on stopping such accidents. And if a spill happens, they must follow clear steps to clean it up. Each facility that handles pellets must also create a risk management plan, with mandatory measures for packing, loading and unloading, equipment and training.
The agreement forces companies to report pellet losses resulting in adverse effects on human health or the environment, including the quantity lost, how it happened, and the cleanup measures taken in response.
But annual loss data will still be based on the companies’ own estimates, which Rethink Plastic says could undermine oversight.
The nonprofit coalition also argues the rules create a major blind spot on small and medium-sized businesses, which make up significant numbers of industrial pellet handlers.
Under the rules, large companies, defined as handling more than 1,500 metric tons of pellets a year, will need to obtain a third-party certificate to prove they are complying. However, smaller firms can submit a self-declaration.
“Applying lighter requirements to SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] in the name of simplification could create a loophole that exempts them from accountability,” said Lucie Padovani, marine litter lobbying officer at Surfrider Foundation Europe.
“It would mean citizens and SMEs from other sectors — as well as wastewater treatment operators — will continue to bear the costs of this pollution.”
Elsewhere in the statement, Rethink Plastic criticized the “excessive and unjustified” extra year granted to the shipping industry to follow the new rules, which formally enshrine commonly followed International Maritime Organization (IMO) guidelines.
Campaigners called the move “long-overdue,” given that sea freight accounts for two-fifths of all pellets transported to the EU.
“The inclusion of maritime transport was a welcome addition, likely driven by recent container ship accidents,” said Frédérique Mongodin, senior marine litter policy officer at Seas At Risk.
“It is high time these binding rules replaced existing voluntary guidelines to ensure pellets are treated by operators as the hazardous pollutant they are, not just cargo.”
The European Council and European Parliament now have to endorse the new rules, which will then be formally adopted after a review stage and published in the EU’s official journal. The regulation will take effect two years after publication.
“Microplastics, including plastic pellets are now found everywhere — in our oceans, seas and even in the food we eat,” said Paulina Hennig-Kloska, Poland’s minister for climate and the environment.
“The EU has taken a landmark step toward reducing pellet pollution by adopting measures to tackle losses and ensure correct handling, including in maritime transport.”
Banner image: Plastic pellets found on a beach in New Zealand. Image by Sustainable Coastlines vis Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).
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