Promise kept: to protect the environment and human health, the European Commission presented, on Monday 16 October, a proposal for a regulation to prevent microplastic pollution caused by the unintentional release of plastic pellets into the environment.
The European Commission’s assurance to MEPs that this proposal, which had already been ready for some time, would be presented in October - and not postponed until the next legislature - was one of the conditions that made it possible to validate the appointment, which had been compromised for some time, of Maroš Šefčovič as Executive Vice-President of the Commission responsible for the European Green Deal and of Wopke Hoekstra as European Commissioner for Climate Action (see EUROPE 13264/2).
Currently, between 52,000 and 184,000 tonnes of pellets, also known as needles, feathers and resin pellets (the raw material used in the production of all plastics), the majority of which are microplastics, are released into the environment every year due to mishandling throughout the entire supply chain.
To combat this scourge, the Commission is therefore proposing that operators act in the following order of priority: - prevention to avoid any spillage of pellets; - containment of spilled pellets to ensure that they do not pollute the environment; - as a last resort, cleaning up after a spill or loss.
These new requirements will involve the following main measures:
- a harmonised methodology for estimating losses. To help operators monitor their losses and tackle some of the remaining data gaps, a harmonised methodology will be developed by standardisation bodies. This harmonised method should also help to increase responsibility by raising awareness of the impact of different practices on the environment and human health, the Commission stresses.
- best handling practices for operators. Depending on the size of the facility or transport activity, operators will have to comply with certain best handling practices.
- mandatory certification or self-declarations of conformity, depending on the size of the company. To help the national competent authorities verify compliance, large operators will have to obtain a certificate issued by an independent third party, while small businesses will have to make self-declarations of their compliance.
- lighter requirements for SMEs. As there are a large number of SMEs in the pellet supply chain, lighter requirements will apply, particularly to micro and small operators.
This future legislation will complement the European Commission’s recently adopted regulation to limit pollution in the EU from plastics intentionally added to products - by means of a REACH restriction, named after Regulation 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (see EUROPE 13257/11).
To see the new proposal for a regulation and its impact assessment: https://aeur.eu/f/922 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)