On Tuesday 17th December 2024, the European Council (EC) agreed to adopt a general position on proposed regulations which aim to prevent pellet pollution from some sources in the European Union.
This follows the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voting overwhelmingly in favour of the proposed regulations in April 2024. The adoption of this position by the EC is an important step toward the implementation of European Union (EU) wide regulation to prevent pellet pollution from some sources.
The EC’s adopted position further strengthened some areas of the proposed regulations, though important gaps remain. The inclusion of obligations for maritime transportation within the scope of the regulations, with mandatory compliance with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) recommendations for preventing maritime pellet loss is a positive step. As is a strengthened definition for plastic pellets and a widened scope of the supply chain covered by the proposed regulations.
However a number of gaps remain. This includes less stringent requirements for actors handling under 1,000 tonnes of plastic pellets annually, which would include many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who constitute a major proportion of the EU plastics industry. Long implementation timelines, limited reporting requirements and transparency are also issues that are important to address to ensure a robust final regulation.
Following the adoption of the general position by the EC, the proposed regulations will now proceed to the next stage of the negotiation process, known as trilogue, where further discussions will take place between the European Parliament, Council and Commission later in 2025.
Read more about the European Councils position here.
Join the call to end nurdle pollution
Evidence of nurdle pollution across the EU and the world has been documented by volunteers taking part in the Great Nurdle Hunt. The data collected has helped to highlight the scale of the issue and supported calls for MEPs and policy makers to push for these regulations to address nurdle pollution. Learn how you can help gather important evidence of nurdle pollution as we continue to call for action by taking part!