In October 2025, the European Parliament officially passed new legally binding regulation to address some sources of plastic pellet pollution across the supply chain.
The new regulations will mean mandatory spill prevention measures will apply to every stage of the pellet supply chain, from production to storage, transport, cleaning, and reprocessing, including maritime transport.
Every European country surveyed for the Great Nurdle Hunt is found to be experiencing plastic pellet pollution.
Opportunity
Existing environmental laws and voluntary efforts by industry have so far failed to prevent plastic pellet pollution across the European Union. The passed legislation sets a clear “zero pellet loss” goal and adopts a comprehensive supply chain approach. The new laws mean mandatory spill prevention measures will apply to every stage of the pellet supply chain, from production to storage, transport, cleaning, and reprocessing and will include maritime transport which is a major source of nurdle pollution.
These measures will include things like, adapted packaging, staff training, and mandatory certification of compliance by an accredited body for medium and large operators (companies that handle over 1,500 tonnes of pellets annually). This will also include requiring annual reports on plastic pellet losses from both EU and non-EU carriers, setting a strong precedence for the rest of the world that compliance and accountability are essential to preventing plastic pellet loss.
Challenge
In October 2025, the proposed regulations for preventing plastic pellet losses were formally approved by the European Parliament. Though the regulations are a strong step in preventing loss, unfortunately smaller operators are largely exempt from stricter requirements, limiting the law’s impact. Companies that handle less than 1,500 tonnes per year will only be required to submit self-declarations of compliance with the prevention measures with no independent oversight, and will be subject to one off certification every five years.
Timeline of regulation
In October 2023, the EU commission publishes a proposal of a regulation to prevent plastic pellet pollution in Europe.
In April 2024, MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of adopting a position in favour of a proposal for regulation to prevent plastic pellet loss from supply chain sources.
This was followed by the European Council (EC) agreeing a position on the proposed regulation in December 2024, including strengthening some aspects such as the inclusion of obligations regarding maritime transportation.
The proposed regulations then proceeded to the next stage of the negotiation process, known as trilogue, where further discussions took place between the European Parliament, Council and Commission in 2025.
In April 2025, The European Commission, Parliament and Council agreed adoption of legally binding regulation to prevent pellet loss across the supply chain.
In October 2025, the European Parliament formally approved the regulation, which is now set to be published in the Official Journal and enter into force in the coming weeks.
Actions
Read our news summaries of the new regulation: