In April 2025, the European Union agreed 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. In 2023 new regulation was proposed by the European Commission which focused on obligating actors in the plastic pellet supply chain to introduce measures to prevent plastic pellet loss and spills.
Challenge
The proposal regulations (16 October 2023) were the first attempt to regulate specifically to prevent pellet loss. However to be effective these proposals must be strengthened to apply to the whole plastic pellet supply chain with the proposal containing loop holes for businesses handling under 1,000 tonnes of plastic pellets per year.
Current Activity
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 later 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.
Actions
Read our news summary of the new regulation.