Plastics plan to reduce microplastic pollution “needs urgent implementation”

All sectors of the plastic industry must urgently deliver on their promise to stop plastic pellet pollution, conservationists have said, with the threat to marine animals posed by this type of microplastic growing daily in the absence of comprehensive action.

The commitment announced today by Plastics Europe to develop a certification scheme to stop pollution from plastic pellets, will in theory see many of the world’s largest plastics manufacturers audit their facilities and operations to stop plastic pellets being spilt on land and at sea.

Conservation groups including Fauna and Flora International are now urging plastics manufacturers to focus on the delivery of the scheme and asking them to encourage implementation across the whole supply chain.

Dilyana Mihaylova, Marine Plastics Projects Manager at Fauna and Flora International, said: “Nurdle pollution poses a growing threat to marine animals and marine ecosystems and the industry needs to move fast to get on top of this problem.”

“The certification scheme is a step towards the level of transparency we have been calling for. The important thing now is that the industry moves quickly to turn this commitment into action.”

“The response from the plastics industry must be not just fast but also strong. We need to see a robust certification scheme that tackles the root causes of nurdle pollution and we also need third-party oversight so we know the scheme is working.”

Tim Grabiel, from the Environmental Investigation Agency, said: “As recently recognised by the United Nations Environment Assembly, pellet pollution must be addressed across the whole manufacturing and supply chain, and this can only be achieved with legislation requiring such certification schemes to be used and implemented.”