The EU wants to reduce microplastics. It begins with an unwieldy title: “Draft Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention of the release of plastic pellets to reduce environmental pollution by microplastics”. But what lies behind it concerns every company along the plastic granulate supply chain — producers, hauliers and processors. A brief look at the background shows why.
According to the South German Plastics Centre SKZ, around two percent of all plastic waste in the environment consists of plastic granulate. According to Statista, granules are responsible for 0.3% of the world’s microplastics in the oceans alone. In contrast to the proportion caused by tyres (28%), textiles (35%) and cosmetics (2%), the amount of granulate initially seems small. However, while greater efforts are required to minimise the release of the aforementioned product groups, this is not so difficult with plastic pellets. This is because most granulate ends up in the environment due to improper handling and a lack of awareness on the part of companies.
Die EU-Verordnung hat daher das Ziel, die Menge an Kunststoffgranulat, die in die Umwelt gelangt, um 54 bis 74% zu reduzieren. Dazu will die EU eine verpflichtende standardisierte Methode zur Messung der Freisetzung von Kunststoffgranulat entwickeln lassen. Die Idee dahinter ist klar: Die Unternehmen erheben dann einheitlich ihre in die Umwelt eingetragene Menge an Granulat. REACH schreibt schon jetzt die jährliche Berichterstattung über die Freisetzung von Kunststoffgranulat vor, die bislang auf geschätzten Mengen beruht. A new measurement standard will increase the accuracy of information on granulate releases.
In addition, the regulation provides for binding requirements to prevent and reduce the release of plastic pellets in a new EU legal framework. Micro and small companies have to fulfil less stringent requirements. The requirements are to be verified by means of third-party certification.
From theory to practice
What does the planned regulation mean in concrete terms for companies? Hartmut Schoon, CEO of Enneatech, explains: “Granulate can end up in the environment during the production process, during transport through the pipelines in the plant, during container filling and, of course, during transport by road, rail or sea. This means that everyone involved along the value chain loses money. It is therefore in everyone’s interest to identify the points where granulate loss can occur and to eliminate them!” Enneatech has already identified the potential weak points in its own operations as part of the ISO 14001 certification process and introduced appropriate measures to reduce them. The loading personnel are trained and learn how to handle the granulate so that as few grains as possible fall out during the loading process. Within the plant, employees vacuum up scattered granulate and return it to collection containers. Damaged containers are sorted out immediately so that no granulate can escape from them. Training courses sensitise staff to handle the products with care. For Hartmut Schoon, the regulation is a correct and important step, even if it means more bureaucracy, new certification processes and therefore costs for the industry: “The negative effects of microplastics are known and the measures that we as a company have to take are reasonable and feasible. It is important that certification is then also carried out along the entire value chain so that the plastic granules do not end up in the environment at any point.”
