EU tightens requirements for the handling of plastic pellets – First obligations of the EU regulation for microplastic reduction will apply from 16 December 2025

The EU's effort against microplastics

The European Union (EU) aims to reduce environmental pollution caused by microplastics. Microplastics are ubiquitous, persistent, and transboundary. They are detrimental to the environment and potentially harmful to human health.

The new Regulation aims to ultimately limit the plastic pellet loss to zero. As an intermediate target, the EU Commission aims to reduce the quantity of microplastics loss by 30% until 2030. Currently, tens of thousands of tonnes of plastic pellets enter soil and water bodies annually. The new Regulation addresses this issue comprehensively and bindingly across Europe for the first time.

The use and loss of plastic pellets

The Regulation defines “plastic pellets” as

“a mass of polymer-containing material, regardless of its shape, form, or size, that is produced for moulding in plastic product manufacturing operations, irrespective of its actual use” (Article 2 (1) of the Regulation)

and “loss” as

“one-off or prolonged escape of plastic pellets to the environment at any stage of the supply chain, either from the installation’s boundary or from road vehicles, rail wagons, inland waterway vessels or seagoing vessels leaving or calling at a port of a Member State, transporting plastic pellets;” (Article 2 (3) of the Regulation)

Affected companies

The obligations of the Regulation apply, according to Article 1 (2) of the Regulation, to all natural and legal persons who

• during the previous calendar year handled plastic pellets within the Union in an amount equal to or exceeding the threshold value of five tonnes (including all stages of the supply chain),
• operate cleaning installations for plastic pellet containers and tanks,
• transport plastic pellets within the Union,
• shippers, operators, agents, or masters of seagoing vessels engaged in transporting plastic pellets in freight containers or calling at a port of an EU Member State.

Stepwise introduction of new obligations

The various obligations of the Regulation apply stepwise:

From 16 December 2025, there is an obligation for economic operators, EU carriers and non-EU carriers

• to avoid the losses of plastic pellets (Article 3 (1) of the Regulation),
• to implement containment and elimination measures in the event of plastic pellets losses, as well as to prevent further incidents (Article 3 (1) of the Regulation),
• to conduct employee trainings regarding new tasks and responsibilities, as well as their enforcement (Article 5 (6) lit. a) of the Regulation) and
• to document annually estimated quantities of losses and the total quantities of handled plastic pellets (Article 5 (6b) of the Regulation).

Starting from 17 December 2027, additional obligations apply

• to inform the competent authorities in the event of plastic pellet loss that may affect human health or the environment (Article 14 (1) lit. c) of the Regulation),
• to report each operated or controlled facility in the EU Member State as well as to specify whether plastic pellets are handled under, equal to, or over 1,500 tonnes per year (Article 3 (2) of the Regulation),
• to provide the information listed in Annex V of the Regulation, which must be indicated visibly, legibly, and permanently on the label, packaging, package leaflet, or safety data sheet (Article 10 of the Regulation),
• to establish a risk management plan including a risk assessment with clear measures to prevent, contain, and eliminate plastic pellets (Article 5 (1) of the Regulation),
• to certify compliance with the requirements specified in Annex I of the Regulation for the risk management plan for companies handling equal to or more than 1,500 tonnes per year (Article 6 of the Regulation),
• to designate authorised EU representatives by non-EU carriers (Article 4 (1) of the Regulation), as well as
• to comply with new requirements for sea transport, such as good-quality, secure, and impact-resistant packaging and loading specifications for identifying containers with plastic pellets (Article 12 of the Regulation).

Starting from 17 December 2028, the obligations apply to shippers and operators, agents, and captains of sea vessels (Article 26 of the Regulation).

Facilitations for small and medium-sized enterprises

Small and medium-sized enterprises as well as companies with pre-existing environmental management systems may benefit from various facilitations. These include, among others, a reduced reporting frequency of the risk management plan pursuant to Article 5 (2) of the Regulation, simplified requirements concerning the certification of the risk management system pursuant to Article 6 (2) and (3) of the Regulation, and even a possible exemption from certain obligations with an existing environmental management system pursuant to Article 8 of the Regulation.

Penalties

The Regulation obliges EU Member States to enact rules on penalties for violations of the Regulation. These must be effective, proportionate, and dissuasive (Article 20 of the Regulation).

According to the Regulation, the penalties imposed by EU Member States should include administrative financial penalties that revoke the economic benefits obtained through the violations. For the most serious violations committed by a legal entity, the maximum monetary penalty should amount to at least 3% of the annual Union turnover.

In addition to administrative financial penalties, the imposition of alternative or additional criminal penalties is explicitly provided for.

Compensation for affected persons

Furthermore, the Regulation stipulates that EU Member States enable affected individuals to claim and obtain compensation in cases of occurred human health damage as a result of an infringement from the natural or legal persons responsible for the infringement (Article 21 of the Regulation).

Implementation status in Germany

As of now, no information has been made available regarding the implementation progress of the Regulation in Germany. Consequently, there are no specific penalties, enforcement measures, or administrative provisions currently in place to address non-compliance with the requirements outlined in the Regulation. Germany has yet to adopt policy frameworks necessary to align with the Regulation’s goals and ensure its enforcement across relevant sectors.

 Authored by Dr. Sebastian Gräler and Dr. Malte Kramer.