3.1.12 Plastics Industry: Operation Clean Sweep
The plastics industry is well aware of the problem of pellet loss to the environment. It has developed a campaign including procedures to address the problem, entitled “Operation Clean Sweep”. It is a voluntary free programme on international level aimed at improving awareness, promoting best practices and providing guidance and tools to support companies from the plastics value chain to address the problem of plastic pellets loss (Operation Clean Sweep, 2022a). To this end there is the Operation Clean Sweep manual with clearly defined actions, comprising five basic steps for managing pellet loss:
Commit to making "zero pellet loss" a priority
Assess the company’s situation and needs
Make needed upgrades in facilities and equipment as appropriate
Raise employee awareness and create accountability
Follow up and enforce procedures (Plastics Europe, n.d.).
Plastic producing or handling companies that want to join have to show commitment first by signing a pledge document. Next actions like an assessment of the site, upgrading of facilities and equipment, trainings of staff, attention to loading, packaging and handling of plastics, and providing tools for limiting pellet loss have to be implemented. Attention to plastic dust and powder is paid as well (Plastics Europe, n.d.). The manual is written for implementation level and provides concrete and tangible actions. It is however implemented on a voluntary basis. A number of plastic producing and handling companies and their associations in the Nordic region have signed Operation Clean Sweep’s pledge, thus implementing measures to limit pellet loss. Those include the Danish Plastics Federation (DK), Innovation and Chemical Industries (SE) and the European Plastic Pipes and Fittings Association (TEPPFA, NO) (PlasticsEurope, 2019).
3.1.13 Global level – summary and conclusions
As presented in this section the number of international agreements and policies at UN or international level on pollution is considerable. However, most of those do not address acute plastic pollution or are of a voluntary nature and not binding. Examples are the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) and at a smaller geographic level, G20’s “Implementation Framework for Actions on Marine Plastic Litter” which encourages relevant stakeholders to take action. More strict regulations are included in UNCLOS Article 198 which is on: “Notification of imminent or actual damage” from one state to another and Article 202.b on: “Scientific and technical assistance to developing States” states that States shall: provide appropriate assistance, especially to developing States, for the minimization of the effects of major incidents which may cause serious pollution of the marine environment. Consistent with the rights of other states, there are also obligations to monitor the risks or effects of pollution of the marine environment (Article 204). This provides a framework for cooperation, but does not address acute plastic pollution as such.
Of importance to imposing rules to prevent or cure pollution is the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The organization has a regulatory framework for the shipping industry, and its Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) is of importance for environmental protection. The MARPOL convention is binding, but does not apply to plastics specifically but to other pollutants. However, in addition and rather recently, a number of developments have been initiated. During the 9th session of 28 January 2022 of IMO’s Sub-Committee on Pollution Prevention and Response on the Follow-Up Work Emanating From The Action Plan To Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships, several proposals were discussed, including:
If pellets are labelled as dangerous goods in the various UN agreements and included (for example) in MARPOL, The International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code or International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code or The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal; acute plastic pollution could be addressed more stringently. In conclusion, there is no organisational framework on the coordination of activities in the chain that currently applies at UN level. Preparations for such a framework are underway by implementation of Resolution UNEP/EA.5/Res.14 that is entitled ”End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument”. This will take time and it is not known whether acute plastic pollution will be included in the final version.
3.2 The European dimension: organisations and EU Directives
3.2.1 European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)
In the European Union there is a regulatory agency originated in the late 1990s alongside a number of other major European maritime safety initiatives. This agency, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) was established by Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 (EMSA, 2023a). It was established in the wake of two mayor oil spill events and it aims on the prevention of pollution of ships in European waters (EMSA, 2023b). It deals e.g. with oil pollution response, underwater noise, ballast water and anti-fouling (EMSA, 2023b). It is intended as a major source of support to the Commission and the Member States in the field of maritime safety and prevention of pollution from ships, and subsequent amendments have refined and enlarged its mandate (EMSA, 2023a). The organisation works amongst other categories on shipping safety and sustainability, prevention of pollution by ships and operational pollution response services (EMSA, 2023c) but prevention and clean-ups of acute plastic pollution events are not part of its tasks yet.
3.2.2 Water Framework Directive (WFD)
An important example of European legislation that addresses water quality is the Water Framework Directive. It is a complex Directive that links to a large number of other environmental policy documents like e.g. the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Birds and Habitats Directives. The purpose of the Directive is to establish a framework for the protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. In terms of the definition of water bodies, there is overlap the Marine Strategy Framework Directive regarding “marine” transitional and coastal waters. Thus, this Directive applies to the marine environment as well. Stated in Article 1 of the Directive is that it:
prevents further deterioration and protects and enhances the status of aquatic ecosystems and, with regard to their water needs, terrestrial ecosystems and wetlands directly depending on the aquatic ecosystems;
promotes sustainable water use based on a long-term protection of available water resources;
aims at enhanced protection and improvement of the aquatic environment, inter alia, through specific measures for the progressive reduction of discharges, emissions and losses of priority substances and the cessation or phasing-out of discharges, emissions and losses of the priority hazardous substances;
ensures the progressive reduction of pollution of groundwater and prevents its further pollution,
contributes to mitigating the effects of floods and droughts and thereby contributes to:
"the provision of the sufficient supply of good quality surface water and groundwater as needed for sustainable, balanced and equitable water use, a significant reduction in pollution of groundwater, the protection of territorial and marine waters, and achieving the objectives of relevant international agreements, including those which aim to prevent and eliminate pollution of the marine environment, by community action under Article 16(3) to cease or phase out discharges, emissions and losses of priority hazardous substances, with the ultimate aim of achieving concentrations in the marine environment near background values for naturally occurring substances and close to zero for man-made synthetic substances." (EU, 2000)
Article 4 states that “For surface water, Member States shall implement the necessary measures to prevent deterioration of the status of all bodies of surface water (…)". Furthermore, Article 4.5.b states: “Member States ensure, for surface water, the highest ecological and chemical status possible is achieved, given impacts that could not reasonably have been avoided due to the nature of the human activity or pollution", (EU, 2000). River Basin Management Plans need to be established (that include transitional and coastal waters as well) and Plans of Measures need to be drafted. For the objectives it defines the characterisation of surface water body types, type-specific reference conditions for surface water body types, Quality elements of water types, Identification of Pressures, Assessment of Impact and the Ecological Status of Waters. This applies to both freshwater bodies (including groundwater) and transitional, coastal and marine waters. For the determination of the ecological and chemical quality status of waters, “other pollutants” are mentioned.
A Plan of Measures is obligatory of which an overview of requirements is provided in Annex VI of the Directive. There is a strong linkage to measures included under the following Directives: (i) The Bathing Water Directive (76/160/EEC); (ii) The Birds Directive (79/409/EEC) ( 1); (iii) The Drinking Water Directive (80/778/EEC) as amended by Directive (98/83/EC); (iv) The Major Accidents (Seveso) Directive (96/82/EC) ( 2); (v) The Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (85/337/EEC) ( 3); (vi) The Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) ( 4); (vii) The Urban Waste-Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC); (viii) The Plant Protection Products Directive (91/414/EEC); (ix) The Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC); (x) The Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) ( 5); (xi) The Integrated Pollution Prevention Control Directive (96/61/EC (EU, 2000). However, more measures may be applied when needed, according to Annex VI.B (EU, 2000). There is overlap with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive regarding transitional and coastal waters and protected areas.
3.2.3 Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
According to Article 1.1 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, it: “establishes a framework within which Member States shall take the necessary measures to achieve or maintain good environmental status in the marine environment by the year 2020 at the latest”. For this purpose the Environmental Status needs to be assessed and Marine Strategies with associated Plans of Measures and Monitoring Programmes shall be developed and implemented to protect the marine environment and prevent its deterioration or when possible restore marine ecosystems when adversely affected. Also, it needs to be ensured that inputs into the marine environment are prevented and reduced to ensure that no significant impacts on risk to marine biodiversity, marine ecosystems, human health or legitimate uses of the sea occur. In defined marine regions (e.g. like Baltic Sea, North-east Atlantic Ocean, Greater North Sea including the Kattegat) cooperation between countries is encouraged. There are 11 descriptors of the marine environment defined of which descriptor 10 is on Marine Litter. Marine Litter is also included in Annex III, table 2 on Indicative Lists of Characteristics, Pressures and Impacts, under pressures and impacts, labelled “other physical disturbance” (EU, 2000). There is overlap with the Water Framework Directive regarding transitional and coastal waters and protected areas. Measures on addressing marine litter can be applied when needed in the framework of this Directive.