Executive summary

Introduction

In 2020, the Motor Vessel Trans Carrier, a cargo ship sailing from the Netherlands to Norway, lost 13.2 tons of plastic pellets. As a result, part of the coastlines of both Norway and Sweden were polluted by plastic pellets. This posed a number of problems and raised questions with the national governments: what is acute plastic pollution, how to deal with this form of plastic pollution effectively and can it be prevented? Those are the reasons why the Nordic Council of Ministers initiated the research presented in this report. In order to determine an effective approach, interviews were held and literature was reviewed, evaluating laws, policies and four maritime incidents where pellets were lost.

Conclusions

In this report Acute Plastic Pollution (APP) is defined as “pollution caused by the sudden and unexpected release of a large amount of small plastic items that requires immediate response to protect human health and/or the environment”. The loss of plastic pellets presents a unique challenge, particularly when the loss is catastrophic. It is estimated that globally 230,000 tonnes of pellets enter the environment annually. The actual figure is not known. When spilled, there is no easy way of cleaning-up pellet pollution from the environment, the challenge is significant as no “one size fits all” solution exists. Mitigation and ultimately prevention is key. Prevention starts with addressing the value chain of plastics, by ensuring to significantly limit losses during production and transportation of pellets and during their application for the production of plastic end products. Neither the current legislation for more secure stowage of containers on containerships transporting large amounts of pellets, nor technical measures are sufficient to prevent loss of small plastic items like pellets. At national or regional sea basin level, there are no general contingency plans present for addressing acute plastic spills and their environmental and economic impact. Plastic pellets are not currently labelled as a “hazardous substance”, either internationally, regionally, at EU-level, or nationally in the Nordic countries. As a result, they are not included in nor addressed by most existing legislation apart from a few national examples. Political lobby is needed to change this.

A considerable number of international agreements and policies at UN and international level on pollution are in place. However, many of those do not specifically address acute plastic pollution or are of a voluntary nature and thus not legally binding. There is an organisational framework for the coordination of activities in the chain underway, through the implementation of Resolution UNEP/EA.5/Res.14, which is entitled ”End plastic pollution: Towards an international legally binding instrument”, but this will take time and it is not known whether acute plastic pollution will be included in the final text. At regional level, the Bonn Agreement, Copenhagen Agreement and the Arctic Council, in addition to the Helsinki Agreement, have very concrete plans for preparedness, international coordination and joint action in case of acute pollution. Although the focus of these plans is not on acute plastic pollution, they can help to inform the development of specific plans to address acute plastic pollution events and pellet spills.

Recommendations

Derived from the conclusions, the following recommendations are proposed which are divided over the international, regional and the national level:

Recommendations for the international level

Assess the magnitude and locations of acute plastic pollution and especially that of pellet loss.
Agree on an internationally accepted definition for acute plastic pollution for application in international and national pollution control acts and policies.
Classify pellets officially as hazardous goods at UN level, so that they are covered by stricter regulations for transportation and carriage, etc. Including plastic pellets in international agreements would be helpful as it would automatically include them also in national legislation on dangerous goods.
A supply chain approach as proposed in detail by OSPAR (OSPAR, 2018), Fidra (Fidra, 2020) and others whereby all companies involved in making, using or transporting pellets need to commit to following specific and standardized guidelines that prevent pellet loss throughout all stages of plastic production, like a strict application of Operation Clean Sweep.
The reporting system on cases of incidents needs to be improved – from ship to port, from port to responsible agencies, as well as between agencies in different countries – to give the best possible conditions for containing the spill, predicting how the pellets will spread and preparing for coastal clean-up without losing valuable time.
General awareness of the pellet’s pollution problem should be raised, transport companies and ship owners encouraged to take action also before legislation is in place, to train their staff properly. All companies in the plastics value chain should be encouraged to join the Operation Clean Sweep programme that must be regulated stringently.
The problem of APP should be recognized in European plastics strategies and in the upcoming Global Plastics Treaty.
Incorporate acute plastic pollution in a legal framework with concrete actions for preparedness, international coordination and joint actions. This could be done under the Bonn Agreement, Copenhagen Agreement, the Arctic Council or the Helsinki Agreement.
Prevention is key, hence, measures that could be considered regarding prevention of APP in the shipping industry are:
1. Revise the existing technical and legal regulations for container ships regarding the design limits of cargo securing equipment, approved loading and stability conditions and the consideration of shallow water effects and speed on ship motions and resulting accelerations and forces.
2. Evaluate and assess possible technical solutions that can assist the captain/crew in the prevention and, if an accident happens, the detection of the loss of containers and to propose international standards for implementation of such solutions.
3. Raise awareness and develop guidelines for the Masters and Navigational Officers on risks and actions to be taken when cargo is lost when sailing with dangerous cargo particularly near sensitive areas. \
Encourage the development of improved clean-up technology of plastic pellets in water environments, on beaches and shores.

Recommendations for the regional (sea-basin) level

Research what the magnitude of the acute plastic problem is. Include an overview of where plastic pellets are produced and the transport routes, create more knowledge on the impact of spills to understand the severity of the problem better and to assess the risks. Existing frameworks like HELCOM an OSPAR should exchange knowledge and best practice and work together on the issue.
Establish standardized disaster response protocols for acute plastic pollution incidents. The Bonn Agreement and the Copenhagen Agreement have protocols for international cooperation on emergency response to acute pollution of the marine environment. These protocols could possibly be applied more widely to include plastic pollution. The organisations could work together, sharing best practice on emergency response and clean-up operations.

Recommendations for the national level

Prepare an acute plastic pollution contingency plan nationally, including how to:
1. Organise the clean-up operations of acute plastic pollution and possibly a combined oil and chemical spill. The clean-up of APP should be led by the same governmental agency that is responsible for handling other forms of acute marine pollution. The approach and emergency plans used when working with larger oil spills also works with this kind of pollution.
2. Communicate with the responsible polluters, insurance companies and other stakeholders using one single contact point. This makes it easier to establish common goals for the operation, secure compensation of cost, etc.
3. Inform and acquire information from the public.
4. Coordinate communication with and emergency support from neighbouring countries and other countries of relevance.
5. Implement surveillance and salvage of the wreck and containers (if present), and the area affected by acute plastic pollution.
6. Assess the environmental damage over the short and longer-term.
7. Support impacted economic sectors, particularly coastal fishing communities and the tourism industry.
8. Investigate legal and financial issues associated with the incident.
9. Address filing of compensation claims.
When an acute pollution incident occurs, organise a rapid response, clean up the plastic before it relocates. This requires preparedness to mobilize people on short notice. Ensure that responsible authorities have links to those structures and schemes for coastal clean-up that exist in each country, and that can mobilize local communities, associations, schools and volunteers on short notice. Promote and support such structures/schemes. Ensure that they know how to handle plastic pellet spills. In a clean-up operation it is valuable to hold regular meetings where the different stakeholders can share their knowledge of methods and experiences along the way.
Ensure that there is an interactive reporting system available to relevant actors and to the public where finds, photographs, material collected, et cetera can be recorded.
There should be preparedness to analyse the plastics lost. There are many different types, some more harmful than others. The analysis is also an important part of finding the source of the pollution. By analysing the plastic and through industry networks it is possible to see where it was produced.
Every country should ratify relevant conventions on pollution, including those that (will) address acute plastic pollution.
The Nordic countries should be in the frontline to spread best practice globally, and when possible, to introduce stricter regulations before international rules are in place.