Activities of João ALBUQUERQUE related to 2023/0373(COD)
Reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution
Amendments (38)
Amendment 64 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12 a (new)
Recital 12 a (new)
(12 a) The handling of pellets is being discussed under the scope of international organizations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in light of the significant risk of catastrophic pollution associated with maritime transport of plastic pellets. In this context, the Union should follow closely the developments at IMO, and play a leading role in ensuring a high-level of environmental protection on this issue.
Amendment 65 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12 b (new)
Recital 12 b (new)
(12 b) Whereas several accidents leading to pellet spills and loss have been registered in the Union with transboundary impacts, highlighting the urgent need for ambitious, holistic measures to significantly reduce the risk of pellet pollution while strenghtening response capabilities to pellet spills across Union territories and waters.
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) Economic operators, EU carriers and non-EU carriers should implement the requirements on the handling of plastic pellets by following a priority order of action with the paramount goal of preventing the release of pellets in the environment as the top priority. Therefore, preventing spills of plastic pellets from primary containment during routine handling, thus reducing the risk of spills to the lowest possible level, should be the first step, including by avoiding any unnecessary handling (for instance by reducing the transfer points) and by using puncture-proofappropriate packaging, followed by containment of spilled pellets to make sure they do not become a loss to the environment, and eventually by clean up after a spill or loss event as the final step.
Amendment 70 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) While the aim is to preventachieve zero plastic pellet losses to the environment for all economic operators, EU carriers and non- EU carriers, obligations for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprisesobligations for micro enterprises and enterprises that handle under 250 tonnes of pellets annually should be adjusted to mitigate the burden on them.
Amendment 73 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) In order to prevent and achieve zero plastic pellet losses, economic operators should establish, implement, and update at all times a risk assessment plan identifying potential for spills and losses and documenting in particular specific equipment and procedures in place to prevent, contain and clean up pellet losses, taking into consideration the installation size and the scale of operations.
Amendment 80 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) In order to evaluate the adequacy of the risk assessment plan carried out for each installation, economic operators should keep record of an estimate of the quantity of the pellets released to the environment per year, together with the total volume produced and handled. To reduce burden on economic operators, the information on estimates of quantities released may be used in the framework of the reporting requirement under Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2055.
Amendment 83 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) The successful implementation of the actions required to prevent and achieve zero plastic pellet losses requires the full cooperation and commitment of economic operators’, EU carriers’ and non-EU carriers’ employees. Economic operators and EU carriers should be required to train their staff according to their employees’ specific roles and responsibilities in order to ensure they are aware of and are able to use the equipment and execute the procedures necessary to ensure compliance with the requirements laid down in this Regulation. Economic operators and EU carriers should also be required to monitor and keep records of the relevant actions to implement the requirements set out in this Regulation, for instance, the placement of new catchment devices. Where appropriate, they should adopt corrective actions including, where necessary, the improvement of equipment and procedures in place.
Amendment 86 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24
Recital 24
(24) Medium and large-sized enterprises that operate installations where plastic pellets are handled in quantities above 1 000 tonnes may bring higher risks of pellet losses to the environment. For this reason, these enterprises should be required to implement, for each installation, extra actions like carrying out an annual internal assessment, and adopting a mandatory training programme addressing specific training needs and modalitiissues on prevention, practices, workers protection, clean-up technologies, use and maintenance of equipment, the execution of procedures, as well as the monitoring and reporting of pellet losses. In addition, for these enterprises, compliance with the requirements laid down in this Regulation should be demonstrated by obtaining, and renewing, a certificate issued by certifiers. These certifiers can either be an accredited conformity assessment body, or an environmental verifier licenced to carry out verification and validation in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council15 on the voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco- management and audit scheme (EMAS). The certificate should correspond to a unique format in order to ensure homogeneous information. _________________ 15 Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 on the voluntary participation by organisations in a Community eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS), repealing Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 and Commission Decisions 2001/681/EC and 2006/193/EC (OJ L 342, 22.12.2009, p. 1).
Amendment 97 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32
Recital 32
(32) Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the pellet supply chain should comply with the relevant obligations laid down in this Regulation, however they could face proportionally higher costs and difficulties when complying with some of the obligations. The Commission should raise awareness among economic operators and carriers regarding the necessity of preventing pellet losses. Additionally, the Commission should develop training materials to assist them in fulfilling their obligations, particularly with respect to the requirements of the risk assessment. Member States should provide access to information and assistance regarding compliance with obligations and the risk assessment requirements. Regarding the assistance of Member States, this could include technical and financial support as well as specialised training to micro enterprises and SMEs. Member States actions should be taken in respect of applicable State aid rules.
Amendment 108 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 42 a (new)
Recital 42 a (new)
(42 a) Considering the severe risks that pellet losses pose to the ecosystems, marine and land life, and to human health, especially when they degrade into microplastics, due to the potential hazardous properties of the polymers and additives plastic pellets are made of, restrictions of the manufacture, use or placing on the market of hazardous polymers should be swiflty adopted in accordance with Article 68 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006, where the risk to human health or the environment is not adequately controlled.
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) ‘plastic pellet’ means a small mass of preformed polymer-containing moulding material, having relatively uniform dimensions in a given lot, that is used as feedstock in plastic product manufacturing and recycling operations;
Amendment 122 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) ‘spill’ means a one-off or prolonged escape of plastic pellets from primary containment;
Amendment 130 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) ‘loss’ means a one-off or prolonged escape of plastic pellets at any of the stage of the supply chain, including from installation’s boundary to the environment or from road vehicles, rail wagons or inland waterway vessels transporting plastic pellets;
Amendment 172 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Economic operators shall keepupdate and notify their risk assessment plan up-to-dateannually, taking into account in particular the weaknesses identified through their experience in handling plastic pellets, and shall make it available to competent authorities on demand.
Amendment 179 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 2
2. Economic operators that are medium and large-sized enterprises operating installations where plastic pellets in quantities below 1 000 tonnes have been handled in the previous calendar year or that are micro or small-sized enterprises shall notify an update of the risk assessment plan for each installation as well as a renewal of the self-declaration of conformity to the competent authority every 5 years from the last notification, or in an event of changing its operations or significant incident, taking into account the particular weaknesses identified through their experience in handling plastic pellets, and shall make it available to competent authorities on demand.
Amendment 188 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 4
Article 4 – paragraph 4
4. Competent authorities shall establish, maintain, and update a register containing the risk assessment plans, and self-declarations of conformity notified in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, loss and spill notifications, and audit summaries, including details of non-compliances identified and corrective actions requested. The register shall be publicly available on a website.
Amendment 203 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 7 – subparagraph 1 – point c
Article 4 – paragraph 7 – subparagraph 1 – point c
(c) keep records of annually estimated quantities of spills and losses and of the total volume of plastic pellets handled.
Amendment 212 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 8
Article 4 – paragraph 8
8. Where an action taken for the prevention, containment and clean-up of spills and losses fails, economic operators, carriers and non-EU carriers shall take immediate corrective actions, as soon as possible.
Amendment 223 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 9 – point c
Article 4 – paragraph 9 – point c
(c) discussions and training sessions with the personnel, inspections of equipment and procedures in place and revision of any relevant documentation.
Amendment 239 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 3
Article 5 – paragraph 3
3. Certifiers shall carry out spot- checks and inspection of sites, transport medium and immediate surrounding areas to ensure that all measures included in the risk assessment plan carried out in accordance with Annex I are duly implemented.
Amendment 249 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) the certifier shall be accredited and independent of the economic operator;
Amendment 251 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. By 31 March ... [OP:Please insert the year following the year of the entry into force of this Regulation], and every year thereafter, each economic operator and carrier shall report, in accordance to Annex IV (a) (new) to the competent authority for the previous calendar year: (a) the quantity of pellets produced and handled based on polymer type; (b) the estimated quantity of spills and losses and the number of incidents and accidents.
Amendment 260 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 3 a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Every three years, based on the reports of Member States referred to in paragraph 2, the Commission shall produce a synthesis report on compliance and reporting, setting out the qualitative and quantitative information on the implementation of this Regulation.
Amendment 268 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) inform the competent authority in whose territory the incident or accident occurred and the estimated quantities of lossesspills and losses in accordance with the form in Annex IV (a) (new);
Amendment 280 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 2
Article 9 – paragraph 2
2. The competent authority in whose territory the incident or accident occurred shall require, where necessary, that economic operators, EU carriers and non- EU carriers take appropriate complementary measures and specific trainings to limit the health or environmental consequences and to prevent further incidents or accidents.
Amendment 303 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 1
Article 13 – paragraph 1
1. For the purposes of compliance with the obligation referred to in Article 4(7), first subparagraph, point (c), 4(2) and Annex IV (a) (new) a methodology to estimate quantities of losses shall be developed in harmonised standards in accordance with the procedures established by Regulation (EU) No1025/2012.
Amendment 310 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 2
Article 14 – paragraph 2
2. Competent authorities shall assess the substantiated complaint referred to in paragraph 1 and, where necessary, take the necessary steps, including inspections and hearings of the person or organisation, with a view to verifying those complaints. If the complaint is found to be grounded, the competent authorities shall take the necessary actions in accordance with Article 4(3), Article 9 and Article 10(2).
Amendment 332 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) the experience gained from the implementation of obligations set out in Articles 43, 4, 5, 8 and 59;
Amendment 338 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 a (new)
Article 17 a (new)
Article 17a Review The Commission shall monitor the application of this Regulation and, no later than 31 December 2029, shall publish a comprehensive report on its overall application and effectiveness as well as the implementation of Annexes I and III by economic operators and carriers and shall submit, if appropriate, a legislative proposal to the European Parliament and to the Council to amend this Regulation.
Amendment 347 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 3 a (new)
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 3 a (new)
(3 a) information relating to the chemical nature of each polymer contained in plastic pellets on site, including information on physico- chemical properties, hazard properties, use, exposure, risk, and emissions of each polymer;
Amendment 353 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 7 – paragraph 2 – point a
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 7 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) For prevention: vacuum seals on hoses and pipework; tear- and impact- resistant rigid, shock-resistant, waterproof, sealed and labelled packaging that can withstand degradation in rough aquatic environments; equipment to create secure connection points with secondary barriers in place; loading systems designed to ensure transfer lines can be completely emptied after loading and unloading; searigid, shock-resistant, waterproof, sealed, and labelled containers and/or external silos to store pellets; automated transport systems for pellets;
Amendment 358 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 7 – paragraph 2 – point c
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 7 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) For clean-up: industrial vacuum cleaners for internal and external usage; dedicated appropriate containers for recovered pellets that are coveredrigid, shock- resistant, waterproof, labelled and secured to prevent further spills and losses; hand tools (e.g., brooms, dustpan and brush, buckets, repair tapes); reinforced collection bags.
Amendment 366 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 8 – paragraph 2 – point a
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 8 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) for prevention: limits on the volumes of pellets transported in certain packaging (e.g., pellets must be packaged and sealed in rigid 25kg sacks, and loaded no more than 1tonne per pallet); regular inspection and maintenance of packaging, containers and storage facilities; use of spill trays under transfer points and during loading and unloading; clear protocols for opening, loading, closing and sealing containers and tanks at the start and end of loading; physical testing and monitoring of the effectiveness of prevention procedures;
Amendment 369 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 8 – paragraph 2 – point b
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 8 – paragraph 2 – point b
(b) for containment: regular inspection, cleaning and maintenance of catchment devices; regular inspection, cleaning and maintenance of drain covers, storm water drainage or filtration systems; regular inspection and cleaning of vehicles leaving and/or entering a site, outgoing water facilities and fences on the perimeter of the facility that are in public areas when applicable; immediate replacement or repair of leaking packagingcontainers; checks for broken and discarded packaging or containers for residual pellets before disposal or repair; regular inspection, cleaning and maintenance of sewage treatment system.
Amendment 372 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 8 – paragraph 2 – point c
Annex I – paragraph 1 – point 8 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) for clean-up: spilled plastic pellets are cleaned up immediately to prevent losses to the environment, at the latest upon termination of the operation, and collected in a designated rigid, waterproof, sealed and container. If possible, spilled plastic pellets are reused as raw material to reduce wastage. If spilled plastic pellets cannot be reused as raw materials, they are retrieved and disposed of in accordance with waste legislation, along with damaged containers.
Amendment 379 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex III – paragraph 1 – point 1
Annex III – paragraph 1 – point 1
(1) For prevention: verification during and after loading and unloading, that pellets are properly removed from the outside of the transport equipment before leaving the loading/unloading site; clear communication on stowage requirements; prevention of any leakage, including during the transport journey, e.g., by technical suitability of the transport means and containers, supplemented, if necessary, with appropriate rigid, waterproof sealing; ensuring that protective covers on e.g. forklifts/hydraulic equipment are used to prevent the piercing of packaging; regularly cleaning and checking the good condition of the loading compartments and the cont, containers and trainlers to minimise the loss of spilled pellets; visual checking of openings and integrity of the loading compartments prior and, to the extent possible, during the journey, including in the multimodal terminals, rail terminals, inland and seaports. In maritime transportation, containers should be stowed under deck when possible or inboard in sheltered areas of exposed decks.
Amendment 383 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex III – paragraph 1 – point 2
Annex III – paragraph 1 – point 2
(2) For containment and clean-up: where possible, repair damaged packaging (e.g. by using booms, barriers and tape) and contain the remaining pellets in the loading compartment; collect the spilled pellets in closed containers or bags, rigid and waterproof containers labelled and sealed for proper disposal; in case of transport of pellets in bulk tanks, opening the bottom manhole/cone of the silo tank only after entering the cleaning bay; replace the container liner only in suitable and non- public areas, where any spillage can be contained; immediatly notify the authorities such as international and national emergency, or environmental authorities, as appropriate, from the Member State where the event occurred.
Amendment 394 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex IV a (new)
Annex IV a (new)
FORM FOR LOSS TRACKING Pellet Loss Tracking Form Date of Incident: [date] Time of Incident: [time] Location of Loss: [ ] Production Area [ ] Storage Area [ ] Manufacturing Area [ ] Transportation Description of Pellet Loss, Including Polymer Type: [Text Box] Estimated Quantity of Lost Pellets: [ ] Small (up to 1 kg) [ ] Medium (1 kg to 10 kg) [ ] Large (more than 10 kg) [Text Box – estimated amount based on Article 13 standardised methodology] Cause of Loss: [ ] Equipment Malfunction [ ] Human Error [ ] Environmental or Weather Factors (Specify): [Text Box] [ ] Other (Specify): [Text Box] Immediate Actions Taken: [Text Box] Clean-up Measures: [ ] Sweeping [ ] Vacuuming [ ] Absorbent Materials [ ] Containment [ ] Disposal Environmental Impact Assessment: [ ] Soil Contamination [ ] Water Contamination [ ] Air Quality [ ] Wildlife Impact Restoration Actions Necessary: [Text Box] Witness Information (if applicable): Name: [Text Box] Contact Number: [Text Box] Email Address: [Text Box] Reporting Person: Name: [Text Box] Position: [Text Box] Contact Number: [Text Box] Email Address: [Text Box] Attachments (e.g., photos, reports): [File Upload]