A volunteer shows plastic pellets collected from a beach in Nigran, Spain, on January 9, 2024. LALO R. VILLAR / AP
The European Parliament on Thursday, October 23, definitively adopted rules clamping down on pollution from the tiny pellets that constitute the building blocks of most plastic products. The text introduces new rules to hold handling and transport firms accountable for spills of the lentil-sized pellets, called nurdles, which are used in everything from car bumpers to salad bowls.
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The proposal was approved without a vote after being backed by a wide majority in the parliament's environment committee earlier this week. Made from fossil fuels, plastic pellets often spill into the environment, polluting beaches and oceans.
