Nous examinons comment de nouvelles réglementations pourraient réduire la contamination qui se produit souvent pendant le transport des granulés de plastique utilisés dans la fabrication de produits plus volumineux.
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00:00Musique
00:00Musique
00:01Plastics are among the worst polluters to all ecosystems
00:17and microplastics are particularly concerning.
00:20They are from 5 mm down to microscopic levels
00:23and can be harmful to all life.
00:25Contamination of nature often happens during transport by land and sea
00:30of plastic pellets that are used to make larger products.
00:35At UDECODE we explain new regulation to reduce this pollution.
00:39Microplastics contaminate soil, which can harm agriculture.
00:44Spillage into waterways and the sea leads to ingestion by animals,
00:48including fish, which are then in turn eaten by humans.
00:52Pollution on beaches also negatively affects tourism.
00:56Recent shipping spills have occurred in northwest Spain, Galicia,
01:00and in the North Sea, affecting the Netherlands.
01:04Inadvertent consumption of microplastics can pose health issues,
01:08such as lower fertility and cancer, according to some scientific studies.
01:13Let's hear to what extent Europeans are aware and concerned about microplastic risks.
01:19I think the European Union could decide to use less plastic,
01:24as well as in the industry, as well as in our daily consumption,
01:27or even to try to sensitize more people in the EU countries.
01:34It's everywhere.
01:36Which, I mean, isn't brilliant,
01:38but I guess we don't really know what effects that will have long term.
01:41I believe that they will have a lot of people in the EU countries,
01:43because they will have a lot of people in the EU countries.
01:47I have heard that they can now even be able to overcome
01:50one of them in the brain, so they go through the circulation of our blood.
01:55They have even increased in the supply chain of health care.
01:58Euronews reporter Gregoire Loury has been following this dossier.
02:02So what will be the new obligations for the companies
02:05that store plastic pallets and for those that transport them?
02:09The big companies that handle above 1,500 tons a year
02:13will have to get a certification by a third independent party.
02:17The small companies that still handle above 1,500 tons a year
02:22will have lighter obligations like one-off certification
02:26in the five years after the entering into force of the regulation.
02:30And you have the small companies that handle less than 1,500 tons a year,
02:36and the micro-enterprises, they will have to issue a self-declaration of conformity.
02:41And in practice, these companies have to do what?
02:44Train the people that work there, have more technical means
02:47when there is an accidental spillage?
02:49They will have to, indeed, because contamination can occur
02:52at different stages of the process.
02:54It can be the production, it can be the processing, the distribution.
02:56So they will have, indeed, to provide all this kind of staff training,
03:01organizing to make sure that they reduce pallets losses.
03:07Some non-governmental organizations were a bit critical,
03:11saying there are too many exemptions, too much delay to enter into force.
03:16What is at stake?
03:17For instance, NGOs argue that most of SMEs
03:21are actually representing the vast majority
03:25of making up the plastic supply chain,
03:30accounting for 98% in conversion and 97% in transport and storage.
03:37The maritime sector got an additional year for the transition,
03:42and NGOs argue that actually the vast majority of European vessels
03:47are already following the international recommendations.
03:51And finally, why will non-EU companies also be included in this regulation?
03:57So, pallets are very mobile.
04:00They can be dispersed by air, water, land.
04:03It can occur at all stages of the supply chain.
04:07And the highest risks are actually in the loading and unloading.
04:11So, the EU wants to make sure to get all the companies within the regulations.
04:17Each year, the equivalent of up to 7,300 truckloads of plastic pallets
04:22are lost to the environment.
04:25The new rules are expected to reduce plastic pallet losses by up to 74%.
04:30But plastic pallets rank third among the largest sources
04:33of microplastic release after paints and tires.
04:36Textiles and detergent capsules are other significant sources of this pollution.
04:42Let's talk more about this topic with one of the shadow operators
04:46for this regulation in the European Parliament,
04:49Spanish Socialist César Luena.
04:52How can we guarantee that companies will apply these norms,
04:59especially those that do not belong to the European Union?
05:03Out of the territory of the European Union we can't guarantee anything,
05:06but those outside companies that work and operate within our territory
05:11will have to have an authoritative representative
05:14that explains how to comply with the European norms
05:17to every competent authority in the EU.
05:20So, if there is an accident or an accident,
05:25immediately we will see the company
05:26and we will have this representative authoritative representative.
05:29Why do you have three years of transport to achieve these norms
05:34instead of two, like the other companies,
05:37when the water contamination is so high?
05:39Well, because countries like, I can name them,
05:43I don't have any problem, like Chipre, like Grecia, like Malta, like Croacia,
05:49yes, they would ask for those three years because they needed more time.
05:53In other words, we have suggested that the Council,
05:54that the member countries have accepted, for example,
05:57the proposal of the Parliament on the etiquette,
06:00that they had the etiquette clearly where they detail,
06:03they describe the materials and the dangers that they can have
06:07to see if they lose those materials, if they lose the soil or the water.
06:12For 2030, the Unión has to reduce the liberation of microplastics
06:16to the environment in a 30%.
06:19Are they evaluating adequately other sources of contamination
06:23to achieve that objective?
06:26Yes, I think that yes.
06:28Everything is prevailed in the European Pacto Verde Europe,
06:31from the policies of circular economy
06:35to the policies that talk about urban areas,
06:39of water potable, of painting, textiles, etc.
06:43So, if we apply what we had planned, we will arrive and we will be able to do it.
06:48But if we doubt about it and we will be able to do it in the extreme right direction,
06:53then maybe not.
06:54The Unión Europe has prohibited the plastics of one single use
06:58and there are innovations like materials biodegradable.
07:01But do not should the Unión be more active in the promotion of alternatives to plastic
07:07for consumers?
07:08We have, on the one hand, the co-design, the work in the European Programme Horizonte Europa
07:14and a rule that was reviewed in the past mandato,
07:19on the recyclable materials and of a single use.
07:24I think that this group of three things should have a unique vision,
07:28a unique plan, and therefore, I think that we would be more effective.
07:32Violations of the new rules on storage and transport of plastic pellets
07:37could lead to fines of up 3% of the company's turnover in the EU.
07:43The governments retained the initiative to initiate criminal proceedings
07:47in case of severe contamination.
07:49But the bigger challenge remains persuading people
07:53to use fewer plastics in our daily lives.
07:56Thanks for joining us !