Roberto Ciambetti, President of the Veneto Regional Council, has today been elected CoR spokesperson on the European Commission's proposal to prevent microplastic pollution from the unintentional release of plastic pellets. Mr Ciambetti will now begin work on drawing up the CoR opinion on this important piece of work by holding a variety of meetings with concerned stakeholders.

Currently, between 52 and 184 thousand tonnes of pellets are released in the environment each year due to mishandling throughout the entire supply chain. The European Commission's proposal aims to ensure that all operators handling pellets in the EU take the necessary precautionary measures. This is expected to reduce pellet release by up to 74%, leading to cleaner ecosystems, contributing to plastic-free rivers and oceans, and reducing potential risks to human health. Common EU-wide measures will also help level the playing field for operators.

Plastic pellets are the one of the largest sources of unintentional microplastic pollution. The Commission proposes that operators act in the following priority order: prevention to avoid any spills of pellets; containment of spilled pellets to make sure they do not pollute the environment; and, as a final option, clean up after a spill or loss event.

Mr Ciambetti's draft opinion is foreseen to be adopted by the ENVE Commission in April 2024 before being submitted to members for a final vote in the CoR June 2024 plenary session.