00:00Musik
00:00Plastics 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 we're looking for a lot of people in the EU countries,
01:43because the spread of their spread is very long.
01:47I've heard that now they can be able to overcome a cell that we have in the brain,
01:52so they go through the circulation of our blood.
01:55They have even increased in the supply of health care.
01:58Euronews reporter Gregoire Lourie has been following this dossier.
02:02So what will be the new obligations for the companies that store plastic pallets
02:07and 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 when there is an accidental spillage?
02:49They will have to, indeed, because contamination can occur at 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 are 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 of microplastic release
04:34after 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 for this regulation
04:47in the European Parliament, Spanish Socialist César Luena.
04:52How can we guarantee that companies apply these norms, especially 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, that operate within our territory,
05:11will have to have an authorized representative
05:14to explain how to comply with the European laws
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 and we will have this representative authorized.
05:29Why does the maritime transport will have three years to comply with these norms,
05:34instead of two, like the other companies, when the contamination of the sea is so high?
05:39Well, because countries like, I can name them, no problem, like Chipre, like Grecia, like Malta, like Croatia,
05:49yes, they would ask for those three years because they would need more time.
05:52In other words, we decided that the Consejo,
05:54that the countries members would accept, for example,
05:57the proposal of the Parliament on the etiquette,
05:59that they would have the etiquette clearly where they describe the materials,
06:05and the dangers that they could have if they lose those materials,
06:08if they lose them, if they lose them, if they lose them, if they lose them, or if they lose them.
06:12For 2030, the Uniós should reduce the liberation of microplastics to the environment in a 30%.
06:19Are they evaluating adequately other sources of contamination to achieve that objective?
06:26Yes, I think that yes.
06:28All the proposed in the European Pacto Verde-European,
06:31from the policies of circular economy to the policies that talk about urban waste,
06:39of water, of paint, 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, maybe not.
06:54The European Union has prohibited the plastics of one single use,
06:58and there are innovations such as biodegradable materials.
07:02But the European Union should not be more active in the promotion of alternatives to plastic for consumers?
07:08We have, on the one hand, the co-design regulations, the work in the Horizon Europe program,
07:15and a regulation that was reviewed in the past mandato,
07:18on the recycled materials and of a single use.
07:23I think that this set of three things should have a unique vision, a unique plan,
07:29and therefore, I think that we would be more effective.
07:33Violations of the new rules on storage and transport of plastic pellets could lead to fines above 3% of the company's turnover in the EU.
07:43The governments retained the initiative to initiate criminal proceedings in case of severe contamination.
07:50But the bigger challenge remains persuading people to use fewer plastics in our daily lives.
07:56If there are new rules, you can make sure there are more things that are appropriate for them to use.
07:58Even in a detailed way, you can make sure there are no barriers to the past and somebody may have put them in the past and the past.
07:59If there are no barriers there can be cut down.
08:01As per企画 the price, you can make sure there is no barriers to the past.
08:02Regardless of what you would be more effective in the future,
08:04the more Black people's vents, you can make sure there are no barriers to the past.
08:06That is the same rule for health to the past.
08:06And you can make sure there are no barriers to open the past.
08:08You can make sure there are no barriers to those making sure that you are about this.
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