EU: Publication of the Directive on the prevention of losses of plastic pellets (OJEU)

The European Union has adopted the Directive 2025/2365 on preventing plastic pellet losses, the first European directive to cover plastic pellet losses. The Directive was published in the OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) on 26/11/2025.

The Directive aims to preserve human health, as well as the environment and biodiversity from microplastics' negative impacts. Furthermore, the text states that microplastics also undermine climate, while their presence in the food chain can undermine consumer confidence and have economic consequences on activities such as commercial fishing and agriculture as well as recreation and tourism.

The plastic pellets are produced by the petrochemical industry and delivered mostly by ship or by truck to manufacturers to be transformed into objects or components. The EU estimated that between 52 140 and 184 290 tonnes of pellets were lost into the environment in the EU in 2019, making plastic pellet losses the third-largest source of microplastics unintentionally released to the environment across EU. This Directive extends responsibility for…