Join­ing the Dots: Tack­ling Pel­let Loss at Sea

Fau­na & Flo­ra International

FFI aim to reduce chron­ic and acute loss­es of plas­tic pel­lets dur­ing trans­port at sea, by secur­ing a change through focused lob­by­ing and advo­ca­cy. Plas­tic pel­lets are the build­ing blocks of the plas­tic indus­try; small, cheap, and pro­duced in their bil­lions, then trans­port­ed around the world between plas­tic man­u­fac­tur­ing plants. Care­less han­dling, poor pack­ag­ing and an absence of labelling or stowage require­ments result in both chron­ic and acute loss­es of pel­lets at sea. The result­ing pol­lu­tion can be extreme­ly dam­ag­ing. The project seeks to end the dev­as­tat­ing, yet avoid­able, loss of plas­tic pel­lets from ships through build­ing a con­sen­sus for the intro­duc­tion of more strin­gent IMO rules on the pack­ag­ing, labelling and stowage of pel­lets on board con­tain­er ships, and the estab­lish­ment of stan­dard­ised dis­as­ter response pro­to­cols to reduce the impact of pel­let loss from ships when/​if they do occur.

For more information visit: https://www.fauna-flora.org/