Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to tighten regulations on the transport and storage of nurdles in line with the EU, and what other measures they will take to reduce the environmental and human health threats of nurdles.

The Government currently has no plans to align nurdle transport and storage regulations with those of the EU.

The Government has supported industry-led initiatives such as Operation Clean Sweep, to promote good practice in pellet loss prevention.

As a Contracting Party to the OSPAR Convention, the UK has led work under the Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter, resulting in an OSPAR Recommendation on minimum standards for pellet loss certification schemes. The UK also supported development of a British Standards Institution Publicly Available Specification, published in July 2021, which sets out measures for businesses to reduce pellet loss and complies with the OSPAR Recommendation.

Pellet loss is a global issue, and the UK has called for specific provisions in the new international treaty on plastic pollution to address pellet loss throughout the supply chain. Additionally, the UK is working at the International Maritime Organization to introduce mandatory measures for the carriage of plastic pellets by sea in freight containers.