Plastic granules collected near an industrial zone, February 22, 2024 in Ecaussinnes, Belgium (AFP/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)
They are buried in the earth and ditches, dot the banks and waterways: a Belgian municipality is fighting against the “insidious” pollution of plastic micro-beads produced on its territory, at a time when the EU wants strengthen your rules.
At the end of 2023, the incident stunned Spain: the beaches of Galicia were covered in a “white tide” of microplastics, escaped from a container that had fallen into the sea, which volunteers collected through a sieve.
Familiar images in Ecaussinnes, a small town in the Walloon countryside home to the second largest petrochemical complex in Belgium, where pollution from these polymer granules has persisted for decades.
“We find them around industrial sites, in waterways up to 8 kilometers downstream, they become embedded in the banks, depending on the precipitation they arrive on agricultural land,” warns Arnaud Guérard, municipal elected official in charge of the environment.
According to the European Commission, up to 184,000 tonnes of plastic pellets disappear into nature in the EU each year, the equivalent of 20 heavy goods vehicles per day.
Plastic pellets litter the ground near an industrial zone on February 22, 2024 in Ecaussinnes, Belgium (AFP/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)
The Belgian elected official denounces the “dysfunctional processes” of the industrial zone where the French giant TotalEnergies produces annually, from oil, more than a million tonnes of “pellets” (polymer microbeads less than 5 mm), stored in huge silos. Once melted, these granules are used to make plastic objects.
They are then transported by three logistics companies installed next door, where workers handle large open bags filled with marbles, in the middle of a ballet of heavy goods vehicles.
“We must contain these pellets, stop this bulk handling in unclosed +big bags,” sighs the elected official, according to whom these pellets escape during loading and “unscrupulous” cleaning of trucks.
– “Chronic” losses –
TotalEnergies claims to have adopted “numerous preventive measures”: waterproof pipe transporting them to a neighboring site, giant blower “removing the pellets” from the trucks, “regular cleaning” in the area with “inspection of the roads twice a week”.
Plastic pellets in a glass jar collected near an industrial zone, February 22, 2024 in Ecaussinnes, Belgium (AFP/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)
Basic element, once melted to make plastic objects, pellets constitute “insidious and chronic pollution across Europe, with losses at all stages”: production, transport by truck and at sea, inappropriate storage, insists Lucie Padovani, from the NGO Surfrider.
Then, these tiny pellets “will be extremely hard to recover: they are non-biodegradable and will degrade into even smaller micro-particles”, underlines Natacha Tullis, of the NGO Pew Charitable Trust.
“With a fairly serious impact on the environment: aquatic fauna can ingest them” with the risk that this “invisible” pollution enters the food chain, while “they are sponges for pollutants”, capable of releasing toxic components. , she emphasizes.
In Ecaussinnes, the municipality has installed filter dams on streams, at the risk of finding amphibians victims of pollution.
After 16 years of complaints from residents and violations noted by its agents, the city attempted to dialogue with the four companies concerned, before toughening the conditions of the permits granted, and finally initiating legal proceedings, which are still ongoing. .
– “Gaps” –
“These companies do not recognize their responsibility. It would not be normal for this environmental damage to be borne by the community when they have the means to adopt actions to avoid this pollution,” insists Mr. Guérard, calling for a regulatory strengthening.
A member of the Surfrider Foundation picks up plastic pellets from the ground near an industrial zone in Ecaussinnes, Belgium, February 22, 2024 (AFP/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)
The European Commission proposed legislation in October to stem leaks of plastic granules, by forcing large companies to strengthen their prevention measures, assess the risks and provide “clean-up” protocols.
NGOs deplore the “gaps” in the text, which must still be negotiated by member states and MEPs.
“It will not be enough as it stands to stem pollution. Only very large companies are targeted, not the SMEs constituting the majority of plastic processors”, and “maritime transport is not included”, explains Lucie Padovani .
The proposed “certification” “must be obligatory for all actors in the chain: the slightest ton is already 50 million pellets”, adds Natacha Tullis.
Belgian environmentalist MEP Saskia Bricmont answers questions from journalists during a visit to Ecaussinnes, February 22, 2024 in Belgium (AFP/Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)
Moreover, “on a voluntary basis, the initiatives are not sufficient. We see this in Ecaussinnes, where there is no systematic cleaning, nor duty of vigilance”, confirms the Belgian environmentalist MEP Saskia Bricmont, eager to harden the project.
According to her, another text on environmental crime, which must be definitively ratified on Tuesday in the European Parliament, could also make it possible to sanction failures leading to these accidental releases.
© 2024 AFP
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