ESPP has responded to the European Commission public consultation on policy options to reduce microplastics release to the environment (consultation open to 16th October 2017). ESPP notes that although current concern is principally about microplastics in surface waters and oceans, some microplastics will also be found in organic recycling streams such as sewage biosolids or compost or digestate from food waste. Possible impacts on terrestrial ecology should therefore be studied in order to avoid future obstacles to the nutrient Circular Economy. ESPP suggests to collect data on microplastics in organic recycling streams, develop monitoring methods for microplastics in organic streams and in soils, study their fate and possible impacts in soil/crop systems, investigate possibilities for removing microplastics in organic waste treatment and recycling processes, and develop risk assessments of microplastics in nutrient recycling, in particular to support the EU Fertiliser Regulation.
EU public consultation on microplastics www.eumicroplastics.com open to 16th October 2017. ESPP input here and at www.phosphorusplatform.eu/regulatory