The loss of plastic pellets can occur unintentionally at any stage in the value chain. The Operation Clean Sweep program, OCS, was born precisely to prevent the involuntary leakage into the environment of plastic particles, whether in the form of pellets, flakes or powder, in any of the stages: production, handling, transport, transformation and recycling.

Now, EuPC, the European association of plastics transformers, of which Anaip is a member, and PlasticsEurope, the association that represents producers of plastic raw materials – promoters of OCS in Europe – have taken one more step to harmonize the program by signing a collaboration agreement to jointly develop, by 2022, a certification system. In this way, all companies adhering to OCS may be audited periodically by accredited third parties to verify that they meet the conditions of the program. Partnerships will also support effective, harmonized and quantifiable implementation.

“We are proud to be part of this great step forward for the industry and its commitment to address pollution from abandoned plastics. Together with the other stakeholders in the plastics value chain, we are developing a European OCS certification scheme, which allows our members and their entire value chain to transparently demonstrate their efforts to achieve the goal of zero pellet losses of plastic in the environment ”, has affirmed Virginia Janssens, Managing Director of PlasticsEurope.

Alexandre Dangis, director of EuPC, has added that the global problem of the loss of pellets will only be solved with joint actions: “together with all the companies that handle pellets, we need concrete measures that can be implemented to fulfill our objective of zero losses. Many EuPC members have already joined OCS and actively promote the program among their companies. This project takes the plastics processing industry to the next level, further supporting the sector across Europe to demonstrate sound environmental stewardship. “

As a licensee of the program in Spain and pioneers in the implementation of an OCS certification scheme at the national level, Anaip participates in the working groups that develop the European certification scheme, contributing the experience it already has in Spain in terms of certification of OCS, which it has developed jointly with Aenor.

PlasticsEurope also does an important job in Spain, promoting the OCS program among the members of the supply chain and participating together with Anaip in the information and dissemination of the project. Proof of this was the conference organized by both entities on December 11, 2020 under the slogan Join the #ZeroPerdidasDeGranza Challenge to promote adherence to the program and accelerate its implementation in the sector. In the session, companies from different links in the plastics chain that have already joined the program shared their experiences and good practices in the field of OCS.

Currently in Spain, the OCS program is implemented in 235 facilities, and 12 of them are already certified by Aenor.

The loss of pellets is the responsibility of the industry and it is up to the companies to commit and educate all their workers in the search for solutions, to prevent the pellets from ending up in the environment.

By signing the commitment to the OCS program, the company recognizes the importance of this prevention and undertakes to implement the necessary measures. Once you have joined, you can also verify your commitment through an independent third party.