I. The origin of the project : the accumulation of plastic waste into the sea and the threat it poses to marine wildlife.

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1 DETAILED ANNEX I. The origin of the project : the accumulation of plastic waste into the sea and the threat it poses to marine wildlife. After the discovery in 1997 of a continent of plastic in the North Pacific, similar zones of accumulation have been discovered in the Atlantic Ocean, the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean. If those gigantic "plastic soups" have alerted the opinion on the problem of plastic pollution in the oceans, they are just the tip of the iceberg. Plastic products are more and more part of everyday life inducing a constant increase of the production of plastic for the last 60 years. A recent study from December 2014, based on measures taken during 24 expeditions, estimate the presence of a minimum of 5,25 trillions plastic particles in the oceans, corresponding to a mass of tons 1. This overabondance of plastic waste is responsible each year for the death of 1 million sea birds and marine mammals 2. Because they are trapped by fishing nets or other plastic debris, or because they eat microplastics by mistake, animals like turtles, whales or sea lions are victims of this pollution. Moreover, plastic waste can also damage coral reefs and marine invertebrates, and contribute to the spreading of invasive species as they drift in the oceans, possibly causing the destruction of ecosystems. Because of poor waste management, plastic waste can easily end in the environment and concentrate in the oceans. Therefore, most of the waste presents in the oceans comes from the land -up to 80%- where they are carried by water and wind, and 80 to 90% of those waste are in plastic. Because of its structure, plastic can easily fragment in the oceans under the action of light and physical aggressions, thus ending in a multitude of fragments. We find different types of particles, with various origins: - primary particles : microbeads included in abrasive material, exfoliants or cosmetic products, and plastic pellets used for the production of plastic objects. - secondary particles : their origin is the fragmentation of plastic debris such as packaging material, building material, fishing material,... - an other important source of microplastics are the plastic textile fibers escaping from washing machines. 1 Sailing seas of plastic, cf. 2 European Environment Agency - N. Wallace, 1985

2 In 2010, a campaign led by the NGO "Epéditions MED" has allowed to estimate the presence of 250 billion floating microplastics in the Mediterranean sea 3, with concentrations reaching up to floating microplastics per km² in some places. The samples of the 2013 campaign of Expéditions MED have shown high concentrations of microplastics off the coast of Nice and Cannes, the 2 french cities the most affected ( particles per km²). In Italy, it is off the coast of Albenga that the highest concentrations have been found ( particles per km²) 4. As we don't have any information yet on the impact of microplastics on fish mortality, it would be relevant to conduct a study on this matter. Moreover, humans being on top of the food chain, we run the risk to eat species contaminated by microplastics, as it has be shown in a recent study : "The annual dietary exposure for european consumers can be up to particles of microplastic. The presence of microplastics in seafood could pose a threat to food safety, however, because of the complexity to estimate microplastic toxicity, it is not possible yet to assess the risk for human consumption" 5. Faced with those worrying observations, we urge the European Union to develop an ambitious and adapted regulation on plastic pollution to preserve our environment. II. For a relevant action of the European Union on plastic pollution The European Union appears to be the most relevant legal framework and the most adapted geographical scale to develop an ambitious regulation on plastic waste. A. Political relevance 1. The protection of the marine environment requires a European regulation Because the pollution in the sea has no frontier, an international action is essential to develop an efficient regulation on plastic waste. Non-harmonised national actions wouldn t have much effect on an problem which goes beyond national borders. 2. The importance of the sea for the European Union The European Union is particularly concerned by the protection of the marine environment as 23 Member States are bordered by 5 seas and 1 ocean, and half of the population lives less than 50 km from the shore. Therefore, Member States are the first 3 COLLIGNON A, HECQ JH, GLAGANI F, VOISIN P, COLLARD F, GOFFART A, «Neustonic microplastic and zooplancton in the North Western Mediterranean Sea», Marine pollution bulletin, Volume 64, April 2012, pp CIESM - Marine litter in the Mediterranean and Black Seas: Plastic fragments on the surface of Mediterranean water.(2014): Observatoire de Villefranche sur mer; LimatB UBS Lorient; Expedition MED 5 Microplastics in bivalves cultured for human consumption: Lisbeth Van Cauwenberghe / Colin R Janssen - Université de Ghent (Belgique). June 2014.

3 victims of the pollution they are responsible for. Thus, the European Union constitutes a legitimate framework to develop efficient answers against plastic pollution. 3. The European legislation : a strong and ambitious legislation European legislation is considered by many as an "international legislation that succeed". Therefore, for an efficient regulation on plastic waste in the ocean, the EU appears to be the ideal solution. The strenght of its legislation is based on the incorporation of European laws into national legislations, and on its mechanisms of control and sanction. To deal with plastic pollution in the oceans, European legislation is the most relevant solution. B. Legal relevance The European Union is legally qualified to deal with plastic waste and their presence in the oceans. The Article 4 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union establishes the environment as a shared jurisdiction between the EU and the Member States. Therefore, "The Union and Member States may legislate and adopt legally binding acts in that area" 6. Member States could legislate when the EU has decicided not to exercise its jurisdiction. The Article 11 of the same Treaty promotes that all policies of the Union shall integrate the environmental dimension in a logic of sutainable development. According to the Article 191 of the Treaty, EU s environmental policy shall contribute to "preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment". "Union policy on the environment shall aim at a high level of protection taking into account the diversity of situations in the various regions of the Union. It shall be based on the precautionary principle and on the principles that preventive action should be taken, that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source and that the polluter should pay" 7. The Article 192 of the Treaty specifies that "the European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and after consulting the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, shall decide what action is to be taken by the Union in order to achieve the objectives referred to in Article 191" 8. Therefore, in view of the dispositions of the founding Treaty, the European Union is legally qualified to legislate on plastic waste and their presence in the oceans on the basis of the principles of precaution, prevention and correction at source. III. The relevance of the European Citizen Initiative under the current European regulation A. A matter in line with the European waste management policy The European Union has already regulate waste management with the Directive 2008/98/EC of 19 November The Union has also regulated specific waste : 6 Article 2 of the TFEU 7 Article 191 of the TFEU 8 Article 192 of the TFEU

4 packaging waste, radioactive waste, batteries, hazardous waste or electronic waste. Plastic, because of its physical and chemical characteristics and because of its long-term harmfulness for the environment, requires a specific European regulation adapted to its nature. Therefore, even if the EU has already regulated waste, more specific laws seem to us to be necessary to consider the plastic waste issue. B. An increasing concern among the European institutions The issue of plastic waste is becomming important among the European institutions. Thus, the "European Parliament resolution of 14 January 2014 on an European strategy on plastic waste in the environment" has highlighted the need for action, as we do with the European Citizen's Initiative. Therefore, we welcome the Commissions' decision to deal with the problem submitted by the "Proposal of the European Parliament and Concil for a Directive modifying the Directive 84/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste". We encourage the Commission to advance further by adopting an ambitious and exhaustive regulation on plastic waste that emphasises the principles of prevention and correction at source. IV. Proposals Our proposals for an efficient answer to plastic pollution are based on the waste hierarchy developed in the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/CE. This approach seems to us to be well adapted in view of the potentialities of this material and its dangerousness for the environment. A. Prevention Because the environmental policy of the European Union is mainly based on the principles of precaution, prevention and correction at source, it seems appropriate, in order to avoid plastic waste in the oceans, to adopt a regulation emphasising prevention as it is recommended in the waste hierarchy. This is why we ask the Commission to develop several measures aiming to limit the production of plastic waste, a pollution particularly detrimental for the environment. Amongst these measures, we ask to : 1. Regulate and control the production, consumption and importation of singleuse plastic products which are not biodegradable nor recyclable. 2. Regulate and control the production, consumption and importation of longlasting plastic products which are not recyclable. 3. Promote the use of biodegradable and recyclable plastic resins used for domestic or professional 3D printing, with an adapted regulation. 4. Develop standards with industrial actors to filter or treat plastic textile fibers in wastewater treatment plants. 5. Regulate and control the production, consumption and importation of products containing microbeads, such as cosmetic products or industrial hand soaps.

5 6. Regulate and control the production, importation, transport, storage and use of plastic resin pellets -new or recycled- in order to prohibit their discharge in the environment. 7. Regulate and control the design and use of drift nets and drift fishing lines in the ocean in order to prevent their harmful impacts on marine biodiversity. 8. Prohibit the importation, production and use of oxo-biodegradable plastics throughout the European Union. Those plastics decompose into tiny fragments under the influence of heat and light but are not biodegradable nor bio-assimilable, even though there are said to be. This means they are even more harmful than normal plastics decomposing more slowly and pose a serious threat to the environment. 9. Impose a display on plastic products legible by consumers that indicates the different types of plastics and additives used. 10. Make available for the general public a description of the different kinds of plastics and additives on a website. The website address will be specify on plastic products. B. Reuse and recycling When it is not possible to avoid the creation of plastic waste, we recommend to promote in first instance the reuse of those products, and then the recycling. This is why we ask the Commission to : 11. Impose a refundable deposit system for all reusable plastic products in every Member State of the European Union. 12. Develop the European labels "recyclable plastic" and "biodegrable and compostable plastic" in order to help consumers to make informed purchases and act against plastic pollution when they buy a plastic product. This way, they will be able to influence industrial actors on the type of plastic material they use. 13. Impose that labels glued on fruits and vegetables are biodegradable and compostable. C. Disposal of waste on landfills Even though the principle of prevention is at the very core of the European citizen's initiative, we are aware that disposal of plastic waste on landfills will remain a reality. In view of the energetic potential of plastic, we ask the Commission to : 14. In first instance prohibit the disposal of plastic waste on open landfills at less than 100 km from the sea, and then the complete prohibition of disposal of plastic waste on landfills.

6 V. Conclusion If the importance to deal specifically with plastic waste no longer needs to be demonstrated, only a comprehensive approach adapted to the different uses of plastic will allow to develop an efficient regulation able to decrease the pollution resulting from plastic.