New EU Pellet Loss Rules Could Affect How Adhesive Tapes and Films Are Manufactured
New European Union requirements designed to prevent plastic pellet losses are creating additional operational and compliance considerations for manufacturers that process polymer materials, including portions of the adhesive tape and film industry.
Regulation (EU) 2025/2365 on preventing plastic pellet losses to reduce microplastic pollution applies to EU facilities handling at least five tonnes of plastic pellets per year. Covered businesses must take measures to prevent pellet spills, contain and clean up losses, maintain risk-management plans and keep records of the quantities of pellets they handle and lose.
For adhesive tape manufacturers and their customers, the relevance lies primarily upstream in the manufacture of polymer-containing components such as film backings and other materials that may involve pellet-based extrusion or forming processes.
Afera, the European Adhesive Tape Association representing companies throughout the tape value chain, is evaluating how the regulation applies to these manufacturing operations. The association has specifically identified extrusion and film-forming processes as areas that could potentially fall within scope.
For manufacturers purchasing adhesive tapes, films or related components in Europe, the regulation could lead suppliers to introduce additional pellet-handling controls, documentation, risk-management procedures and compliance processes at production facilities.
Afera’s Regulatory Affairs Working Group is developing guidance intended to help tape manufacturers interpret the requirements and determine how the legislation applies to their individual operations. The organization lists the Pellet Loss Regulation as one of the regulatory files it is actively monitoring for the European adhesive tape industry.
The regulation is part of a broader EU effort to reduce unintentional microplastic releases into the environment while placing greater responsibility on companies that manufacture, process, store and transport polymer pellets.
Source: European Commission / Afera