Yesterday, the Illinois Senate passed an important bill to protect Lake Michigan and all Illinois waters from plastic pollution. The Plastic Pellets Pollution Control bill, HB 4418, previously passed by the Illinois House, is on its way to Governor Pritzker for signature.
Illinois will soon become the first Great Lakes state to hold producers of industrial plastic pellets accountable for spills of these toxic pellets into our waterways. And, for the first time, Illinois will officially recognize plastic pellets as a pollutant in state law.
Here’s how the new bill will help Lake Michigan and all of Illinois’ waters:
- Industrial plastic pellets, also called nurdles, are the tiny building blocks of all plastic products. They often spill from manufacturing facilities during storage, movement, or plant operations. Once in our environment, they find their way into our rivers, lakes and streams.
- Industrial plastic pellets pose risks to fish, turtles and birds, who may mistakenly think the pellets are food such as fish eggs or tadpoles. They also leach additives and absorb toxic chemicals, such as DDT, PCBs, and mercury already in the water. (For more information see our recent Sun-Times Op-Ed.)
- Polluters often face no consequences when they spill plastic pellets into our environment. The Plastic Pellets Pollution Control bill directs the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to develop and implement stormwater pollution controls that specifically target plastic pellets. That means polluters would be required to have a plan to keep plastic pellets out of our waters, protecting wildlife and our drinking water sources from these toxic microplastics.
This is just the beginning. Illinois will be the first Great Lakes state to regulate spills of industrial plastic pellets. Legislators in Michigan, Minnesota, and the U.S. Senate have introduced similar bills, and we’ll be working to advance them in the coming years. We’ll also continue our work to phase out the worst single-use plastics, support monitoring of microplastics in our waters, and hold producers responsible for the plastic waste they produce.
Stay tuned for ways you can help!