IMO Moves Toward a Mandatory Plastic Pellet Code — Is Your Team Ready?
In late April 2026, the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 84) adopted a new 2026 Strategy and Action Plan to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships, reaffirming the goal of zero plastic waste discharges to sea by 2030. Alongside it, the Committee agreed to develop a mandatory code governing the transport of plastic pellets in freight containers under MARPOL Annex III and/or SOLAS — a direct regulatory response to incidents like the 2021 X-Press Pearl spill, where several tonnes of pellets washed ashore after a container fire.
For shipping companies and compliance teams, this is one more entry in a regulatory pipeline that rarely slows down: MARPOL Annex IV updates, exhaust gas cleaning system discharge rules, and now a forthcoming mandatory pellet code, all landing on top of existing obligations. Tracking which requirements are already binding and which are still in development is, on its own, a full-time job.
Shipping and the Environment: A Guide to Environmental Compliance, now in its sixth edition, is the International Chamber of Shipping's answer to exactly that problem. Written by the trade association that represents shipowners operating over 80% of the world's merchant tonnage, it explicitly covers "measures to regulate the carriage of plastic pellets by sea" alongside MARPOL Annex IV, exhaust gas cleaning systems, and emerging regulation expected to bite from 2028 — brought together in a single, non-technical reference designed for compliance officers and crews, not specialist regulators.
With the plastic pellet code now formally in development following MEPC 84, this edition gives shipping companies a head start on a rule that is coming, not a rule they'll have to scramble to understand after it lands.
It sits within our Law collection, alongside other current titles on shipping and environmental regulation.
Q&A
Does this guide cover the new plastic pellet regulation agreed at MEPC 84? Yes, the sixth edition explicitly covers measures to regulate the carriage of plastic pellets by sea, the exact issue MEPC 84 addressed in April 2026.
Who publishes this guide, and why does that matter? The International Chamber of Shipping, the trade association whose national shipowner members operate over 80% of world merchant tonnage — giving the guide a practitioner's perspective grounded in direct IMO engagement.
Does it require technical or legal expertise to use? No, it is designed as an accessible overview for compliance officers, seafarers, and professionals new to the maritime sector, not a technical manual.
Does it cover forthcoming regulation, or only rules already in force? Both — it covers current requirements and gives dedicated attention to regulation expected to take effect from 2028 onwards.
Where can I buy Shipping and the Environment: A Guide to Environmental Compliance, 6th ed? You can order it directly from CLNZ Books, with secure worldwide shipping.