Our Goal Is Zero Pellet Loss: Meet Beer van Duin

Beer van Duin is a 23-year-old student, currently pursuing his degree in Integral Safety Studies with a focus on Risk Assessment & Evaluation (RI&E). For almost five years, Beer has been working at various departments of Pipelife Netherlands, and his current research focuses on the implementation of Operation Clean Sweep® (OCS) at Pipelife's production site in Enkhuizen. The international initiative, originally launched by Plastics Europe, aims to prevent plastic pellet losses in the environment, and in this interview, Beer explains the key steps taken to achieve this goal at Pipelife.

_{Beer, what is your research topic?}

I am currently looking into to what extent Pipelife's site in Enkhuizen is compliant with the OCS certification scheme. The ultimate goal of OCS is zero pellet loss, which means preventing plastic pellets and dust from entering the environment. I am researching the current risks and identifying areas where we can improve.

_{How do you conduct this research?}

First, we identified priority locations where we believe the risks are the highest. These include silos, the granulate storage area and production machinery. For example, we now have installed drainage chutes with filters in the plant.  

There's a distinction between a 'spill,' which refers to pellets spilled within the production site that can be cleaned up, and a 'loss,' which occurs outside the plant boundaries and cannot be recovered. Ensuring that spills are cleaned up promptly is crucial to prevent them from becoming losses.

_{How can we achieve this?}

First and above all, we need to prevent spills from even occurring. Additionally, it's important to raise awareness that any raw material spill has the potential to enter the environment. Cleaning up spills immediately must be a priority. One of the golden rules is, 'I ensure my work environment is clean and tidy,' which includes handling raw materials on or under machinery. Assigning one person per shift to be in charge of this could be beneficial.

_{Is this about behavior? What else can be done?}

Yes, behavior plays a crucial role. However, spill containment can also be made easier by investing in good vacuum cleaners, ensuring cleaning supplies are easily accessible and clearly identifiable, and establishing clear procedures so everyone knows what to do. Reducing human handling is also important; raw materials should be fed into machines mechanically rather than manually to minimize the chance of spills.

_{What are the next steps?}

I am currently writing an advisory report, which will be used by a project group to implement and test the new measures. The project group will quantify the results and report to Plastics Europe. We will also need to conduct three internal audits before an external audit can be done to obtain the OCS certification. 

_{What should employees do if they find raw materials on the site?}

Report it in the company's safety portal under the environmental section. This helps us track what has been spilled and address the issues at the beginning of the chain: clean up and prevent spilled pellets from entering the environment.