At the base of the overturned train car, Jackie Medcalf scoops small plastic pellets from the muddy ground and deposits them in a mason jar. When it’s about halfway full, she caps the jar and ...

Instead, the university is asking state environmental regulators for permission to burn up to 22,000 tons of pellets composed of paper and plastic over the next year—and possibly beyond.

Tarragona’s beaches are covered with plastic pellets, highlighting a Europe-wide problem that is the focus of EU interinstitutional talks.