Key takeaways from our managing editor, Kate Lowe
The first day of the Global Business Summit Europe heard that the European Commission’s much anticipated chemical strategy for sustainability is due to be adopted on the 14th October - however Carlo Pettinelli from DG Grow who delivered the news, stressed that talks are still ongoing and the date not set in stone.
He confirmed the strategy will address particular concerns for human health and the environment, including endocrine disruptors, combination effects and persistent substances such as PFAS. He also confirmed that the Commission is considering both regulatory and non-regulatory action to support a “safe and sustainable by design’ approach and to promote “non-toxic cycles” - also a “one substance one assessment approach” as part of rationalising the legal framework for chemicals.
Mr Pettinelli stressed that the Green Deal of which the chemical strategy for sustainability is a part, is about growth, and that while “we need to step up substitution of certain chemicals with particularly hazardous properties, we should also realise, he said, that chemicals and chemical innovation are necessary to achieve digital transition, climate neutrality and a circular economy - a message reflected by Marco Mensink, director general of trade body Cefic, who highlighted both the huge challenges and huge opportunities ahead for the chemical industry under the Green Deal, and called for a strong innovation agenda to enable the industry to produce the new substances required for a sustainable future.
Responding to a question at the summit about whether the chemical strategy for sustainability would require a reopening of REACH, Mr Pettinelli said: "I think first of all, we have to draft a coherent and effective strategy, and to decide on the actions we need. And after, when this is clear, we will look into if this will require reopening REACH or not."
For more on the issues Mr Pettinelli and Mr Mensink raised on the strategy at this opening session, see the news report on the Chemical Watch website.
Having had a taste of the policy drivers pushing companies’ sustainable chemicals management strategies, we heard from industry speakers about how they are implementing those strategies - starting with Richard Haldimann, head of sustainability transformation at speciality chemicals business Clariant, on the processes and tools the company uses to ensure sustainability is “baked into” its product portfolio.
We heard it starts right at the top with sustainability integrated into brand values and company strategy and a commitment to “add value with sustainability” - a goal that in turn requires a focus on innovation and r&d in which sustainability is “hard-wired”.
Haldimann told delegates: “Clariant has sustainability as a core for everything that we do….it is part of our brand value where we of course appreciate the requirements of our customers for performance, but we also include the dimension of people and the planet in everything that we do.”
A full report on Mr Haldimann’s presentation will be published on the Chemical Watch website in the next few weeks.
The conference also heard from industry on the role of material sourcing in sustainable chemicals management. Presentations included a case study on Kingfisher UK which has reported that, through product testing, it has found that almost all of its textiles range is free from the three chemical groups it pledged to remove by 2025 – phthalates, perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) and halogenated flame retardants (HFCs).
Speaking at the summit, Kingfisher’s sustainable chemicals specialist, Oscar Benjamin, said the company is working with suppliers through education and training to phase out these high-priority chemicals from the remaining products.
Mr Benjamin also told delegates that Kingfisher has a number of green chemistries in the pipeline that are in the R&D stage. This stems from the company’s 2025 chemistry goals, one of which is to replace substances of high concern in its products with five ‘green’ chemicals. For more details on Kingfisher’s progress in this area, read our news report on the Chemical Watch website.
NGOs sharing their perspective at the summit included ChemSec whose stand out message to delegates was that the most progressive businesses today will be the most successful businesses tomorrow – a view emphasised by several of the event’s NGO contributors.
Day two of the summit looked in detail at the question of knowing what chemicals are in your products - and more specifically at preparations for Echa’s substances of concern in products (Scip) database which requires suppliers to submit information related to articles placed on the market and containing candidate list substances above 0.1% weight by weight (w/w) from January 2021.
Timo Unger, environmental affairs manager at automotive manufacturer Hyundai, shared his deep concerns over the database which even with recent amendments will still mean huge challenges for a sector dealing with great product complexity, he said.
Arguing that SCIP goes far beyond its legal mandate in Article 33 of REACH, he said the database will result in “totally disproportionate efforts for the whole industry”, in particular, producers of highly complex and variable objects, the electronics sector and SMEs.
A study on impact, workability, usefulness & proportionality is “urgently required”, he told delegates, adding that the industry needs a postponement of at least 12 months - a message that has been delivered to the European Commission.
During the afternoon, the summit looked at waste and recycling, including the waste and chemicals interface, some of the legal issues surrounding that interface – and the big question of exactly what information waste recycling businesses actually need to fulfil their role.
The key message here, Mike Hale of the European Union for the Responsible Incineration and Treatment of Special Waste told delegates, is that the better the information the more intelligent the recycling.
Waste operators need more information, said Mr Hale, but those requirements will differ across different types of waste. Meanwhile harmonised rules for waste classification, end-of-waste and better enforcement is required: “Much of the existing legislation is good but is not enforced sufficiently,” he told delegates.
Finally source separation is critical, since dilution of substances will “kill off” recycling and clean material loops, said Mr Hale.