In an article published on October 31, 2018, by regulatory news provider Chemical Watch, editor Leigh Stringer informed that the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) clarified the legal data requirements for its proposed database of substances of very high concern (SVHCs) in articles. ECHA announced plans for establishing such a database in July 2018 (FPF reported) and held a workshop on the matter on October 22-23, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland (FPF reported). The aim of the SVHC database is “to enable informed purchasing decisions by consumers and suppliers and the safe collection, separation and treatment of waste by waste operators,” Stringer explained.
According to ECHA, the database will legally require companies to provide: 1) Administrative and company data, 2) data about the article and the SVHCs contained in it, and 3) information on safe use. These information requirements are in line with EU law and have been put in practice under REACH Article 33 since 2008, ECHA stressed. Any additional information, such as unique identifiers for the articles and the concentration limits of the SVHCs, can be provided on a voluntary basis.
A group of 12 European trade associations had published a joint industry position paper calling on ECHA “to reconsider its plans” to develop an SVHC database, Stringer reported in his article of October 24, 2018. The organizations claimed that “the database (DB) will not achieve its intended objectives to support the CE [(circular economy)]” and “the ECHA proposal will not be workable for industry nor enforceable by authorities.” Instead, the associations “call for an approach that allows different, flexible and effective CE solutions tailored to the specific circumstances of each industry sector, depending on the complexity and durability of their products.” They further promote “investment in research and further development of recycling technologies and analytical/testing methods, as well as . . . new partnerships in the value chain to enable new circular production models.”
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Leigh Stringer (October 31, 2018). “ECHA SVHC database requirements to be ‘within the law.’” Chemical Watch
Leigh Stringer (October 24, 2018). “Industry groups tell Echa: reconsider SVHCs database.” Chemical Watch
