Recommendations for non-toxic environment

Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) calls on EU Commission to release strategy for non-toxic environment, recommends 12 priority actions

Public consultation on 4 phthalates’ Authorisation List entries

EU Commission to update Authorisation List entries for DEHP, DBP, BBP, DIBP to reflect endocrine disrupting properties; ECHA consults on uses no longer exempted from authorization, such as FCMs, until August 6, 2018

REACH: Over 21,000 substances registered

After final REACH deadline, 21,551 chemicals on European market are registered; dossiers need to be kept ‘up to date’ to reflect new science and products, ECHA says

Sweden to propose BPA analogue as SVHC

Swedish Chemicals Agency will propose 4,4′-isobutylethylidenediphenol as substance of very high concern to avoid regrettable substitution of bisphenol A

EU policies’ contribution to circular economy

DG Environment publishes roadmap for evaluating contribution of current EU policies to circular economy; public consultation closes June 4, 2018

Phthalates in dairy farm equipment

New report by Coalition for Safer Food Processing & Packaging finds continued use of phthalates in plastic and rubber equipment for dairy farming; potential source of phthalates in dairy products such as milk and cheese

EU Parliament approves new waste policy

EU Parliament votes in favor of waste legislation package; 2030 recycling targets set at 60% for municipal waste and 70% for packaging; manufacturers to make information on SVHC content in products available to public

Notification of SVHCs to be required under EU waste directive

Amendment to EU waste framework directive foresees obligation for suppliers to notify ECHA of SVHCs present in articles, aims to create transparent and non-toxic material cycles for circular economy

ECHA consults on identification of 8 SVHCs

ECHA opens public consultation on proposals to identify 8 substances of very high concern; deadline for comments April 23, 2018; 5 substances relevant for food contact

Flame retardants in plastic waste

Study commissioned by Norwegian Environment Agency analyzes brominated flame retardants in post-consumer plastics intended for recycling, finds low levels of commercial decaBDE, HBCD, BDE-209, TBBPA, DBDPE