REACH for polymers 'on the back burner'

London – The European Commission (EC) is unlikely to push forward with proposals to require polymer materials to be registered under REACH before 2018, believes Jo Lloyd, chemical & SHE director at the Chemical Industries Association (CIA).

The EC has recently received a major report on polymer safety monitoring regimes around the world. This study, though, has not made any recommendations on the need to include plastics, rubber and elastomer materials within the scope of the REACH chemicals safety regulations.

“We haven't heard anything back from the commission,” said Lloyd. “It is unlikely that there will be a response either this year or next year; it will be a decision that is taken around 2018.”

EU member states are, likewise, showing little interest in pursuing the case for tighter regulation of polymers, the REACH expert went on to say.

“We are not seeing any sign that this is something they want to pick up and do now. I think there are other priorities: getting [REACH] registration working properly and looking more at nanomaterials and endocrine disruptors.”

The current situation, concluded Lloyd, is good news for chemicals and polymers makers.

“If we had to go through now and register polymers of high concern, which is what is [eventually] likely to happen, this is not something that we as an industry could get our head around at this stage,” she commented. 

(Image source: CPI)