Jul. 31 – EU REACH – The Costs and the Opportunities

An interesting article from IndustryWeek. Here are a few key excerpts:

With the pre-registration period for REACH now underway (June 1), all chemicals of one ton or more in volume that are manufactured in, or imported into, the EU each year, must be tested for their effect on health and safety and registered with a new central European authority-the European Chemicals Agency-located in Helsinki, Finland. Pre-registration must take place before December 2008…

With REACH, some substances will be phased out of production or become uneconomical because the cost of registering a substance is significant. Registration for a single substance produced at more than 1,000 tons per annum could cost up to EUR 2 million (roughly $3.13 million).

Under REACH, new environmentally-friendly substances will become commercially more attractive. The companies that develop REACH-compliant products will naturally establish competitive advantage…

REACH is not the only legislation that promises to improve the chemical industry. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed a new initiative called the Chemical Assessment and Management Program (ChAMP). Born out of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America Leaders’ Summit last year, ChAMP promises to improve chemical safety and the environmental impact of chemicals by gauging risk levels in roughly 9,000 chemicals made in volumes of 25,000 pounds or greater.

Click on the above link for the full article.