Chemical users urged to prepare now for new EU rules

Many firms are failing to adequately prepare for new European chemicals legislation that comes into effect next June and is likely to have a major impact on multiple manufacturing processes.

That is the view of Kate Geraghty, principal consultant at green consultancy WSP Environmental, who argued that many firms were guilty of sticking their head in the sand over the EU's new Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (Reach) legislation.

"Firms that found that the recent RoHS [restriction on hazardous substances] directive disrupted their business are in for a big surprise," she said. "RoHS is a walk in the park compared with the compliance effort required by Reach."

Under the new rules, manufacturers and importers of chemicals will be required to gather information on the properties of their chemical substances and to register the information with the new European Chemicals Agency. The regulation also calls for the progressive substitution of the most dangerous chemicals when suitable alternatives have been identified.

Even where chemicals are not banned, WSP predicts that some could be phased out by chemical companies who find that it becomes too costly to assess and register certain products in accordance with Reach.

Geraghty warned that the legislation will have a massive knock-on effect on multiple sectors, including the electronics, textiles, automotive and aeronautical industries, all of which are likely to have to implement changes to their manufacturing processes as various chemicals are phased out under Reach.

She advised that any firm using chemicals in its manufacturing processes needed to assess how the legislation could affect them. "Reach will take years to implement, but the pre-registration of chemicals begins next year and companies need to be aware how it will affect the availability of raw materials, " she said. "It takes a long time to design chemicals out of the manufacturing process, so if certain chemicals are to be phased out, companies need to be looking at contingency plans now."