Manufacturer's organisation EFF is urging Britain’s manufacturers to get to grips with REACH, a European Directive banning certain chemicals, "or face the prospect of unlimited fines or prison", it said.
Not to be confused with RoHS and WEEE; REACH is the European Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals Directive.
It entered into force in 2007 for the chemical industry, with a schedule to affect wider industry soon, banning some substances and restricting others."There are currently 21 substances set for bans," said EEF. "The first suite of bans takes place from February 2015. Applications to continue to use these substances must be submitted from February or August this year if companies want to avoid business continuity issues."
Subject to clearance in the European Parliament, further substances, including trichloroethylene and some chromium compounds, are due to be added.“REACH continues to be the elephant in the room for many companies who are either unaware of the implications or, still believe it is a chemicals only issue," said EEF environment policy head Gareth Stace. "The regulations have serious requirements for all manufacturers, who are facing either the restricted use, or banning of some substances. There is a real risk of companies loosing business if they are unable to advise whether their products contain those materials and, where they do contain them, how their use is being monitored.”
This applies up and down the supply chain. suppliers must be in a position to advise their customers if such substances are present in the products they sell.
"Where there is a strong enough argument for continued use of a banned substance, companies can apply to the European Commission to continue use," said EEF. "The first such deadline is just a month away."
Separately, companies have six months to make themselves aware of the implications of the next major deadline for registration of chemicals in June which could see certain substances being withdrawn from the market, it added.
EEF surveyed 250 companies, revealing lack of preparedness, it said, as well as some manufacturers that have sought information and are substituting safer alternatives.
"We need to see government and European regulators and legislators to do all they can to raise awareness and make it easier for companies to understand the implications of it on their business," said Stace.
According to EEF, the survey of 250 companies showed:
20% of companies still believe REACH is not applicable to them.
A further 30% say it isn’t important to their business.
Just under a third of companies with sub-£2m turnover were unaware how they will be affected.
Half of 'smaller' firms aware of REACH were not monitoring developments.
72% of 'large' companies are monitoring developments.
83% 'medium' sized are monitoring developments.
60% of companies have seen 'moderate' increases in cost and time spent on REACH in the last two years.
20% have seen 'significant' increases in the cost and time spent on REACH in the last two years.
Around half of companies have taken on dedicated staff.
80% of large aware companies have substituted substances, or are considering it.
Half of all aware companies were changing work practices and redesigning processes.
20% of companies said managing chemicals is a key business priority .
Further information from EEF:
More bans are expected. The European Chemicals Agency makes recommendations to the European Commission on which substances to prioritise for bans, drawing from the “Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern”.
There are currently 153 substances on the list.
Additional substances are added to the list twice a year.
The full list is available from the ECHA website.
Once substances are added to the Candidate List, immediate disclosure obligations come into force.
Any company using any of the substances in quantities greater than 0.1% w/w in the products they sell are required to notify their business customers to ensure its safe handling.
If companies place that substance on the market in quantities greater than a tonne they are also obliged to notify the European Chemicals Agency.
On the 1 June 2013, companies that place substances on the market in quantities between 1,000 and 100 tonnes a year are required to register them.
The registration dossiers assess the potential impacts of those substances on human health and the environment and sets out risk management measures to enable its safe use.
Preparing this dossier can be expensive and in some cases companies may decide not to register a substance and withdraw it from the market.
In a recent survey for the European Commission (CSES Survey 2012), 37% of firms said they had experienced a withdrawal of a substance as a result of registration. Around 30% were expecting it to happen again in future.
