THE CONCEPT OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY has long been a staple in the vocabulary of anyone who wants to come across as at least somewhat progressive. What has changed in the last couple of years is that this production model has started to gain traction with people who have the mandate to actually make it happen. Policymakers all over Europe, and elsewhere, are already in the drafting stage of several circular frame­ works and a growing number of businesses are on the move too. Today, circular economy is more than just a buzzword. 

​

One of the Key challenges is how to handle Hazardous Substances in Circular Economy

CHEMICALS ACTUALLY PLAY A LARGER ROLE in a circular eco­nomy than one might first think.

 

How so? 

​

Since hazardous chemicals are common ingredients in all kinds of materials they obviously end up in recycled materials as well. This fact makes it virtually impossible to grow the market for recycled materials – the material transparency is simply too low for chemically progressive brands to want to re­use these materials in new products. 

​

HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS IN PRODUCTS AND SUPPLY CHAINS are not only a real threat to human health and the environ­ment, they also pose a reputational liability. A growing number of brands and retailers understand that hazardous substances mean exposing customers to a risk – or a per­ceived risk, which can be just as devastating for the brand. To account for this risk, many of the world’s most well known brands have their own internal requirements stating which chemicals are allowed in their products, requirements that go beyond what is needed for legal compliance. Unfortunately, except for very specific cases, recycled materi­als cannot meet such requirements today. 

​

Established under the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) – SCIP is the database for information on Substances of Concern in articles as such or in complex objects (Products). Industries supplying articles containing substances of very high concern (SVHCs) on the Candidate List in a concentration above 0.1% weight by weight (w/w) on the EU market have to submit information on these articles to ECHA, as from 5 January 2021. The SCIP database ensures that the information on articles containing Candidate List substances is available throughout the whole lifecycle of products and materials, including at the waste stage. The information in the database is then made available to waste operators and consumers.

​