CE: Policy Making for Traceability of Chemicals along Value Chains

On 15th October ISC3 participated in a roundtable event at the Representation of the State of Hessen to the European Union in Brussels dealing with Circular Economy – Policy Making for Traceability of Chemicals along Value Chains, organized by the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) and the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. Based on the results of the Interreg North-West Europe project ECHT - Enable Digital Product Passports with Chemicals Traceability for a Circular Economy” 1and expert contributions from textile value chains and NGOs, an active exchange between relevant stakeholders from industry and policy-makers was enabled, counting about 50 participants from Europe.

Guiding questions were:

How can barriers that block the path to chemicals traceability be overcome?
How can chemicals traceability requirements be reconciled with legitimate confidentiality requirements?
How can stakeholders at the end of the life cycle benefit from full traceability of the chemicals contained in products?
How can chemicals traceability be applied through global value chains?

According to the European Green Deal, chemicals regulations (such as REACH2 and CLP3) should contribute to the transition towards a climate-neutral, resource-efficient, non-toxic circular economy. On the international level, the Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC) has been adopted in September 2023 in Bonn during ICCM5 building on SAICM, this strategic initiative aims to establish globally coordinated policies, encourage industry’s responsibility and strengthen chemical management.

Knowing chemicals in products constitutes a crucial precondition for circular economy, enabling downstream users or consumer to take informed purchasing decisions. One possible approach towards this is the Digital Product Passport (DPP), which provides information on substances such as name, position in product and indicates the specific concentration. Independent of this, sector-specific solutions are needed.

More information can be obtained here.