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On November 21, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of the National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution: Part Three of a Series on Building a Circular Economy for All. According to EPA, together with EPA’s “National Recycling Strategy” and the “National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics,” the “National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution” presents opportunities for voluntary and regulatory actions by...
Category: Plastics
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is seeking comment on the draft opinion of its Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) concerning the restriction proposal for medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCP) and other substances that contain chloroalkanes with carbon chain lengths within the range of C14 to C17. According to the Information Note on SEAC’s draft opinion, substances containing chloroalkanes with carbon chain lengths from C14 to C17 are used in various sectors and in a broad...
May 1, 2023
Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Can Lead or Get Out of the Way,” The Environmental Forum, May/June 2023.
A major task we face in achieving circularity is ensuring that policies remain nimble in addressing environmental and public health challenges. Our suite of laws and their regulatory implementation sometimes reflect an unhelpful resistance to circularity, expressed in policies that are indifferent or antithetical to an efficient transition to true resource economy....
January 10, 2023
ECHA Begins Consultations on Proposed Restrictions of BPA and Other Bisphenols and Creosote and Creosote-Related Substances
On December 21, 2022, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) began two public consultations: Comments on the proposals are due June 22, 2023. ECHA states that comments submitted by January 25, 2023, will be used by the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) and the Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) in their first discussions of the proposals in March 2023....
May 1, 2022
ECHA and EU Member States Conclude Assessment of Regulatory Needs on Group Assessment of Bisphenols
By Lynn L. Bergeson The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on April 6, 2022, that together with European Union (EU) member states, it has assessed a group of 148 bisphenols for risks to human health and the environment. Of these, more than 30 have been identified to have the potential for hormonal or reprotoxic effects. Some uses of these bisphenols include: Anti-oxidant for processing polyvinyl chloride (PVC); Epoxy resin hardeners; Textile, leather, paper and board;...
March 8, 2022
EC Begins Public Consultation On Reducing The Release Of Microplastics Into The Environment
The EC announced on February 22, 2022, the launch of a public consultation on how best to reduce the amount of unintentionally released microplastics into the environment. According to the EC, the public consultation will support its initiative on Microplastics pollution – measures to reduce impacts on the environment, “a key deliverable of the Circular Economy Action Plan and the Zero Pollution Action Plan.” According to the EC, the consultation focuses on plastic pellets, synthetic...