Europe | Restriction proposal for intentionally added microplastics
Restriction proposal for intentionally added microplastics
On 30th January 2019, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published the health and environmental risks assessment report about intentionally added microplastics.
Microplastics can be found in a wide range of products such as cosmetics, detergents, paints and coatings, construction materials, medical devices, agriculture and horticulture and in the oil and gas sector.
Due to the impact of the use of microplastics in the environment, ECHA has concluded that an EU-wide restriction would be justified in order to reduce the amount of microplastics released to the environment (According to the Annex XV Restriction Report: “The proposed restriction is estimated to result in a cumulative emission reduction of approximately 400 thousand tonnes of microplastics over the 20 year period following its entry into force”)
Click here for reading the ECHA's Registry of restriction intentions.
