An important step was taken on Wednesday 30 January towards the EU ban on the intentional addition of microplastics and microbeads to many products (including cosmetics, paints, detergents and medical products) with the publication of a report by the European Chemicals Authority (ECHA).
In view of the environmental and health risks of these microplastics, ECHA considers that an EU-wide restriction is justified.
This report, prepared in response to a request from the European Commission under the REACH Regulation (Article 69), presents all the evidence justifying the restriction to the intentional use of microplastics proposed as part of the EU's 'plastics strategy' (see EUROPE 11940).
It highlights the fact that 10,000 to 60,000 tons of these microplastics leak into the environment annually, remaining there because of their extreme persistence - the scale of the problem is dramatic: six times the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. ECHA also says that exposure to microplastics has negative ecotoxicological effects and that this would be difficult to remedy in the future.
According to the ECHA, the proposed restriction would prevent some 400,000 tonnes of microplastics from being leached into the environment over the next 20 years, representing a reduction of 85-95% of the expected quantified emissions should policies remain unchanged.
The Environment Commissioner, Karmenu Vella, welcomed the fact that "the work is progressing." So do NGOs. "The EU is quickly becoming a leader in the global culture shift away from wasteful plastic. Microplastics is one of those vast but largely invisible problems", said Elise Vitali from the European Environment Bureau on behalf of the 'Rethink Plastic' coalition.
A decision is not expected before 2020, with transitional periods of two to six years after its entry into force. ECHA's Risk Assessment Committee and the Socio-economic Analysis Committee (SEAC) still have to analyse this report before a six-month public consultation is held this summer. Once the SEAC opinion has been issued, another public consultation (2 months) will take place. The Commission will then have three months to prepare its decision to amend the REACH Regulation (Annex 17).
Last September, the European Parliament called for a ban on microplastics in cosmetics and detergents by 2020 (see EUROPE 12095).
To consult this report: https://bit.ly/2HFY7ru. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)