In our industry sector, Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are essential in many applications, and the damage that would be caused to the environment by not using them would be unthinkable. There are very few alternatives that offer the same properties, and if they existed, they would be utilised.
Last year, the ESA issued a Position Statement concerning the EU proposal to outlaw the use of PFAS. In our view, this will be detrimental to society and the environment if applied to sealing devices manufactured by members of the ESA. The document here explains why they are necessary and the expected impact on everyday life if the EU proposal is implemented.
PFAS Socio-Economic Analysis (SEA)
We have been advised that we need to produce a PFAS Socio-Economic Analysis (SEA) report to strengthen our case for our industry sector. We are pleased to confirm that we have now committed to Ricardo for the production of a PFAS SEA specifically for the sealing industry in Europe.
We have asked our member companies to appoint at least one member to participate in a new Working Group which will convene monthly to progress our SEA and help steer our response.
Joint letter to the five Competent Authorities
We have been working with Plastics Europe and have submitted a joint letter to the 5 Competent Authorities (countries: Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden) in January outlining why there is a need to differentiate Fluoropolymers from other PFAS groups. Since then, the five CA have submitted the proposal for restricting the use of PFAS to ECHA.
ECHA publishes PFAS restriction proposal
A PFAS restriction proposal has been published with 7 annexes and 3 appendices. We will read through the document and provide a summary to our members in the coming weeks. This document is located in the PFAS Reference Documents folder in the Members Area. You can also view the proposal document on the ECHA website.
This is the current ECHA timeline:
