EU’s move to ban microplastics under “attack” from chemicals industry

06 Jun 2019 --- In January, the EU moved to reduce the use of microplastics across a range of sectors, but this has come under attack from the chemicals industry. This is according to The Rethink Plastic alliance, which fully supports the EU move to restrict microplastic usage. In a landmark proposal, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in January called on the EU to use its stringent chemical laws to stop most microplastics and microbeads being added to cosmetics, paints, detergents and some farm and medical products. However, the biggest chemical industry lobby in Brussels, CEFIC, has deemed this proposal as “too broad,” claiming ECHA had “exceeded its competence in drafting it.”

Microplastics – defined as less than 5mm in diameter – come from numerous sources, including microbeads from cosmetics, cleaning products and industrial materials, as well as microfibers from clothes. There is increasing concern over their potential impact on human health.

According to ECHA, every year, 10,000 to 60,000 tonnes of intentionally added microplastics leak into the environment, where they accumulate and persist for thousands of years, posing a threat to a wide range of organisms including invertebrates, fish, marine reptiles, birds and cetaceans.

On behalf of Rethink Plastic, ClientEarth’s lawyer Lara Fornabaio says, “ECHA concluded, on the basis of a thorough scientific assessment, that the risks derived from the release of microplastics into the environment are not adequately controlled and this justifies a restriction under REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals).”  

Microplastics come from numerous sources, including microbeads from cosmetics.Previously, the European Commission (EC) had proposed to ban microplastics and microbeads in its Plastics Strategy released last year and formally requested the ECHA to investigate in line with the European procedure, Élise Vitali, Project Officer on Chemicals, European Environmental Bureau, tells PackagingInsights. The EU plastics strategy saw Europe become the first continent to start banning many types of single-use plastic by 2021. Following this, in January, ECHA released its investigation findings, calling for the restriction of microplastic use in a range of sectors. 

The ECHA says that the scale of the microplastic problem is dramatic: six times the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or the plastic pollution generated by 10 billion plastic bottles. 

The proposal is now in the public consultation phase – which will continue till September. NGOs have submitted their comments, supporting the scope of the proposal while suggesting ways to improve the effectiveness of the restriction. They have also presented further evidence on the adverse effects of microplastic occurrence in the environment, and have warned that this proposal is granting unnecessary delays for most industrial sectors.

“This restriction proposal is a significant step forward to address plastic pollution and it should be broadly supported. We call on companies, which have chosen to invest in alternatives to microplastics, to participate in the public consultation, providing evidence that the shift towards safer alternatives is already possible,” adds Fornabaio.

Moving forward, Fornabaio calls on other organizations to submit their comments. “Together, we must create a strong front against every attempt to undermine this proposal,” she concludes.

Once the opinion of the scientific committees of ECHA is adopted early 2020, the file will go back to the Commission, who will have to propose the final text of the restriction to EU governments before the restriction can finally become the law.

How are microplastics used?
Microbeads are well known in the mainstream as offering an exfoliating element to many personal care products. However, a host of other sectors use them too, as detailed in the ECHA proposal, released in January.

• Microplastics are an integral part of polymer dispersion binders in water-based paints and coatings, where they are present to coalescence into films (film-forming function).
• Microplastics are also used as specialty additives in architectural and industrial coatings (such as wood, plastic and metal). 
• Micobeads can be present in many cleaning products.
• Microplastics are also used in combination with metallic pigments to achieve a sparkle effect by controlling pigment orientation.
• Microplastics are used in detergents and maintenance products to provide a range of functions, including as abrasives, fragrance encapsulations, opacifying agents and anti-foam agents. They can be used in surface cleaning products, fabric softeners, dishwashing liquids, waxes and polishes.
• Microplastics have various functions in medical devices (MD) and in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVD MD). In medical devices they are used as polymeric filters, adsorber and absorber granulates and in ultrasound devices. 
• Microplastics are used in controlled-release formulations (CRF) for fertilizers and plant protection products (typically as microencapsulation), as fertilizer additives (e.g., anti-caking agents) and as soil conditioners.

By Laxmi Haigh