In order to promote circular economy, the concepts of ‘by-product’ and ‘End-of-Waste’ are highly relevant. REACH does not apply to waste, but REACH does apply to by-products and end-of-waste. According to the Waste Framework Directive, a material can only achieve a by-product or end-of-waste status if it complies with applicable legislation and standards, one of which is REACH. Therefore REACH is highly relevant for the circular economy: in principle any secondary raw material that can (potentially) be regarded as by-product or as end-of-waste may need a REACH registration in order to achieve the by-product or end-of-waste status. Sometimes an authorisation may be required and restrictions may apply. There are however some exemptions to these obligations.
Therefore, a clarification about the applicability of REACH to the aforementioned is essential to promote their market and circulation.
This project outputted A Guideline on REACH Regulation and Circular Economy which includes multiple practical examples from different Member States on the application of REACH in the circular economy.
The guideline is divided in 6 chapters and 2 annexes:
- Chapter 1 introduces the theme and describes the most important basic concepts of REACH Regulation.
- Chapter 2 examines the scope of application of REACH Regulation and how it might apply to waste-based materials.
- Chapter 3 describes other relevant chemicals legislation which might be applied to waste-based materials. These provisions are not focused on in this report focusing on REACH Regulation.
- Chapter 4 provides guidance with practical examples to interpret and comply with the basic obligations of REACH Regulation: Registration, authorisation and restrictions.
- Chapter 5 provides guidance on applying the exemptions from the basic provisions of REACH. The chapter includes a subchapter focusing on applying recovery exemption to recycled plastics.
- Chapter 6 discusses the enforcement of REACH Regulation in recovery plants.
- Annex I contains a flowchart for REACH compliance summarizing the basic content of this report.
- Annex II sets out checklist for chemicals legislation compliance.
Please click "Project Outputs" on side menu to download the guideline.
The Romanian version of the guideline is also available: RO-Regulamentul REACH și economia circulară 2023
📑Briefing REACH & CE Guidence provides a summary and analysis of the key themes, ideas, and facts presented in the guidance. You can read online or download as pdf document as well: