REACH reform will offer mixed benefits for RTOs warns keynote speaker
14 May 2023
Plans by Government to overhaul the UK REACH regulations for chemical substances made in Great Britain or imported into the country will provide mixed benefits for the industry.
The warning was delivered by Mike Lancaster, Head of Innovation and Events for the Chemical Industries Association (CIA), ahead of a keynote speech at the recent CHEMUK show in Birmingham.
Speaking to Process Engineering’s sister title Laboratory News, Lancaster suggested that under the worst case scenario it was likely that a number of small volume and low profit margin chemicals would no longer be marketed in the UK.
However, he said one benefit for research and technology organisations was that the final version of UK Reach – estimated by Government to cost £1.3-£3.5 billion to implement – would involve testing of chemicals.
“Whatever the final version of UK REACH some testing of chemicals prior to registration is likely to be required, this will be good news for RTO organisations and laboratory testing houses,” suggested Lancaster.
But he cautioned that having to duplicate work to build a UK database would set the chemical industry back by almost a decade at a time of increasing global competition and limited resources.
“In the longer run this may not therefore be good news for suppliers to the sector including RTOs and testing houses. For the UK chemical industry and supply chain to grow and become more competitive it is vital that pragmatic implementation of UK REACH is achieved.”
On a more positive note, he added that technological innovation in the process sectors had made the enforcement of so-called Scope 3-level sustainable practice along supply chains much more achievable.
Scope 3 covers emissions along the supply chain such as transport and distribution, business travel, employee commuting and purchased goods and services – most of which present complex problems when trying to acquire data said Lancaster. Technology innovation now made this task more possible.
“Technology software innovations offered by several companies such as Ecovardis make use of big data, both in the public domain and anonymously from their clients. These platforms can help companies estimate their Scope 3 emissions through benchmarking,” he said.
Life Cycle Assessment tools were also advancing to provide access to other useful data set, he added, digital twin technology was gaining momentum, while the Internet of Things allowed for effective real time monitoring of supply chain processes.
Lancaster presented a talk for CHEMUK 2023 spanning the process and lab industries, entitled ‘Digitalisation of the Chemical Industry – How will this impact labs of the future?’. Introduced by joint editor of Process Engineering and Laboratory News Brian Attwood, Lancaster’s speech indicated the benefits and challenges of Industry 4.0 for companies.
These were paralleled, he said, by productivity and sustainability gains within the laboratory. These would see the traditional industrial lab transform with automated operations, a massive reduction in in-lab testing and transference of lab skills to the factory floor.
A report on Mike Lancaster’s talk will appear in both Process Engineering and Laboratory News.
