REACHelpdesk
EuPC Services has created REACHelpdesk in order to help companies in the plastics industry deal with the REACH Regulation and its implementation.
EuPC Services provides tailor-made solutions to the plastics converting industry. Based in Brussels, this company’s gathers a pool of experts with knowledge and expertise in both the plastics converting industry and the EU Institutions and who have represented plastics converters and defended this sector on various issues for the last 20 years.
REACH is a new piece of European Legislation on chemicals which entered into force on 1 June 2007 in all countries of the European Union. Since that date companies concerned by this Regulation are requested to provide some information on chemical substances that are produced or imported in the EU. The information being collected concerns, amongst others, the effects of these substances on human health and on the environment but also the existing safety measures related to their use and transport.
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), based in Helsinki, is the entity responsible for collecting the registrations dossiers. The ECHA analyses the registration dossiers and can determine if some substances that have been registered can still be used by the industry and put on the market or not. As a result of this analysis some companies may continue to use some substances only if these fall into the category of authorized substances whereas in other cases industrials will have to look for alternatives.
If many companies have prepared well before REACH’s entry into force, some have just become aware of their obligations and now have to catch up with a considerable amount of work and become REACH-compliant within a very short period of time. Indeed non-compliance with REACH can be penalized with fines up to EUR 100,000 and imprisonment for two to five years (in some cases).
Companies in the plastic sector can get support from the REACHelpdesk of EuPC Services. For these last few years the REACHelpdesk has organized seminars, trainings and workshops for various associations and companies in the plastics industry, raising awareness and giving advice on how to tackle this new piece of European Legislation.
Concerned about how well the plastics industry will comply with REACH and acting as the spearhead of the plastics converting industry on this issue, The REACHelpdesk is now providing networking opportunities and specialized training for REACH Experts and people having REACH-related responsibilities in their companies in order to strengthen their competencies on this subject.