The Message Board
The Forum’s Message Board gathers all the questions, answers and comments on issues related to REACH and its implementation in the Plastics Industry. These are posted by registered users. It is a quick, simple and friendly way of sharing with other plastics experts your views and experience with the new European Regulation on chemicals.
The main language used in the forum is English but some discussions can also be held in Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
The details of the discussions can only be read by Members of REACH Club, who can also:
- Propose topics to be discussed in this forum;
- Ask questions to other plastic experts registered in this forum and access the FAQs related to it; and
- Comment on the posts published on the message board.
The quality of the discussions is monitored by the REACHelpdesk Team, which moderates the discussions of The Forum.
You can also send an alert to the moderator of a discussion about a post not comlying with the forum's terms of use at any time.
If you are not yet a member of The Club, please click here to learn how to join.
Wishing you a nice reading and fruitful discussions.
The REACHelpdesk Team
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.