Compost officially exempt from REACH

The decision should relieve the concerns of the Association for Organics Recycling (formerly the Composting Association), that being subject to the regulations could hinder the development of markets for composters.

Under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulations, which are being implemented across Europe this year, chemical substances manufactured in, or imported into, the EU, must be registered with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

The regulations – which were introduced in June 2007 – are intended to work alongside, and not overlap with, the revised Waste Framework Directive, and as such do not apply to wastes, but their impact on recovery activities dealing with 'end of waste' substances is less clear.

And, earlier this year, the Association for Organics Recycling had warned that REACH could “lasso and hold back developing markets for compost 'products'”, as well as potentially duplicating the paperwork carried out to comply with the Quality Compost Protocol.

They added that the regulations “would place onerous restrictions on compost producers regarding registration and information requirements to be supplied to end users, and could add significant cost per tonne to compost ex-works prices.”

However, last Wednesday's (October 8) adoption of a revised Annex V to the regulations – which included compost within a list of substances exempt from REACH controls – means that composters will now not have to take part in the registration process.

Recovery

The picture with regards to other recovery sectors is less clear, and already the plastics recycling sector (see letsrecycle.com story) and paper reprocessors (see letsrecycle.com story) have expressed concerns about just what the regulations mean for them.

Under article 2 (7) (d) of the regulations, recovery firms are not required to register a recovered substance if it has already been registered in its original state, and they have the paperwork to prove that this is the case.

But, with the registration process only beginning for substances in June 2008, the European Commission has said that even firms who believe that, due to that clause, their recovered substances will be exempt, should pre-register before the December 1 deadline.

In a letter sent to the Bureau for International Recycling (BIR) earlier this month, it said: “Pre-registration provides legal security that manufacturing, placing on the market and using the substance can continue until the relevant registration deadlines.”