SCIP – The New ECHA-Database for Substances of Concern
SCIP stands for “substances of concern in products” and is a new database that will be set up by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and will be accessible in all Member States of the European Union (EU).
It is planned to feed it with information on “substances of concern” in products. This information will be made available to waste recycling companies, which will then know which waste streams contain that material. The main target of the database is to finally remove such hazardous substances from the economic cycle and thus be one step closer to the EU Commission’s goal of a “Tox-Free Environment”. It will start in January 2021.
However, all manufacturing companies are well-advised to get to grips with it as quickly as possible, because data acquisition will be the real challenge. For example, when a car or electronic device is placed on the market in the EU, there are highly complex supply chains during the production process. It is not unusual to find hundreds of suppliers in Asian countries or on other continents. However, the database can only be “fed” if all the necessary information from all suppliers is available. Manufacturers of less complex products such as packaging, toys, or textiles are also affected.
Author: Dr. Dipl.Chem. Beate Kummer
GR 2/2020, Photo: MasterTux / Pixabay
