Following the European Commission review of the Waste Shipments Regulation ((EC) No 1013/2006) (WSR) (see our earlier post) the Commission has proposed tougher rules on waste exports, a more efficient system for the circulation of waste as a resource and better addressing the problem of illegal waste shipments.
Under the revised proposal,
The UK plan for shipments of waste (the Plan) has been amended, with the key update being to emphasise that interim disposal operations should be carried out in the UK wherever possible.
Earlier this year Defra consulted on various amendments to the Plan for shipments of waste and those amendments have now been adopted
Last month, the Environmental Audit Committee (‘EAC’) launched an inquiry into a potential future carbon border adjustment mechanism (‘CBAM’) for the UK. The objective of introducing a CBAM would primarily be to address the risk of carbon leakage in the UK industrial sectors caught by the nascent UK Emissions Trading Scheme (‘UK ETS’), i.e. switching
Last month, the European Commission published two new proposals for EU regulations to encourage the use of sustainable fuels in aviation and shipping – namely the ReFuelEU Aviation and FuelEU Maritime initiatives, respectively. Both proposals are subject to public feedback until 5 October.
Continue Reading European Commission publishes new initiatives concerning sustainable transportation
On 4 May 2021, the European Commission (“the Commission”) published two important roadmaps to revise two of the main instruments comprising the existing EU chemicals legislation, these being the Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation (“CLP”) and the EU Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (“REACH”). The roadmaps can be accessed here. These revisions form part of the EU’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (“the Chemicals Strategy”) to achieve the EU Green Deal’s zero pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment.
The draft revisions are expected to take until 2022 to be published, with the objective to improve the protection of people and the environment against hazardous chemicals in line with the Green Deal’s ambitions. Equally, the EU wishes to seize this opportunity to cement its status as a global leader in chemicals production and use. However, questions remain as to the exact scope of the revision plan for both of these pieces of legislation. A brief overview of the plans for both is set out below.
Continue Reading European Commission unveils CLP and REACH revision roadmaps
In accordance with its initiatives under the European Green Deal, the Commission is currently seeking public feedback on both its proposed update to the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (‘IED’) and for the proposed implementation of the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan.
Introduced in 2019, the European Green Deal sets out the Commission’s ambitious strategy to addressing climate-related and environmental challenges across various industry sectors. Amongst other things, it commits the EU to revising existing measures to address pollution from large industrial installations, to ensure EU permitting laws are consistent with EU policies on climate, energy and circular economy. The EU is also committing to adopt a zero pollution action plan to meet the Commission’s zero pollution ambition.
Alongside the Zero Pollution Action Plan and the revision of measures to address pollution from large industrial installations, the third headline action on zero pollution is the chemical strategy for sustainability (published in October 2020). The publication of the chemical strategy was the first step towards achieving what the EU terms a ‘toxic-free environment’. The EU strategies on biodiversity, climate neutrality, and Farm to Fork are also key in achieving the zero pollution ambitions under the European Green Deal.Continue Reading EU Green Deal: European Commission proposes changes to the EU Industrial Emissions Directive and a Zero Pollution Action Plan
The European Commission is proposing a radical and wide-ranging overhaul of the roughly 15 years’ old existing batteries and waste batteries laws in the Union.
For those who have not yet found the time to read the nearly 127-page draft regulation and annexures put out for public consultation in December 2020, here is a summary
2021 is shaping up to be a very busy year for those who are affected by EU laws relating to Environment, Health & Safety, ESG and product compliance matters.
Important developments are expected this year across a number of the EU’s flagship Green Deal policy initiatives, but there are many other significant initiatives to watch out for.
Reed Smith’s EMEA EHS & Product Compliance team will be keeping a close eye on them all for you and writing more detailed pieces on developments as they occur throughout the year.
In the meantime, in this short blog we provide just a snapshot of what you can expect to see during 2021:Continue Reading EU EHS and Product Compliance laws: what to look out for in 2021
The European Commission has opened a consultation on a potential legislative proposal on substantiating green claims made when advertising and marketing products. The proposals are intended to implement one aspect of the European Green Deal which states, among other things, that “Companies making ‘green claims’ should substantiate these against a standard methodology to assess their
On 3 September 2020 the European Commission released an updated action plan on critical raw materials (CRMs). In doing so, it has added bauxite, lithium, titanium and strontium to the existing list of CRMs, which now stands at 30 materials.
The Commission also released a foresight report at the same time, on raw materials for