BASF creates consultancy service to aid REACH implementation

Due to its extensive portfolio of chemical production throughout the cosmetics industry, the company is set to be one of the worst affected by the legislation. According to the company, it has been preparing for the legislation for three years, and has been building up its knowledge of evaluation and testing of substances in order to be up-to-date when the registration comes into place. The company is now hoping to educate smaller companies with its 'Success sustainability service' that offers status quo analysis, employee training, and preregistration, with all the elements involved in registration and authorisation of the REACH legislation. In a bid to cover itself in the run up to the implementation deadline of 2018, the company has also created a Voluntary Self Commitment - Product Safety 2015 programme that aims to review and assess all chemicals ahead of the mandatory deadline. "Our responsibility for ensuring that our products are safe when used responsibly and properly and do not pose a hazard to people or the environment applies not just in Europe, but throughout the world,"​ said Ernst Schwanhold, head of the BASF Aktiengesellschaft Center of Competence for the Environment, Safety and Energy. "Therefore, BASF set itself the goal of conducting - by 2015 - a review and risk evaluation of all chemicals manufactured or sold by the BASF Group worldwide in quantities exceeding one metric ton per year. This review is based on REACH specifications,"​ he added. The Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) legislation will affect the cosmetics industry by targeting both the chemicals used in packaging, as well as some used in formulations. The EU previously relied on a negative list to regulate the use of chemicals. This meant that any chemical not on the EU blacklist could normally be used for the production of cosmetics. The European Commission has estimated that the new law will cost the chemical industry between €2.8bn and €5.2bn over the next decade, while it would save Europe €54bn over 30 years because a smaller number of people would become ill as a result of exposure to dangerous chemicals. BASF is predicting to incur annual costs of €50m upon completion of its implementation of the REACH legislation, expected for 2018.