Page 166 - CW E-Magazine (7-11-2023)

News from Abroad

PIC REGULATION

ECHA recommends more transparency in hazardous

chemicals trade

ECHA’s third report on the ope- the prior informed procedure in trade. amendments to the legal text and
ration of the Prior Informed Consent The report fi nds that some of the new implementation practices.
(PIC) Regulation shows that the overall chemicals added to the regulation, like
workload of implementing the regula- substances containing benzene, the fi rst “Interest in exports of hazardous
tion, despite a slight decrease of export “substance in substance”, and neonico- chemicals from the EU has signifi cantly
notifi cations, has continued to increase tinoids that harm bees, have triggered increased over recent years, which has
due to the constant addition of new many notifi cations and challenging new put PIC import and export notifi cations
chemicals subject to PIC and the in- types of exports. There is also an increase data under a magnifying glass. The
crease in substances subject to explicit in requests from the public seeking ongoing evaluation of the regulation
consent from non-EU importing coun- data on trade of hazardous substances offers a good opportunity to improve the
tries prior to export. collected under the PIC Regulation. impact and transparency of PIC. Our
triennial report proposes concrete ways
The PIC Regulation governs export As a result, ECHA recommends that on how to achieve this, for example by
and import of certain hazardous chemi- any future revision to the PIC Regu- clarifying the legal text and adapting
cals and pesticides between the EU and lation should: defi ne what parts of the current practices. Our recommenda-
non-EU countries. It places obligations export notifi cations are public; clarify tions aim at a more transparent and
mainly on companies that want to what information about trade should effective implementation of the regula-
export these chemicals to non-EU coun- be published in the annual EU-level tion which controls the trade of hazar-
tries. Within the EU, the regulation reports; and improve predictability dous chemicals,” said Sharon McGuin-
implements the Rotterdam Convention on and clarity of the regulation through ness, ECHA’s Executive Director.

PILOT PLANT CONSTRUCTION

Sumitomo Chemical to develop ethanol to propylene

process

Sumitomo Chemical has begun ing to develop a proprietary process to
construction of a pilot facility to esta- manufacture propylene using ethanol.
blish a process for producing propylene This process has the advantage of
directly from ethanol, which is attract- being compact and low-cost compared
ing attention as a sustainable chemical to existing processes that involve multi-
raw material. The company will work ple intermediates. Additionally, it also
to complete the construction of the pilot generates hydrogen as a by-product.
facility at the Sodegaura site of its Chiba manufacturing ethanol at scale from
Works in Japan by the fi rst half of 2025 combustible waste, waste plastics or Sumitomo Chemical will acquire
and step up efforts to quickly imple- CO will be established in the near the necessary data for scaling the pro-
2
ment the technology commercially. future. Expectations are hence rising cess for commercial production from
for ethanol as a sustainable essential the pilot facility, while also providing
Propylene is currently mainly pro- chemical raw material. samples of polypropylene using the
duced by cracking fossil resources, propylene produced in the pilot facility
such as naphtha, and classifi ed as an Given these developments, Sumitomo for customer evaluation. The company
upstream petrochemical. Ethanol, Chemical has newly established a pilot aims to start commercial production
meanwhile, can be produced from bio- facility to produce ethylene using with the new process, as well as licens-
mass, such as sugarcane and corn, and ethanol as a raw material at its Chiba ing of the technology to other compa-
it is anticipated that technology for Works, while it has also been work- nies, by the early 2030s.

166 Chemical Weekly November 7, 2023

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