Following on from a 2020 report on REACH and sustainability, the German Environment Agency (UBA) has published a report titled “Advancing REACH – REACH and substitution”.

The report considers:

• How can REACH enhance substitution of substances of concern?
• How could changes in REACH or its implementation enhance the support of substitution by REACH?

There are many recommendations, which include:

• A quicker identification of substances of very high concern, and/or control of those with unacceptable risks is needed
• Make identification of substitutes easier by better use description in dossiers
• Grouping approaches should be used more frequently to avoid poor substitutions
• Include non-monetizable health benefits for society and environmental benefits in socioeconomic analysis
• Support the substitution of essential uses of hazardous substances
• Make more use of the precautionary principle
• Develop national substitution strategies
• Support private investment in substitution
• Promote success stories
• Provide financial support to help development of innovations.

Read the full report at:
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/advancing-reach-reach-substitution