UEIL Sustainability Committee Evolves for the Next Stage in Their Sustainability Journey
Technical and Competition Committees The Technical and Competition Committees met in-person in Brussels mid-September. This second in-person meeting of 2023 was the occasion for members to share information on the various technical and competition open cases, discuss the latest developments and decide on the next steps to take, whether it is soft power or legal procedures. Over the past months, many non-compliance cases have evolved in the right direction.
This was also an immediate opportunity for members to raise issues met in their home countries and seek solutions from good practice examples from members.
Regarding policy updates, at the EU level, the European Commission revised the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (MVBER) which is now applicable until 31st of May 2028. The Committee has decided to update the explanatory leaflet on the MVBER for its members.
Health, Safety and Environment Committee The Health, Safety and Environment met in person in Milan early September, hosted by Federchimica. The legislative agenda keeps members relatively busy this year, with notably the Classification, Labelling, Packaging (CLP) regulation revision for which the Committee has been quite active to defend interest of the sector towards EU decision makers. The association has now joined forces with various downstream users of chemicals to call for a series of changes in the current CLP regulation revision proposal, with the aim to influence the debate throughout this autumn.
The HSE Committee also focused its effort on drafting a response to the PFAS restrictions proposal1
, calling
for a derogation of 13,5 years for PTFE-PFTE-based lubricants . This broad restriction proposals will affect the lubricants sector and all end-users and customers.
PFAS,very%20persistent%20in%20the%20environment. 2
In the meantime, a response to the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) public consultation2
was drafted, where lubricants have been
identified by the European Commission as priority groups. Our position is to get lubricants out of the scope of this EcoDesign directive since lubricants provide only functionality and are working only in conjunction with other equipment; a classification without looking at the use phase is of limited value.
Members also had intense discussion on the way national authorities regulate how to handle biocides for metal working fluids. The Biodcide Task Force will write a communication paper an collect information on the various legislation in individual EU member states.
The HSE group would also like to remember the lube blenders, that intentionally added microplastic will be restricted except for industrial use on industrial sites.
The European Green Deal is the principle driving force behind our sustainability journey in Europe
The lubricants industry has a key role to play in enabling: the transition to a net-zero carbon economy; the supply of clean, affordable and secure energy; accelerating the shift to sustainable and smart mobility; and mobilising industry for a clean and circular economy. As an industry, we also recognise the pull from our customers for more sustainable and innovative solutions and appreciate a growing population that consciously wants to purchase sustainable products.
In response to EU policy and increasing legislative requirements (including Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability; Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation; Safe and Sustainable by Design; Green Claims Directive; and Transition to a circular Economy), UEIL’s Sustainability Committee is transitioning from
1
https://echa.europa.eu/-/echa-publishes-pfas-restriction-proposal#:~:text=ECHA%20publishes%20PFAS%20restriction%20proposal&text=It%20aims%20to%20reduce%20
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13682-New-product-priorities-for-Ecodesign-for-Sustainable-Products_en Continued on page 53 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.177 OCTOBER 2023 51
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
