Identification of potential needs of standardisation for sustainable chemicals from primary and secondary raw materials related to the circular economy action plan
Approach to be taken forward by CEN/CLC/BT/JWG11
Introduction
On 7 September 2016, CEN and CENELEC received an outline for an ancillary action as indicated in the title of this report.The two organisations have delegated the execution to a joint working group, CEN/CLC/BT/JWG11, of which NEN holds the Secretariat.
This report lays down the methodology of the work to be undertaken, the sources that will be used and the stakeholders that will be consulted during the course of the activity. It explains how the approach, prioritising the identification of standards, willbe executed. Furthermore, the report details which standards and standardisation documents will be addressed in the work and in what detail. Finally, it describes how and by whom the work will be carriedout and which measures of quality management will be applied.
Background and objective of this activity
The transition to a more circular economy, where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the generation of waste minimised, is an essential contribution to the EU's efforts to develop a sustainable, low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy. Such transition is the opportunity to transform our economy and generate new and sustainable competitive advantages for Europe. In a circular economy, materials that can be recycled are injected back into the economy as new raw materials thus increasing the security of supply. These "secondary raw materials" can be traded and shipped just like primary raw materials from traditional extractive resources. At present, secondary raw materials still account for a small proportion of the materials used in the EU. Waste management practices have a direct impact on the quantity and quality of the materials and therefore actions to improve these practices are crucial. However, other barriers restrict the growth of this important market and the smooth circulation of the materials, and the Commission is developing further analysis on the major obstacles in this context. One of the barriers faced by operators who want to use secondary raw materials is uncertainty as to their quality. In the absence of EU-wide standards, it can be difficult to ascertain impurity levels or suitability for high-grade recycling (e.g. for plastics). The development of such standards should increase trust in secondary raw materials and in recycled materials, and help support the market.
The overall objective of this activity is therefore to map, identify and prioritise standardisation needs in support of sustainable chemicals from primary and secondary raw materials by mapping existing or on-going standardisation work including work by industry and other organisations in this area at national, European and International levels. For the purpose of this activity the concept of "sustainable chemicals" shall refer to the full lifecycle of chemicals. Whereas some of these areas are covered by legislation, others are not, which leads to different requirements for standards. Hence and with respect to this activity, it is essential to obtain a mapping for all standardisation activities that are linked to different regulations or policies[1] allowing for preferential treatment of more sustainable chemicals on justifiable objective grounds by allowing for the inclusion of standardisation documents as reference.
The activity contains of the following deliverables:
The current report describing the general approach to be followed for the implementation of this activity;
A report with a mapping of existing standards and other standardisation documents in relevant fields of sustainable chemicals from primary and secondary raw materials and identification and prioritisation of future needs for the development of European standards and other standardisation deliverables in this field, including a gap analysis andproposals on how to close those witha justification, prioritisation and indicative time schedule for such standardisation work; and
The final report, including a cross-check of the earlier results with relevant stakeholders.
The general approach to be followed to implement this activity
The Technical Board Working Group 11 “Sustainable Chemicals” (CEN/CLC/BT/JWG11, hereafter shortened toJWG11) has been established for the execution of this activity and any further related work that will result from this activity. A call for experts will be sent out to relevant parties and organisations to participate inthe work ofJWG11.An estimate of 30 experts (from CEN/CENELEC member countries and liaison organisations) is expected to participate.
Annex I presents a list of organisations that will be invited to participate to JWG11. Organisations unwilling to contribute in the first step of establishing the standards’ inventory and the timeline of the deliverables, will be invited once again to the consolidation step via the workshop (see below).
Theworking group, the experts in the field and aware of the standards,will carry out the mapping and review of already existing national, European and international standards and other standardisation deliverables andbuild on information from various sources such asBest Available Reference Documents (BREFs) and Best Available Techniques (BATs), from the information exchange under the Industrial Emission Directive (IED), or Code of Practices of different organisations. The review will further build upon the available reports, such as the British Standards Institute (BSI) report on Resource Management and the Circular Economyas well as the overview table showing an indicative list of working areas/topics in Annex II. This mapping work shall also take into account on-going pre-and co-normative research and development (H2020 and the work listed in the ancillary action). Moreover, the work shall build upon the standardisation related work of relevant European Technology Platforms (ETPs). Furthermore, the mapping will consider existing, on-going and/or planned activities by international standards bodies such as ISO and other organisations in non-EU countries, including USA, Japan, China etc.
The outcome of the mapping activity will consist of a list of standards and other standardisation deliverables for the relevant chemicals identified by JWG11. See Annex II for the template of the outcome of the mapping exercise. The list will consist of European Standards, but will include ISO/IEC documents, and those of other SDOs (such as ASTM, IEEE, ASME, etc) and national standardization bodies. Codes, regulations and related specification setting documents will be included. The end-goal is that from the mapping and list, further selection will be made towards possible standards that may support the EU market for sustainable chemicals. Where possible judgement whether documents shall become European Standard, pre-standard (Technical Specification) or guidance (Technical Report) will be part of the outcome.
The initial mapping will be done via a library search executed by NEN. At the JWG11 kick-off meeting the boundaries of the search will be defined. The preliminary results of the mapping exercise will be discussed at the second meeting of the JWG 11 and concluded at the last one. That conclusion will then also be the type of deliverable required and a possible timeline. The link between the suggested standards and EU regulations or policy will be part of the review.
Prior to the mapping exercise, the working group will identify the boundaries of relevant fields of sustainable chemicals. These boundaries are required as the time and span of the work is limited. The limitations can depend on the amount of chemical elements to be studied (see Annex III) or be dedicated to specific chemical materials/material groups. This shall be determined by the JWG11 in the kick-off meeting.
Once the mapping is finalised, JWG11 experts will be taskedwith developingrecommendationsfor specific deliverables and timeline for standards for specific areas. At the moment, the specific groups or subjects cannot be defined. The allocation of tasks will depend on the WG experts' background and the standards identified during the work. The experts will organise exchanges via web-meetings to align their thoughts and recommendations. NEN will assist in this regard. The results will then be discussed at a JWG11 meeting and combined into a draft report.In total, four physical JWG11 meetings are expected to be organised over a period of one year.
The final step of the activity is to cross-check the list of standards (deliverables) and the timingwith relevant stakeholders. These stakeholders are listed in Annex I. Together with representatives from the European Commission, they will be invited to a workshop in Brussels at the CCMC to discuss the draft report. The final report will take into account the comments received by the stakeholder during the workshop.
TheJWG11 will be led by a convenor, who will be appointed and contracted in line with the CEN/CLC procedures. He or she will chair the working group meetings, define the actions and (together with NEN) keep track of deadlines. Apart from leading the report writing, that person will also chair the workshop.NEN provides the Secretariat of JWG11. The Secretary will plan the meetings, organise document distribution and meetings between the different parties participating in the project, arrange for information exchange and the initiation of liaisons and information exchanges with the identified and nominated experts that will execute the work. NEN will organise the workshop during which stakeholders will be consulted on the results of WP2. This includes location organisation, registrations, invitations, agenda planning etc.
Annex IStakeholders to be consulted
StakeholdersThe Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
Workers (ETUI-REHS)
The European Renewable Raw Materials Association (ERRMA)
COPA-COGECA
EFAR – European Federation for agricultural recycling
EBA- European Biogas Association
Municipal Waste Europe
EUROFEMA – European Organic Fertilizers Manufacturers Association
European Biomass Industry Association
CEPI – Confederation of European Paper Industries
CEWEP
Circular Economy 100 Platform
Public Private Partnerships (PPPs)
Joint Undertakings
Organisations representing consumers’ interests (ANEC)
Environmental protection (ECOS)
SMEs (NORMAPME),
European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC)
European Bioplastics
European Association for Bioindustries (EuropaBio)
Council of European Municipalities and Regions,
EUREAU
EURO COOP – European Community of Consumer Cooperatives
FEAD - European Federation of Waste Management and Environmental Services
EFPRA – European Animal By-product Processing Sector
ESPP – European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform
ECOFI- European Consortium Organic-Based Fertilizer Industry
EUROSLAG – European Association of Metallurgical Slag Products and Processors
European Biomass Industry Association
Fédération Internationale du Recyclage (FIR),
European Recovered Fuel Organisation (ERFO
CEPF - Confederation of European Forest Owners
Fertilizer Europe
European Compost Network
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Relevant European Technology Platforms (ETPs)
ECHA - European Chemicals Agency
PRE - Plastics Recyclers Europe
Annex II Mapping & Scoping of Standards in Support of Sustainable Chemicals from primary and secondary raw materials
N° / Stage of the Production Chain / Mapping & Scoping Area/Topic / Relevant Chemicals / Identified Standards0 / Feedstock / Biomass quality & sustainability indicators, assessment & thresholds including LCA approaches
Biomass carriers ( bio-oil, pyrolysis oil, biochar) quality & sustainability indicators, assessment & thresholds including LCA approaches
Gaseous effluents including CO2 quality & sustainability indicators, assessment & thresholds including LCA approaches
Recyclates (e.g. plastics, tyres, minerals) quality & sustainability indicators, assessment & thresholds including LCA approaches
Oil & Gas quality & environmental, economic and social indicators, assessment & thresholds including LCA approaches
Quality and sustainability of other necessary secondary raw materials (SRMs) indicators, assessment & thresholds including LCA approaches
Quality and sustainability of minerals as SRMs for coatings, pigments, batteries, etc. production
1 / Production / Quality & capability of processes including controlling of emissions to air, water and soil (relevant BATs – BREFs & IED)
SRMs use efficiency
Water use efficiency
Energy use efficiency
Land use efficiency
Sustainability indicators, assessment approaches & thresholds for processes including LCA approach(es)
2 / Products (chemicals and materials) / Recyclability measurements (test methodology, testing scheme and acceptance criteria)
N° / Stage of the Production Chain / Mapping & Scoping Area/Topic / Relevant Chemicals / Identified Standards
2 / Products (chemicals and materials) / Biodegradability measurements (test methodology, testing scheme and acceptance criteria)
Ecotoxicity measurements (test methodology, testing scheme and acceptance criteria)
Anaerobic digestion measurements (test methodology, testing scheme and acceptance criteria)
Compostability measurements (test methodology, testing scheme and acceptance criteria)
Polymers mechanical, thermal and chemical functionality (including isolation properties, migration barriers to gasses, weather ability, transparency, adhesion to other materials/surfaces)
Sustainability indicators, assessment approaches & thresholds for products including LCA approach(es)
Analytical methods to verify the conformity of, e.g., labelled pigments, coatings, batteries, etc. related to the Raw Materials Initiative Activities
3 / Labelling / Claims on sustainable chemicals such as sustainability including verification & specification approaches
Tools for B2B communication
Tools for B2C communication
Analytical methods to verify the conformity of, e.g., labelled pigments, coatings, batteries, etc. related to the Raw Materials Initiative Activities
Collection approaches (including test methodology, testing scheme and acceptance criteria)
4 / Recycling / Sorting approaches (including test methodology, testing scheme and acceptance criteria)
Quality of SRMs (see N°0 above) – "closing the loop"
Declarations on recycled content
Annex III Chemical Elements
Element name / Element symbol / Atomic number / Element name / Element symbol / Atomic numberActinium / Ac / 89 / Hafnium / Hf / 72
Aluminium / Al / 13 / Hassium / Hs / 108
Americium / Am / 95 / Helium / He / 2
Antimony / Sb / 51 / Holmium / Ho / 67
Argon / Ar / 18 / Hydrogen / H / 1
Arsenic / As / 33 / Indium / In / 49
Astatine / At / 85 / Iodine / I / 53
Barium / Ba / 56 / Iridium / Ir / 77
Berkelium / Bk / 97 / Iron / Fe / 26
Beryllium / Be / 4 / Krypton / Kr / 36
Bismuth / Bi / 83 / Lanthanum / La / 57
Bohrium / Bh / 107 / Lawrencium / Lr / 103
Boron / B / 5 / Lead / Pb / 82
Bromine / Br / 35 / Lithium / Li / 3
Cadmium / Cd / 48 / Livermorium / Lv / 116
Caesium / Cs / 55 / Lutetium / Lu / 71
Calcium / Ca / 20 / Magnesium / Mg / 12
Californium / Cf / 98 / Manganese / Mn / 25
Carbon / C / 6 / Meitnerium / Mt / 109
Cerium / Ce / 58 / Mendelevium / Md / 101
Chlorine / Cl / 17 / Mercury / Hg / 80
Chromium / Cr / 24 / Molybdenum / Mo / 42
Cobalt / Co / 27 / Neodymium / Nd / 60
Copernicium / Cn / 112 / Neon / Ne / 10
Copper / Cu / 29 / Neptunium / Np / 93
Curium / Cm / 96 / Nickel / Ni / 28
Darmstadtium / Ds / 110 / Niobium / Nb / 41
Dubnium / Db / 105 / Nitrogen / N / 7
Dysprosium / Dy / 66 / Nobelium / No / 102
Einsteinium / Es / 99 / Osmium / Os / 76
Erbium / Er / 68 / Oxygen / O / 8
Europium / Eu / 63 / Palladium / Pd / 46
Fermium / Fm / 100 / Phosphorus / P / 15
Flerovium / Fl / 114 / Platinum / Pt / 78
Fluorine / F / 9 / Plutonium / Pu / 94
Francium / Fr / 87 / Polonium / Po / 84
Gadolinium / Gd / 64 / Potassium / K / 19
Gallium / Ga / 31 / Praseodymium / Pr / 59
Germanium / Ge / 32 / Promethium / Pm / 61
Gold / Au / 79 / Protactinium / Pa / 91
Element name / Element symbol / Atomic number / Element name / Element symbol / Atomic number
Radium / Ra / 88 / Terbium / Tb / 65
Radon / Rn / 86 / Thallium / Tl / 81
Rhenium / Re / 75 / Thorium / Th / 90
Rhodium / Rh / 45 / Thulium / Tm / 69
Roentgenium / Rg / 111 / Tin / Sn / 50
Rubidium / Rb / 37 / Titanium / Ti / 22
Ruthenium / Ru / 44 / Tungsten / W / 74
Rutherfordium / Rf / 104 / Ununoctium / Uuo / 118
Samarium / Sm / 62 / Ununpentium / Uup / 115
Scandium / Sc / 21 / Ununseptium / Uus / 117
Seaborgium / Sg / 106 / Ununtrium / Uut / 113
Selenium / Se / 34 / Uranium / U / 92
Silicon / Si / 14 / Vanadium / V / 23
Silver / Ag / 47 / Xenon / Xe / 54
Sodium / Na / 11 / Ytterbium / Yb / 70
Strontium / Sr / 38 / Yttrium / Y / 39
Sulfur / S / 16 / Zinc / Zn / 30
Tantalum / Ta / 73 / Zirconium / Zr / 40
Technetium / Tc / 43
Tellurium / Te / 52
[1] Relevant legislation and policy documents include especially, circular economy – packaging and packaging waste and other relevant waste legislations; eco-design; bioeconomy; issues such as reparability, durability, upgradability, recyclability, biodegradability, dismantle, reuse and recycling; plastic strategy; eco-labelling; emissions regulations (including especially IED & ETS; research and innovation, construction, textile and other relevant product regulations; water framework regulation) including also for clear concepts for products related to Green Public Procurement (GPP), Innovation Procurement, etc. Other relevant legislation is Chemical Legislation such as REACH, ROHS, CLP, Biocidal, WEEE etc.