Government Regulation
March 15, 2021
Regulatory Uncertainty in Europe
EU chemicals need stable, strong regulatory framework to grow – execs
Author: Morgan Condon
2021/03/12
LONDON (ICIS)–A firmer connection is needed between the EU Green Deal and the bloc’s industrial strategy to support the competitiveness of its chemicals industry, according to executives in the European chemicals industry.
Rene Van Sloten, industrial policy advisor at Europe-wide trade group Cefic, emphasised the importance of this link to meet the EU’s net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, 2050 environmental targets.
“There are opportunities [for chemicals in the Green Deal] but in order for European industry to benefit from this it needs to develop solutions for all these problems, not importing solutions from other parts of the world,” said Van Sloten.
He estimated that the chemicals industry would require annual investments between €17-27bn, depending on the level of ambition of making sustainable production a reality.
“We need to keep Europe attractive as investment location. If it is not attractive, other regions will compete for investment, so we need to make sure framework is there,” he said.
Dennis Kredler, director for EU Affairs at US chemicals major Dow, which runs large production facilities in the region, said that the EU’s chemicals industry has the potential to become a “game changer”.
He added that, however, any innovation in the industry would depend on public and private funding, something he considered to be challenging due to what he described as unstable regulatory landscape.
“Investment needs as much predictability as possible. You could argue that there is a lot of predictability, many companies in this industry are putting investment plans in place to achieve these outcomes,” said Kredler.
“The challenge is that practically our entire regulatory framework [is currently] under review.”
The EU has stated it aims to renew and upgrade its Reach chemicals regulatory framework, already the strictest in the world; chemicals producers often complain its implementation adds red-tape and a financial burden on their operations.
With issues as diverse yet important as climate change, plant permits, chemicals management, and the circular economy all vying for attention, a unified industrial strategy would help connect the dots and provide a clear path forwards.
Van Sloten and Kredler were speaking earlier this week at Cefic-organised event titled ‘Beyond European economic recovery: How can industry support Europe’s competitive sustainability?’
March 15, 2021
Regulatory Uncertainty in Europe
EU chemicals need stable, strong regulatory framework to grow – execs
Author: Morgan Condon
2021/03/12
LONDON (ICIS)–A firmer connection is needed between the EU Green Deal and the bloc’s industrial strategy to support the competitiveness of its chemicals industry, according to executives in the European chemicals industry.
Rene Van Sloten, industrial policy advisor at Europe-wide trade group Cefic, emphasised the importance of this link to meet the EU’s net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, 2050 environmental targets.
“There are opportunities [for chemicals in the Green Deal] but in order for European industry to benefit from this it needs to develop solutions for all these problems, not importing solutions from other parts of the world,” said Van Sloten.
He estimated that the chemicals industry would require annual investments between €17-27bn, depending on the level of ambition of making sustainable production a reality.
“We need to keep Europe attractive as investment location. If it is not attractive, other regions will compete for investment, so we need to make sure framework is there,” he said.
Dennis Kredler, director for EU Affairs at US chemicals major Dow, which runs large production facilities in the region, said that the EU’s chemicals industry has the potential to become a “game changer”.
He added that, however, any innovation in the industry would depend on public and private funding, something he considered to be challenging due to what he described as unstable regulatory landscape.
“Investment needs as much predictability as possible. You could argue that there is a lot of predictability, many companies in this industry are putting investment plans in place to achieve these outcomes,” said Kredler.
“The challenge is that practically our entire regulatory framework [is currently] under review.”
The EU has stated it aims to renew and upgrade its Reach chemicals regulatory framework, already the strictest in the world; chemicals producers often complain its implementation adds red-tape and a financial burden on their operations.
With issues as diverse yet important as climate change, plant permits, chemicals management, and the circular economy all vying for attention, a unified industrial strategy would help connect the dots and provide a clear path forwards.
Van Sloten and Kredler were speaking earlier this week at Cefic-organised event titled ‘Beyond European economic recovery: How can industry support Europe’s competitive sustainability?’
March 11, 2021
A Win for Carpet
NIH Allergy Asthma Guidelines No Longer Dictate Carpet Removal
Dalton, GA, March 2, 2021––The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) released the “2020 Focused Updates to the Asthma Management Guidelines,” new federal guidelines regarding the best treatments for asthma and allergies on December 3, 2020. The guidelines have been updated and do not recommend removing carpet as a way to treat asthma and allergies.
“We’re pleased that these new guidelines recognize the most up-to-date science on carpet and indoor air quality,” said Joe Yarbrough, president, CRI. “CRI’s work has been instrumental in highlighting the studies that support this update, which is a positive development for our industry.”
The federal guidelines are used by public and private stakeholders, including other federal and state agencies along with the medical community.
“Beginning in 2013, a CRI task group comprised of subject matter experts from our industry worked to gather and submit science and data to NIH,” Yarbrough said. “Their work was instrumental in this initiative for the industry.”
CRI submitted studies that found carpet can improve indoor air quality by keeping particles out of the breathing zone until they can be removed through regular cleaning. The preponderance of research indicates that carpet has a positive impact on air quality.
Listen to the interview with Joe Yarbrough here.
March 11, 2021
A Win for Carpet
NIH Allergy Asthma Guidelines No Longer Dictate Carpet Removal
Dalton, GA, March 2, 2021––The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) released the “2020 Focused Updates to the Asthma Management Guidelines,” new federal guidelines regarding the best treatments for asthma and allergies on December 3, 2020. The guidelines have been updated and do not recommend removing carpet as a way to treat asthma and allergies.
“We’re pleased that these new guidelines recognize the most up-to-date science on carpet and indoor air quality,” said Joe Yarbrough, president, CRI. “CRI’s work has been instrumental in highlighting the studies that support this update, which is a positive development for our industry.”
The federal guidelines are used by public and private stakeholders, including other federal and state agencies along with the medical community.
“Beginning in 2013, a CRI task group comprised of subject matter experts from our industry worked to gather and submit science and data to NIH,” Yarbrough said. “Their work was instrumental in this initiative for the industry.”
CRI submitted studies that found carpet can improve indoor air quality by keeping particles out of the breathing zone until they can be removed through regular cleaning. The preponderance of research indicates that carpet has a positive impact on air quality.
Listen to the interview with Joe Yarbrough here.
February 19, 2021
Duties Imposed in India to Attract Domestic MDI Production
Indian ministry says petrochemical, polymer sectors to witness growth
20
Feb ’21
Pic: Shutterstock The increased outlay for healthcare and the fund for vaccination in the budget will boost polymer consumption with requirements of syringes and other polymer based healthcare products, and in general, the requirement of petrochemicals and polymers, required in a range of sectors, will also increase and boost domestic demand with increased government spending.
The roll out of the production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for key end-use sectors will boost petrochemical consumption in the country, the ministry of chemical and fertilizers said in a press release.
Among the sectors earmarked, seven sectors—including mobile phone manufacturing, auto and components, medical devices, textile products—use significant quantity of petrochemicals. The estimated outlay of ₹1.41 lakh crores augurs well for the petrochemical industry growth, the ministry said.
The massive emphasis on infrastructure spending is expected to result in additional consumption of petrochemicals like polymers and specialty chemicals. Also, Agriculture focused measure like doubling of outlay for micro-irrigation to ₹10,000 crores will further fuel demand for polymer based irrigation products and services.
The synthetic industry has welcomed increase in import duty on raw cotton. This will support farmers to get better remuneration on cotton production and also eliminate cheap imports coming from neighboring countries. As such India is surplus of cotton and rather than exporting cotton.
Industry also welcomes increase in basic customs duty on silk and silk products. Synthetic Industry will be able to substitute silk products silk products by supplying silk like products out of synthetic fibres.
On methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), duty has been increased from zero to 7.5 per cent. It is used in the production of polyurethanes for many applications, like spandex yarn. The revised custom duty will attract investments in India given the rising demand of polyurethanes and presence of no domestic players.
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