Plastics companies have not responded comprehensively to requests from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) that they register certain ingredients and polymers in the second registration process for Reach.
ECHA says that by the May 31 deadline for registering chemicals made, used or imported in quantities of 100 metric tons or more, there were 984 substances left unregistered that companies had earlier promised to register. Until they are registered, these chemicals cannot be used in the EU unless companies use less than 100 metric tons of them annually.
There were 19 polymer or homopolymer-related substances left unregistered. These included formaldehyde, polymer with 4,4'-(1-methylethylidene)bis[phenol]; 1,2-ethanediamine, N1-(2-aminoethyl)-, polymer with 2-methyloxirane; hydrocarbons, C6-20, polymers, hydrogenated; and more.
Also, 1-propene, homo-polymer, maleated; 1-dodecene, homopolymer; and 1-tetradecene, homopolymer were left unregistered, as were petroleum resins, plus paraffin and hydrocarbon waxes, oxidized.
That said, ECHA deemed the registration round a success. By May 31, 3,215 companies had submitted 9,084 registration dossiers for chemicals manufactured or imported in quantities from 100 to 1,000 metric tons per year. The last Reach registration deadline for substances manufactured or imported in quantities above 1 metric ton a year is May 31, 2018.