Data reporting for hazardous substances becomes mandatory

Beginning January 5, 2021, suppliers of products or complex objects that contain substances of very high concern (SVHC) must enter information in the EU’s SCIP database. This is required under the amended EU Waste Framework Directive, which is currently being implemented into national legislation. Because SVHCs such as lead are found in many components made of steel or aluminum, this thus applies to a very large number of products, warn DEKRA’s experts.

The database for information on Substances of Concern In articles as such or in complex objects (Products), or SCIP for short, was created to provide disposal operations with access to SVHC information as under REACH Article 33. However, the extent of information that must be entered in the database is much more broadly defined than under Article 33. The new requirements apply to all suppliers of products in which at least one article contains a substance of very high concern (SVHCs) in a concentration above 0.1%. This could include, for example, lead alloys in metal parts or plasticizers, flame retardants or UV stabilizers in plastic parts.

The concentration of SVHCs can be determined using information from the supply chain, by lab analysis or knowledge of typical SVHC materials: such as semi-finished products from machining steel or aluminum for machining, which therefore contain lead. The report must be generated in a special XML format. This can be done using the IUCLID tool of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). Furthermore, several specialized service providers offer solutions for data to be sent directly from the supplier’s database.

DEKRA helps companies to produce their SCIP report in the required format and to submit this to ECHA. DEKRA also offers consulting on SVHC management and SVHC lab analysis.