Dialogues with selected stakeholders on diverting substances of concern from the recycling loop (FKZ: 3720 33 303 0)
Many important functions of the products on the market today are based on the properties of chemical substances that have been deliberately added to them. Some of these substances have hazardous properties that can pose risks to human health and the environment under unfavourable conditions.
Against this background, a number of protective regulations have been established in product and chemicals legislation as well as in waste legislation in recent decades, which are implemented both in the individual responsibility of market actors and through state intervention regulations. Due to the rapidly growing scientific knowledge about the hazardous properties of chemicals and the potential environmental and health risks they pose, these established protective regulations are also subject to a dynamic adaptation process.
Due to different legal systems and the complexity of the relevant adaptation processes, there are currently friction losses at the interfaces between the regulatory areas of waste and chemicals legislation due to apparently contradictory requirements and criteria. This can lead to desirable market developments being impeded or the desired level of protection not being fully achieved, or to legal uncertainties for the actors involved.
In order to better understand the challenges for the market actors involved and the enforcement of the existing regulations by the state authorities, the German Environment Agency conducted this three-part dialogue project as part of the departmental research plan. In addition to gaining a better understanding of the challenges, the project also aimed to discuss and document concrete approaches for appropriate solutions together with all stakeholders.
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