Management of Risks Associated with the Transport, Handling & Storage of Raw Materials

Processing and marketing often require bulk transportation, handling and storage, either in bulk or in packaged form, until they reach final customers. It is often in these two final stages of the mine-to-market process that chemical & physical hazards and risks to humans and the environment are greater, thus calling for much greater focus and stricter measures to be adopted for their management. “Materials Stewardship” is the responsible provision of materials and supervision of material flows towards the creation of maximum societal value and minimum impact on man and the environment.

In practice, Materials Stewardship is about:

• Understanding the social, environmental and economic impacts of your material as it moves through its life cycle from mining to use and through to the end of its life.
• Developing relationships with other actors along the life cycle who can promote beneficial and appropriate use of your material or who can minimize risks to human health and the environment.
• Taking action on appropriate stewardship activities for the part of the life cycle you directly control. For the areas outside your direct control, but where you have influence, work with and encourage other actors in the life cycle to play their part.

The business benefits of pursuing materials stewardship include:

• Improvements in the efficiency of industrial & supply chain processes
• Access to secondary resources
• Eliminating exposure to hazardous materials and optimizing product design to enhance durability
• Recycling and wider access to markets

Eco-Efficiency Consulting & Engineering Ltd, can help you at drafting your own “Good Practice Guidance” according to the Materials Stewardship principles, as we have already done for the International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM).

The Second International Symposium on Green Chemistry for Environment and Health, that will take place from September 27th to 29th, 2010, in Mykonos Greece, has issued a call for paper submission to scientists, professionals, researchers, environmentalists and policy makers involved or interested in the thematic field of the conference.

Protecting the environment and our health is, and should always remain, a top priority in research, industry and policy-making. The Society of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety (SECOTOX) and the Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, in collaboration with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Hellenic Green Chemistry Network and the Non Governmental Organization INTEN- SYNERGY organise this Second Symposium in order to bring scientists, professionals and researchers from various areas together, in order to present and discuss topics related to Green Chemistry for a better environment and a healthier life.

The call for abstract submission will remain open until June 1st, 2010.

More information on the forthcoming Symposium can be found on its website: Symposium website

You can also read the leaflet of the Symposium, here: Symposium Leaflet

On 2 February 2011, the European Commission adopted a new strategy which sets out targeted measures to secure and improve access to raw materials for the EU in the coming years.

The new strategy for raw materials builds on and further develops the results of the Raw Materials Initiative (RMI) which was launched by the Commission in 2008 to ensure that EU businesses and industry do not suffer a competitive disadvantage over resource-rich countries.

Following this Initiative, the Commission identified 14 critical raw materials: antimony, beryllium, cobalt, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite, indium, magnesium, niobium, platinum group metals, rare earths, tantalum and tungsten.These critical raw materials are those which display a particularly high risk of supply shortage in the next 10 years and which are particularly important for the value chain.

Regarding critical raw materials, the Commission intends to explore the potential for targeted actions (notably for recycling) as well as a possible stockpiling programme of raw materials. It will also monitor the issues of critical raw materials to identify priority actions and regularly update the list of critical raw materials.

The RMI also laid down measures in three areas which have been pursued and reinforced by the new strategy to improve access to raw materials for the EU.

The Commission’s approach is based on 3 pillars:

1st Pillar: Fair and sustainable supply of raw materials from global markets: the EU will pursue a raw materials diplomacy with a view to securing access to raw materials, in particular the critical ones, through strategic partnerships and policy dialogues. The Commission will focus on development policy and sustainable supply of raw materials and will reinforce the raw materials trade strategy.

2nd Pillar: Fostering sustainable supply within the EU: promote technologies that increase investment in the EU’s natural assets, promote investment in extractive industries and enhance the knowledge base necessary for an efficient raw materials strategy.

3d Pillar: Boosting resource efficiency and promoting recycling: the Commission suggests to set higher recycling rates. It will present a roadmap for a resource efficient Europe and will focus on better implementation and enforcement of existing EU waste legislation as well as enforcement of the Waste Shipment Regulation.

This new strategy also put forward a programme to increase the integrity and transparency of commodity derivatives markets.

The Commission will also assess whether to launch an Innovation Partnership on raw materials within the Europe 2020 Flagship on Innovation Union.

For more information, visit the following link:

[1] http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/raw-materials/files/docs/communication_en.pdf : Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Tackling the Challenges in Commodity Markets and on Raw Materials.

Nanomaterials have already found hundreds of applications in a variety of sectors, while at the same time have enormous research potential (e.g. in medicine, environmental protection etc.). Due to this plethora of uses and applications, the nanomaterials have acquired a number of different definitions in the various legislative texts (both in European and National level) that apply to them. This incompatibility of definitions preserves uncertainty over the risks they pose and the appropriate measures. The definition will help all stakeholders including industry associations, as it brings coherence to the variety of definitions that are currently in use in different sectors. The Recommendation, however, specifies that the definition may not be readily usable in pharma and medical devices legislation.

When the new definition is officially adopted, it is expected to influence the application of the REACH Regulation (1907/2006). The experience of the first registration deadline (30 November 2010 for substances produced or imported at more than 1000t/year) under REACH, the EU’s overarching chemicals policy, showed that companies needed more clarity about their obligations with regard to nanomaterials. With the adopted definition it will be easier for companies to assess their registration dossiers and determine exactly when they should consider their products as nanomaterials.

You can find more information regarding the proposed single definition in the relevant press release of the Commission and the Commission’s webpage for nanomaterials, or you can contact us.

Eco-efficiency Consulting and Engineering Ltd, as a member of the Hellenic Solid Waste Management Association, participates in the organisational committee and supports the campaign that will take place in Greece for third time in a row!

The Let’s do it cleanup actions begun in Estonia in 2008. Gathered by a web-centered and social network campaign, 50.000 volunteers collected 10.000 tons of waste from forested areas.

Since then, “Let’s do it” has gained worldwide status. One day every year, citizens from all over the world participate in the cleanup actions, communicating a note of hope for the environment.

Now, we are happy to announce that, this year, the Let’s do it campaign will take place, for the first time, in Greece, an initiative of Hellenic Solid Waste Management Association and “Time for Action” Environmental Association for Attica.

Eco-efficiency Consulting and Engineering Ltd supports and participates in the organisational committee for this first Greek Let’s do it campaign, recognising its role in the development of environmental awareness and the promotion of environmentally friendly waste management.

The Greek action will take place on Sunday, April 6th 2014. Its target is that all together: citizens, local associations, councils and enterprises, in every part of Greece, will clean up those areas where waste dumping is a recognised problem.

The main objective of this initiative is to mobilise volunteer groups, associations, schools, local councils, public services and enterprises around Greece, so that they will work together towards this difficult target.

Let’s Do it is a purely voluntary effort and is not funded by any association. Every type of support, whether financial, promotional or of other form of cooperation, is very important and will be more than welcome!

It is a very difficult target, but it can be achieved, with your active participation!

Join the action now, in the following website: http://www.letsdoitgreece.org/ or contact us if you want to be a sponsor and Let’s clean Greece together!

Let’s Do It… Let’s Clean up Greece!!!

Eco-efficiency Consulting & Engineering Ltd.

The first official publication stemming from DG Enterprise was released on 31st July 2012 and the subject is the sustainable competitiveness of the construction sectors and its enterprises. The scope is the construction sector: contractors, demolishers, distributors, developers, construction product manufacturers.

The key issues to be addressed are:

• Promoting renovation of buildings;
• Developing of a range of services to address health and safety, energy efficiency, green building, disasters resilience-adaptations to climate change (i.e., earthquake safety and fire safety), indoor climate, reuse/recovery/recycling and design to fit;
• Promoting sustainable use of natural resources: basic requirement of the construction products regulationsustainable use of construction products) will be implemented to all construction products;
• Stimulating investment conditions.

DG Enterprise further published a communication on a stronger industry for growth and recovery mentioning the construction sector as a key industrial target for new EU policies. DG Environment is working on policies to tackle the sustainability of buildings (residential and non-residential) covering the whole lifecycle of a building, i.e. material efficiency, land-use planning, recycling, water, embedded energy in material, eco-design of buildings, the efficiency of the supply chain. DG Environment will launch a stakeholder publication early November 2012, start an impact assessment study on the policies it wishes to implement and publish an action plan end of 2013.

On November 30th and December 1st, 2012 the 4th International Conference of the Hellenic Solid Waste Management Association (HSWMA) will take place in Athens, with the support of National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).

The conference will focus on the changes in the field of solid waste management in Greece, within the broader European policy for sustainable management of wastes and natural resources.

Sustainable and friendly for the environment waste management is an important focus for Eco-efficiency Consulting and Engineering Ltd and we provide alternative solutions for managing waste or residues. Therefore, the company sponsors the 4th International Conference of HSWMA, while, at the same time it participates with the presentation of two papers:

• Methodology and strategy for the determination of hazardous properties of waste
• Waste declassification: Challenges and opportunities for the Greek enterprises arising from the implementation of the EU waste framework directive

You can find more information about the Conference in its website (in Greek).
Find more about our services on waste in the relevant section of our website.

Since December 1st, 2012 all Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for substances and mixtures should be compliant with the REACH Regulation and Regulation (EC) 453/2010.

These new, extended Safety Data Sheets (e-SDS) shall contain safety information for the chemical products, based on the results of the Chemical Safety Assessment that was performed during the REACH registration of the constituent substances in the product (e.g. Exposure Scenarios, toxicological and environmental information, protection measures and equipment, chemical safety measures, registration number)

Furthermore, from that day forward, all dangerous substances should be labeled and packaged according to the provisions of Regulation 1272/2008 (CLP Regulation). Mixtures are still being classified according to the Dangerous Substance Directive (67/548/EEC) and the Dangerous Preparations Directive (1999/45/EC), the hazards classification of the substances must be made according to both systems.

You can find more detailed information about the new e-SDS and the CLP Regulation and on how Eco-efficiency Consulting & Engineering Ltd can help you in our relevant pages or by contacting us:

extended Safety Data Sheets
CLP Regulation
contact us

The CLP Regulation (for “Classification, Labelling and Packaging”) is a European Union regulation which aligns the European Union system of classification, labeling and packaging of chemical substances and mixtures to the Globally Harmonised System (GHS). It is expected to facilitate global trade and the harmonised communication of hazard information of chemicals and to promote regulatory efficiency. It complements the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation (EC No 1907/2006) and replaces the current system contained in the Dangerous Substances Directive (67/548/EEC) and the Dangerous Preparations Directive (1999/45/EC).

Eco-Efficiency Consulting & Engineering Ltd can help you understand the obligations that CLP places on you and provide technical support to help you meet these obligations.

Notification Compliance

Safety Data Sheet

A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is the necessary companion of dangerous substances and mixtures that enter the market and it is an obligation of the manufacturer to provide it. It is the main means of communication of information on the whole supply chain.

REACH Regulation has set new specifications regarding the structure and content of the Safety Data Sheets. These specifications must be fulfilled by every substance that is registered according to REACH.

Practically every substance that is traded in the EU must be registered or preregistered and this must be visible in the SDS, through the (pre)registration number and the presence of Exposure Scenarios as an annex. These Exposure Scenarios assess the exposure of workers and the environment to the substance and describe the necessary exposure prevention and control measures.

We, at Eco-Efficiency Consulting and Engineering Ltd offer our services to assist you in the compilation of a full SDS for each one of the substances or mixtures that you manufacture, in full accordance with your registration dossier. We also bring our expertise, in managing and implementing SDS from your suppliers, at your disposal. Our services also include:

• Communication with the REACH registration consortia for the substances in the SDS.
• Compilation of e-SDS (extended SDS), according to the specifications of REACH and CLP Regulations.
• Immediate support in customs offices to avoid delays.
• Evaluation of your suppliers’ e-SDS for coverage of your use and other necessary modifications.