How to define and phase out problematic chemicals for sustainable chemistry

Knowing which chemicals to eliminate from your business — and in what order — can be challenging. But before businesses can effectively identify and prioritize harmful chemicals for phase-out, they must first define what safer chemistry means for them.  

In a recent webinar, Betsy Murry, Director of Products and Programs at Enhesa Sustainable Chemistry, shared insights on why a better understanding of chemicals of concern, and where you stand on the ‘readiness’ curve, are key to progressing your safer chemistry program, plus steps on how to then identify and prioritize substances to eliminate.

Key steps to transition to safer chemistry

To successfully implement safer chemistry practices, businesses need to follow these four steps:  

1. Define safer chemistry in the business  
2. Identify chemicals of concern within the business 
3. Prioritize chemicals for phase-out or improvement  
4. Take action to move toward safer chemistry  

Many businesses interpret ‘safer chemistry’ differently, yet a lack of alignment within an organization can prevent companies from making progress. In our recent survey of chemicals management professionals: 

• 41% said having a unified, clearer definition of safer chemistry would help improve their inter-departmental view of the chemicals they use; and 

• 57% of respondents struggled to consistently understand how to address chemicals of concern across the business. 

These findings show that businesses recognize the challenge. Without buy-in and common understanding across teams, prioritizing substances to eliminate becomes difficult.   

A clear definition of chemicals of concern ultimately guides businesses on which chemicals to assess first, then which to improve or eliminate.

While businesses will often have different criteria for what makes a substance problematic, using a Chemical Hazard Assessment (CHA) can help. CHAs assess the core characteristics of chemicals, such as carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, persistence, and bioaccumulation.  

However, 79% of companies said CHAs can be resource-intensive, and with two-thirds of companies conducting CHAs in-house according to our survey, the time required to conduct CHAs is a significant challenge. This prevents many companies from fully adopting a characteristics-based approach (via CHAs) as their main way of assessing chemicals.

The readiness journey: Where do you stand?

If companies aren’t yet ready to adopt a fully CHA approach to assessing chemicals, there are still steps they can take to identify and prioritize their most harmful substances for phase-out. 

As explored in the webinar, many companies start at the base of a ‘readiness’ curve with a compliance mindset, before moving up to a sustainability mindset with the right resources and approach.  

• Compliance: Many companies begin with compliance, focusing on whether the chemical in question is currently regulated or restricted. 

• Compliance+: This approach looks beyond regulatory compliance only and includes looking at whether the chemical in question is currently on a watch list. 

• Sustainability: This approach evaluates the characteristics of a substance, looking at whether the chemical in question is on an authoritative list based on its hazard traits.

Identifying and prioritizing chemicals: Where to begin

Once a clear definition is in place, companies can begin to identify and prioritize substances. Regardless of where a business is on the curve, examining compliance is a good starting point. 
 

Using priority lists

Screening chemicals against regulatory lists is a quick way to recognize if they’re known to be problematic. Forecasting regulatory changes can also help your company progress.