News & Events

25.05.2011
The REACH Centre and IEMA - another successful chemical reaction

Following the success of their inaugural one day workshop in Huddersfield, and then a second in Birmingham, The REACH Centre and IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment) have recently held another successful event in Newcastle.

The one day workshop focused on some of the key technical and regulatory issues facing industry in the sustainable management of chemicals and was attended by around 40 companies.

The attending companies were made up of many different industries, including: manufacturing, utilities, retailers, academies, consultancies and regulatory authorities. All of whom helped make this second event another enjoyable day. Some of the notable companies who attended include; Rolls Royce Plc, BAE Systems, Sellafield Ltd and HMRC.

The day was split into two halves, with the morning session covering current regulatory issues including the latest on REACH and CLP, enforcement activities, Biocidal Products Directive and SVHCs. There was also a presentation on Japanese industry from the Japan Environmental Management Association  (JEMAI) for Industry, and their viewpoint on EU Chemicals regulations. Siobhan Murphy - scientific consultant from The REACH Centre -provided the introduction to the Biocidal Products Directive, which is a scheme that will ultimately require all biocidal products to be authorised before they can be placed on the EU market.

The second part of the day started with a presentation from Rolls-Royce, highlighting their perspective and management of REACH. This was then followed by a look at the key elements for compliance of the new Safety Data Sheets. The afternoon ended with a consideration of Nanotechnologies and how the development of a regulatory framework for risk assessment is progressing.

Guest speaker at the event, Taro Ishikawa from JEMAI, gave an insight into the Japanese economy and the chemical sector's critical role in supplying Japanese manufacturing industries. He described the event as "a very informative and enjoyable day. It's fantastic to have everybody together at one event and be able to discuss some of the key aspects affecting businesses. Looking to the future, we are planning for The REACH Centre to visit Tokyo later this year to provide further guidance and support to our manufacturing industries in Japan."

If you missed this event but would like to receive the presentations that were shown on the day then email enquiries@thereachcentre.com for your copy.

05.04.2011
The REACH Centre in Argentina

In March Matteo Dalla Valle of The REACH Centre visited the head office of the Argentinean Chemical Industry association (CIQyP; Cámara de la Industria Química y Petroquímica) in Buenos Aires to discuss the impact of REACH on the country's chemical industry.

In Argentina the chemical and petrochemical sector employs around 70,000 people with a total turnover of $24 billion. The export amounts to $3 billion and the whole industry is expanding rapidly.

However it seems the impact of REACH is somewhat limited as currently not many Argentinean companies export to Europe, but there is little doubt that the new Regulation is making life more difficult for the Latin-American exporters.

Another challenge that the local industry faces, and that has been discussed with The REACH Centre, is represented by the adoption of GHS classification in Argentina, which in Europe has been implemented with the new CLP Regulation. This may represent an interesting opportunity for The REACH Centre to provide training and advice during the implementation process. Watch this space...

18.12.2010
The REACH Centre visits Heysham 2 Power Station 

After some recent consultancy business with EDF Energy, a team from The REACH Centre visited Heysham 2 Power Station.  After a Site Safety introduction, a small presentation on the generation of power and in particular the operation/theory of an Advance Gas Reactor was well received, before a tour of the plant took place.

Various areas of the plant were visited including the Diesel Generators,Turbine Hall, which included the chemical monitoring and treatment plant. The tour culminated in the viewing gallery where the Control Room and the Pile Cap (top of both reactors) could be observed with the plant being in full operation (capable of supplying power to over 1.5 million homes).

The System Engineers were very knowledgeable and helpful throughout the day, answering any questions and fully explaining the significance of the chemical process.

09.03.2011
Andrew Fasey

One of the founding members of The REACH Centre, Andrew Fasey, is now working as the Technically Qualified Member of the Board of Appeal for the European Chemicals Agency, based in Helsinki. We'd like to thank him for his contribution to ensuring The REACH Centre's reputation as one of the foremost consultancies in the UK advising in areas of REACH, CLP and regulatory chemical issues and wish him well in his new role.

The REACH Centre continues to support its clients to manage the many challenges ahead.

Leading regulatory experts, The REACH Centre, in conjunction with The British Retail Consortium, have addressed leading high street retailers including B&Q, ASDA, Tesco and Marks and Spencer on REACH legislation, in particular SVHCs, at an event at the British Retail consortium's headquarters in London.

REACH legislation identifies substances with known high risks to human health or the environment as Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) and gives consumers the right to know if they are present in products. Upon request, the onus is on retailers to let their customers know if SVHCs are contained in any of the products they manufacture or supply. In addition, the retailer must provide information on how to use the substances safely if it is requested by the customer.

During the event, The REACH Centre discussed strategies for assessing the vulnerability of products and for testing of products, bearing in mind retailers have to deal with a large number of substances in large and diverse product portfolios. An example of a group of chemicals with potential health concerns is phthalate esters, these are commonly found in cosmetics, textiles, carpets and PVC products.

Bob Gordon from The British Retail Consortium underlined the importance of understanding the legislation, "REACH legislation can be incredibly complex and compliance is a real issue for retailers today. The REACH Centre provided invaluable information for retailers at the event and stimulated lively discussion around the challenges of meeting REACH requirements."

Failure to comply with the complicated legislation can have massive repercussions for companies: disrupted supply chains, negative PR and even prosecution. In April this year, a number of high street chains agreed to pay up to £20 million in legal costs and compensation to 2,000 people who received chemical burns from anti-fungal agents in sofas.

The REACH Centre currently provides SVHC services such as supply chain management and communication strategies, testing of products, staff training and on-going compliance monitoring to leading retailers.  

The REACH Centre, in conjunction with IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment), has run an extremely successful event in Huddersfield. It addressed key technical and regulatory issues facing industry in the sustainable management of chemicals and was attended by over 40 companies including Rolls Royce plc, University of Leeds, Carillion Business Services and Tata Steel (formerly Corus Group plc).

Simon Brearley, Director of The REACH Centre, presented on CLP regulations and the fast approaching need to complete C&L notification by the end of this year. Kath Carr, The REACH Centre's Regulatory Chemist, discussed her experiences of supporting clients in analytical work for substance characterisation for lead and joint registrants.

Cherrie Whiteley from the newly formed ‘The Nano Centre', a subsidiary of The REACH Centre, rounded off the day by addressing issues around developing a suitable risk assessment for Nano materials.

An attendee from Tata Steel (formerly Corus Group), described the event as, " rewarding and a very good update on the continued development of REACH legislation requirements." He noted that although, " the event was primarily aimed at the experts, it was also useful to the newcomers to show how much this legislation will impact producers and suppliers of chemicals. The presentations were clear and well structured and the questions that were asked by the audience were answered well."

Due to the success of this initial event it will be repeated in early 2011 in Newcastle and Birmingham.

Jonathan Lutwyche, CEO of The REACH Centre, has graduated from Lancaster University's LEAD programme.

The ten month programme is specifically designed for owner-managers of small to medium sized businesses. The programme concentrates on two areas of business: the business itself and the personal development of the owner-manager, providing a framework to increase profitability, diversify and grow the business. 

Jonathan described the course as, "hugely beneficial and the ideal platform to help develop The REACH Centre's expansion plans." The company currently exports 80% of its services and is in the process of developing key collaborative links in Asia. In addition he believes he can use what he has learnt to progress The REACH Centre's core offering in the U.K: training and chemical compliance with regards to REACH legislation.    

Jonathan also believes the programme will help The Reach Centre continue to diversify and expand, especially on an international level. The company currently operates in the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

The success of the programme can be seen by the fact that over 90% of the companies who have completed the programme saw an increase in sales turnover, employment, productivity and profits.