Social Housing
Kestrel is committed
to minimising the
impact we have
on the environment
What is REACH?
Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of CHemicals
REACH is the EU regulatory framework for the management and control of chemicals, adopted on the 29 October 2003. It requires every chemical substance, including metals, produced or supplied to the EU market in quantities of 1 tonne and more per year to be registered by producers of the substance by December 2008, any metal or substance not registered by the REACH deadline will eventually no longer be legally permitted onto the EU market. Following the registration process, assessment of the safety of uses down the supply chain will be carried out as per a set timetable. According to REACH there are two classification lists. One includes substances that have already been proven to cause damage to health or the environment, Benzines and Asbestos for example fall into this category. The second classification, CMR category 2 (Carcinogenic Mutagenic Reprotoxic) is for substances where there is strong evidence of damage from animal studies. Any chemical falling into these categories will be placed on an authorisation list, meaning that they will require authorisation for use on a single-use basis. If authorisation is granted, it is likely to be subject to periodic review. If authorisation is not granted a sunset date will be set for their prohibition. The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) will police chemicals placed on the authorisation list and they have stated that single - use application are extremely unlikely to be granted.
