What is REACH?
Created by the European Union, REACH is the Regulation for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. It entered into force on 1st June 2007 to streamline and improve the former legislative framework on chemicals of EU. The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances.
REACH places greater responsibility on industry to manage the risks that chemicals may pose to the health and the environment. Manufacturers and importers will be required to identify and manage risks linked to the substances they manufacture and market. For substances produced or imported in quantities of 1 ton or more per year per natural or legal person, manufacturers and importers, respectively, need to demonstrate that they have appropriately done so by means of a registration dossier, which shall be submitted to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki.
The Regulation also calls for the progressive substitution of the most dangerous chemicals when suitable alternatives have been identified.
Additional information on REACH can be found at the following websites:
The European Chemical Agency
Eurometaux
Alcoa's Response to REACH
Operating in a manner that promotes health and well being of our employees, our communities and the environment is a core Value to Alcoa. We are committed to product safety and to compliance with our obligations under REACH. As a global corporation, Alcoa operates both as a manufacturer and an importer in the European Union, and as such, have begun the following process:
- Alcoa has formed a multi-disciplinary team to address our REACH requirements. The team is based in the European Union and consists of functional experts from Procurement, Legal and Environment, Health and Safety.
- We are currently identifying all chemical substances that we manufacture, import or purchase within the European Union.
- Once this project is completed, Alcoa will be contacting customers and suppliers to better determine our requirements and needs under REACH.
Until that future date, we would like to share with you our projected plans:
- Alcoa has the intention of pre-registering substances that it manufactures or imports in order to benefit from the transitional periods provided by the pre-registration under REACH.
- Following pre-registration, Alcoa will review all substances that it manufactures or imports and make a determination which substances will be subsequently registered. Alcoa currently has the intention of registering at least aluminium, aluminium oxide and aluminium hydrate.
- Alcoa will check with our suppliers and any other party up the supply chain to establish their willingness to pre-register and subsequently register applicable substances to guarantee uninterrupted delivery of Alcoa products.
- Alcoa will be contacting our customers to identify conditions of use for our products.
It is our intention to request data at a later stage, as some technical guidance and specific formats are still under development. However, we anticipate the potential need of future information. An Alcoa web site for this specific communication with our suppliers and customers is currently under development and will be available here soon.
Alcoa has historically supplied Safety Data Sheets for products that pose Environmental, Health or Safety hazards during use. Where required, we intend to provide additional information on exposure scenarios and possible risk reduction measures related to the supplied substances for uses known to us. This information will ensure safe handling and use of our products.
A web site for specific supplier and customer communications is currently under development and will be coming soon.
Meanwhile if you have any question regarding Alcoa products and REACH, you can contact our REACH team at REACHTeam@alcoa.com.
|
 |
| Communication to the Alcoa customers |
|
Contact us
 go
Related Web sites
The European Chemical Agency
go
Eurometaux
go
|
|
