The use of nanotechnology looks set to pose some tricky end-of-life questions for the packaging industry, with regulators considering legislation controlling how nano-materials are disposed of, recycled and reused.
The absence to date of legislation dedicated to the recycling of nanomaterials in Europe is soon to be rectified. This summer, the European Parliament Committee on the environment, public health and food safety, introduced an amendment to the current Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, which would further restrict the use of certain hazardous substances. MEPs singled out nanosilver and carbon nanotubes for special controls and demanded notification, labelling and prevention or prohibition of these components.
Meanwhile REACH, the European regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical Substances, includes a requirement to address the entire lifecycle of a chemical, and is taken to apply to nanomaterials as well.
The Brussels-based Nanotechnologies Industry Association (NIA) says that companies are being mindful of existing and future regulation.
“As a responsible industry we are not going to create anything that will introduce a problem to the environment. We recognise that recycling is a key issue,” says Dr Steffi Friedrichs, Director General of the NIA. “It’s good business and economic sense to recycle nanomaterials.”
