Minutes from recent meetings of the EFSA CEP panel and working groups on BPA, FCMs, and phthalates published; groups continue discussions and revisions of draft opinions
Global estimate of plastic production, use and fate
8,300 million tons of plastics produced to date, according to new study; only 9% of plastic waste recycled; 12,000 million tons of plastic waste expected to accumulate in landfills or environment by 2050
PolyTalk 2018
PlasticsEurope holds 2018 PolyTalk, a stakeholder forum to discuss plastics, on April 26-27, 2018 in Malta
Recent conferences on plastics recycling
Series of recent conferences on both continents focus on discussing challenges and opportunities surrounding plastics recycling, increasing recycled content in products; group of NGOs criticize Circular Plastics Alliance for overlooking hazardous chemicals; predicted lower prices of virgin PET seen as future test of commitment to set sustainability targets
CHE webinar on plastic food packaging
Collaborative on Health and the Environment holds webinar on Plastic food packaging within its Plastics and health series
Draft toxicity assessment for GenX and PFBS
U.S. EPA releases draft toxicity assessments for fluorinated substances ‘GenX chemicals’ and PFBS used as replacements for PFOA and PFOS; public comments accepted for 60 days after publication in Federal Register
Report: Helsinki Chemicals Forum 2016
Chemical Watch report summarizes debates of 2016 Helsinki Chemicals Forum; focus on circular economy, perfluorinated chemicals, data sharing, and other topics
Final TSCA framework rules published
U.S. EPA issues final rules on prioritization, risk evaluation, and inventory of chemicals under revised TSCA; scope of risk assessment for first 10 high-priority substances defined
Update: EDC criteria and guidance document
EU Commission publishes regulation on EDC criteria for biocides, to be applied from June 7, 2018; draft guidance to implement EDC criteria expected in early December 2017
World Cancer Report 2014
International Agency for Research on Cancer publishes new cancer report; half of cancer cases are due to environmental causes