Great Lakes Chemicals chairman David Buszard says the directive could kill innovation in additives

Great Lakes Chemicals chairman David Buszard says the directive could kill innovation in additives

The Reach chemicals directive has already begun to affect additives producers. David Buszard, chairman of the European Flame Retardants Association, told delegates at EPN’s recent European Chemicals Legislation conference that the proposals – which demand rigorous registration of chemicals – could kill off innovation in new additives.

He pointed to an example within his own company, flame-retardant manufacturer Great Lakes Chemicals. “We had developed an alternative to pentaBDE, but could not justify the extra cost of testing. Now we cannot develop it in Europe.”

He said the level of testing would amount to a cost of around E5,000/tonne of material, but the selling price would not be any more than E4,000/tonne. It is the niche products that are most likely to be affected, Buszard said, since they are less likely to make a profit than “big sellers”.