Position paper – EU Detergents Regulation revision
As an everyday consumer and industrial product, detergents have a significant impact on the environment via water pollution and contain substances that have an impact on human health. The ongoing update to the EU Detergent Regulation offers an important opportunity to improve the requirements on detergents in the European market and minimise the effects on human health and the environment.
The European Commission’s proposal for the Detergents Regulation revision, published in April 2023, should be strengthened as it does not address several issues, such as those related to phosphorus, hazardous substances, biodegradability, reduction of microplastics, or supporting refill options, and co-legislators should not miss this opportunity. The EP rapporteur’s Draft Report takes steps to address these issues, yet on microplastics specifically there are additional improvements to be made.
It is vital that the revision aligns with the EU’s Zero Pollution ambition, taking stock and building on lessons learned from the Ecolabel criteria that have already proved to be successful. ECOS believes this legislation can be improved by adopting at minimum the approach in the current Detergents Ecolabel requirements, which is also currently under revision.
Key asks:
- Expand biodegradability requirements to all detergents and surfactants.
- Reduce phosphorus usage.
- Minimise use of hazardous substances, in line with the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability.
- Ban all plastics on tablets or capsules to reduce microplastics in the environment.
