EU To Implement NPE Ban On Imported Textiles

Recently, the guardian, the mainstream media in the UK, announced that EU member states have approved a ban on nonylphenol polyoxyethylene ether (NPE) in textiles by anonymous vote.

The ban sets a five-year transitional period. After the expiration of the ban, if the NPE content of textiles exceeds 0.01% (i.e. 100mg / kg), it is not allowed to enter the EU market. After the news was reported, it has attracted wide attention around the world, and as a major textile and clothing export country, the impact of the ban on China will also be highlighted.

It has a wide range of industrial uses and environmental hazards are of concern

NPE is a common surfactant component in industrial washing and cleaning products. It is widely used in textile industry and will remain in textile fibers. NPE residues in clothing will not directly threaten human health, but NPE can enter the environment with the washing process. NPE is easily decomposed into nonylphenol (NP) and other components in water.

NP is a recognized environmental hormone, which can mimic estrogen, interfere with the sexual development and endocrine of organisms, thus affecting animal breeding, even if the concentration is very low, it is very harmful. Moreover, NP can accumulate continuously through the food chain, and eventually cause problems such as precocious puberty and reproductive quality decline.

Greenpeace, an international environmental protection organization, investigated the NPE residue in textiles in 2011, and released a public report named NPE in August of that year. It said that two thirds of garments contained NPE, including many world famous brands. With the long-term efforts of all parties, the prohibition of NPE has attracted widespread attention. Many well-known garment enterprises have begun to work out plans to eliminate harmful chemicals.

The ban referred to by the guardian is actually the revised draft of reach regulation referred to in g / TBT / N / EU / 280 circular issued by EU to Member States through WTO website on April 16, 2018 for the reason of environmental protection. According to the draft, the EU will fully implement the NPE ban on imported textiles, except for second-hand goods that have been washed many times or recycled textiles.

Disable NPE consensus control measures frequency code

In the context of the global demand for consumer goods "safety, health and environmental protection", such as the bisphenol a storm and plasticizer incidents, have repeatedly sounded the alarm for the manufacturing industry, and the control measures for NPE in various countries have also been increased.

As early as July 2012, Germany proposed that nonylphenol should be included in the list of substances of high concern in REACH regulations. In December of the same year, nonylphenol appeared in the eighth batch of substances of high concern list, and it was defined as possible to cause serious harm to the environment. According to the European Chemical Agency, the latest EU ban was proposed by Sweden in 2013 and strongly supported by the scientists of the European Chemical Agency.

In 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified eight NPE substitutes meeting the safety standards through the evaluation plan, and in October 2014, 15 NPE chemicals were listed in the "important new use rules". This means that the import and production of these substances need to comply with strict declaration procedures 90 days in advance, so that EPA can take effective NPE risk prevention and control measures.

Green manufacturing is the way out

Although there is a consensus on the harm of NPE, banning NPE at this stage will still bring great impact to the development of textile industry. After the EU announced the ban, local enterprises have protested to the EU authorities, saying that NPE is widely used in the supply chain and is difficult to comply with. However, the technical level of China's textile industry still lags behind that of EU objectively. Even if the new regulation provides a five-year transitional period, China's export enterprises still have a long way to go. Therefore, it is suggested that enterprises should:

(1) pay attention to the laws and regulations of safety, health and environmental protection in time. In recent years, the European Union, the United States and other developed countries continue to strengthen the control of harmful chemicals in consumer goods. Enterprises should pay attention to the scientific research trends of the European Chemical Agency, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and other institutions, so as to grasp the opportunity.

(2) strengthen the sense of social responsibility. In the long run, it is an unavoidable social responsibility for enterprises to eliminate substances harmful to environmental hormones in consumer goods. Enterprises should increase investment in research and development of "green consumer goods", improve production processes, reduce harmful emissions, accelerate transformation and upgrading, and win social respect.

(3) improve product testing. For the residues of harmful substances which can not be completely avoided due to technical factors, enterprises should strictly control the inspection to ensure that the product quality meets the requirements of domestic and foreign laws and standards, and avoid being reported or returned by foreign countries, resulting in economic losses.