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Drawing a Line between European Waste and Chemicals Regulation
Author(s) -
Alaranta Joonas,
Turunen Topi
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
review of european, comparative and international environmental law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 2050-0394
pISSN - 2050-0386
DOI - 10.1111/reel.12205
Subject(s) - legislation , reuse , sustainability , harm , business , raw material , waste management , circular economy , engineering , law , chemistry , political science , ecology , organic chemistry , biology
This article analyses the fine line between the application of waste legislation and the application of chemicals regulation. If a substance or object ceases to be waste, or is originally a by‐product, how is chemicals regulation applied to the non‐waste material? The article also examines the effects that provisions of chemicals legislation can have with respect to waste legislation and the regulatory possibilities to exclude substances or objects from the concept of waste. The regulation of the residual materials is successful when it promotes the reuse and recovery, reduces the detrimental health and environmental effects of those residual materials, and reduces the costs and environmental harm incurred by the obtaining of the raw materials. Combining the diverging objectives of waste and chemical legislation is challenging but necessary to achieve the transition to a circular economy and the best overall outcome in terms of sustainability.