Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Detergents"

(COM(2002) 485 final - 2002/0216 (COD))

(2003/C 95/07)

On 8 October 2002, the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 95 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 4 February 2003 (Rapporteur: Mr Adams).

At its 397th plenary session on 26 and 27 February 2003 (meeting of 26 February), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 106 votes for, one against and three abstentions.

1. Introduction

1.1. Detergents can be rightly considered an essential product but because they contain an impressive array of chemical substances they have been a focus of regulation for many years. Chemical compounds contained in detergents include various types of complex surfactants (basically substances which remove dirt, stain, and soil from surfaces or textiles), complexing agents to soften water (often phosphates), preservatives to prevent the growth of micro-organisms in the product, bleaching agents, acids, solvents and fragrances. Over 7 million tonnes of household laundry and cleaning products were purchased, applied and disposed of in Europe in 1998, the great majority of surfactants being petroleum based.

1.2. The European detergents market is considered to be "mature". Recent developments have focussed on low temperature washing, condensed or concentrated powder or liquids as well as specifically labelled eco-products. Higher standards of environmental sustainability are being promoted through the EU's own Eco-label and several similar national initiatives. Plant-based surfactants now exist as possible replacements for those that are petroleum-based, though they are more expensive, and alternatives to phosphates are also in use. Many Member States have, in the past, experienced the potential of detergents to have an environmentally damaging effect. The general thrust of regulation has been to ensure non-toxicity and rapid breakdown (bio-degradability) of chemical substances in detergents. The regulation and testing regimes established over the last twenty years are widely accepted by industry, consumer organisations and environmental groups as having been largely successful in significantly reducing the known negative environmental impacts of detergents though concerns still exist about major inland bodies of water and also the northern Mediterranean coastline. This present proposal from the Commission advances that process by consolidating, improving and extending a series of five directives on the issue of detergents dating back to 1973(1) and incorporating in the proposed new Regulation a Recommendation on voluntary labelling dating from 1989(2).

1.3. The Commission proposal has been in preparation for several years with the draft proposal being available from August 2001. An extensive consultation process has already taken place with industry, Member States, consumer and environmental groups and is, to some degree, reflected in the Commission's final document(3).

2. Summary of the Commission proposal

2.1. The Commission proposal is for a Regulation concerned with modernising existing detergent directives to further protect the environment, particularly regarding the biodegradability of surfactants - the key surface-active ingredients in cleaning, rinsing or softening preparations. New tests are proposed which are generally applicable and ensure a higher level of protection. In addition:

- previous recommendations on labelling, which are already widely observed in most Member States, are made binding;

- a new category of consumer information on the presence of fragrance substances is introduced;

- a provision is added obliging manufacturers to make available to health care professionals a full listing of ingredients.

2.2. The proposal requires Member States to establish sanctions for non-compliance and in an extensive series of Annexes, which form the majority of the proposal, provides for detailed test and analytical methods and defines procedures and lists for derogations and banned or restricted surfactants.

3. General comments

3.1. The EESC welcomes the Commission's initiative in drawing up this proposal the intention of which is to modernise existing directives and introduce new biodegradability tests. It also welcomes the initiative on consumer labelling, particularly on the presence of fragrances, which remain a cause for concern among some consumer and environmental organisations on health grounds. The EESC, in several of its recent opinions(4), has expressed the view that environmental impact of chemicals and other substances is best dealt with at source though an approach involving elimination or minimisation, coupled with strict testing, regulation, labelling and monitoring of permitted substances.

3.2. The proposal concentrates on providing a standard of regulation and testing applicable to all Member States which will ensure the functioning of the internal market. The proposal states that it does this whilst "ensuring a high degree of protection of the environment". However, it should be noted that the Commission promotes, through its detergents' criteria for the EU Eco-label, an approach which sets more demanding standards to ensure environmental sustainability. In the view of the EESC the Commission aims to meet "middle ground" concerns about environmental impact and is thus regarded as inadequate in certain respects by some environmental groups. Conversely, certain views from the cleaning products industry about greater flexibility in testing, derogations and labelling have not been accepted. These areas are explored below and where it seems appropriate a specific recommendation has been made.

4. Specific comments

4.1. Much of the detail of the proposal is concerned with the biodegradability of surfactants in aerobic conditions (presence of oxygen) and the testing procedures which can establish primary and ultimate biodegradation. Primary biodegradation involves the loss of the surfactants original properties (i.e. the capacity to clean); ultimate biodegradation is the final level achieved when the surfactant is as fully broken down by micro-organisms as possible. The EESC applauds the intention to distinguish between primary and ultimate biodegradation as it is the latter which now poses the main threat to the aquatic and coastal environment through accumulation. However, the proposal recognises that issues relating to anaerobic biodegradation (without the presence of oxygen, e.g. in sludge or all but the top layer of sea-bed) remain unresolved. Although the proposal recommends this issue is kept under review and, if justified, a further proposal developed, the EESC believes this view to be disingenuous. Robust tests and ranking tables for the anaerobic digestion of surfactants in clothes detergents do exist(5) and the Committee recommends that:

- the proposed regulation considers the inclusion of tests on anaerobic biodegradation and sets appropriate standards and levels.

4.2. All stakeholders involved in this issue, including the Commission, acknowledge that laboratory testing procedures are not necessarily reliable in covering all the various conditions that might apply to biodegradation processes in real life. It is also the case that this is a continually developing field of interest and concern worldwide. Sometimes the methodological approach underlying the proposal does not always incorporate contemporary approaches and studies undertaken by various government or independent agencies, e.g. the Danish Environmental Protection Agency(6). The Commission has also acknowledged in discussions that new evaluations of the environmental risks posed by phosphates are pending. In this context a more active application of the precautionary principle is appropriate. The EESC therefore recommends that:

- the proposed regulation should specifically state that its joint objective is to encourage the use of surfactants which rapidly biodegrade in a way which does not raise any problem of environmental toxicity;

- more precise test methods are sought making it possible to more accurately monitor biodegradation over time;

- a clear statement should be made that substances in cleaning products causing excessive harm to the environment will be banned. This to be based on evidence published to date and maintained as a rolling review to incorporate the findings of new research studies as they are published.

4.3. The EESC welcomes the proposed requirement that detergent product labels state the presence of fragrances which are on the list of allergenic perfume ingredients. As a further aid to providing consumer information of use in enabling a purchaser to opt for a more environmentally friendly product the Committee recommends that:

- the Commission proposes ways and means to communicate the general environmental impact characteristics of the product (not just the surfactant), e.g. by requiring the level of primary and ultimate biodegradability as determined by an improved testing process be expressed as a percentage on the product label;

- the Commission emphasises through consumer education that correct use of detergents can eliminate unnecessarily high dosage and that further research and information (via labelling and advertising) on controlled dosage will assist consumers to reduce the amount of detergent used at source.

4.4. The current proposal requires the number of standard washes obtainable to be stated on the packaging, which the EESC endorses, but notes that current EU Eco-label criteria do not require this information and the EESC suggest its inclusion in future revisions.

5. Conclusions

5.1. The proposal introduces little that is new but is rather a consolidation of existing directives and voluntary agreements. The EESC notes the Commission's stated commitment to minimise the environmental impact of this category of high volume consumer products and the inclusion of the Committee's recommendations set out in this opinion will give additional weight to this intention. The EESC recognises that the detergent manufacturing industry has itself contributed substantially to reducing the environmental impact of their products.

5.2. Significant advances have been made in the commercial development of substitutes to replace detergent ingredients with known damaging effects or broader, second order environmental impact implications. The EESC notes and sympathises with the very real concern and dissatisfaction of numerous European environmental scientists with the current proposal and therefore urges the Commission and the detergents industry to promote the adoption of completely biodegradable and non-toxic products in conjunction with a programme of positive consumer education.

5.3. In particular the development of eco-labelling has led to the presentation of technical information and the application of testing procedures on detergents already being accepted as appropriate for higher environmental standards by the Commission. The EESC recommends that in future work on the development of further directives or regulations the Commission could take more account of these initiatives.

Brussels, 26 February 2003.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger Briesch

(1) Council Directive 73/404/EEC of 22 November 1973 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to detergents (OJ L 347, 17.12.1973, p. 51) as last amended by Council Directive 86/94/EEC (OJ L 80, 25.3.1986, p. 51), Council Directive 73/405/EEC of 22 November 1973 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to methods of testing the biodegradability of anionic surfactants (OJ L 347, 17.12.1973, p. 53) as last amended by Council Directive 82/243/EEC (OJ L 109, 22.4.1982, p. 18), and Council Directive 82/242/EEC of 31 March 1982 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to methods of testing the biodegradability of non-ionic surfactants and amending Council Directive 73/404/EEC (OJ L 109, 22.4.1982, p. 1).

(2) Commission Recommendation 89/542/EEC of 13 September 1989 for the labelling of detergents and cleaning products (OJ L 291, 10.10.1989, p. 55).

(3) Results of the public consultation: http://europa.eu.int/comm/ enterprise/chemicals/detergents/ publicconsult/contrib/contrib.htm

(4) Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the White Paper - Strategy for a Future Chemicals Policy (COM(2001) 88 final) - OJ C 36, 8.2.2002, p. 80-85; Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the Community Environment Action Programme 2001-2010 (COM(2001) 31 final - 2001/0029 (COD) - OJ C 221, 7.8.2001, p. 80-85; Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Council Regulation concerning the export and import of dangerous chemicals (COM(2001) 803 final - 2001/0026 (ACC) - OJ C 241, 7.10.2002, p. 50-56.

(5) The Nordic Swan, the official environmental label of the Nordic countries introduced in 1989 by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

(6) "Environmental and health assessment of substances in household detergents and cosmetic detergent products", Environmental Project No 615, Danish EPA 2001: http://www.mst.dk/udgiv/ Publications/2001/87-7944-596-9 /html/default_eng.htm