REACh

"REACh Compliance is a DyStar priority for substances both manufactured in and imported into the European Economic Area (i.e. the EU member states including Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).”

The first deadline for full registration under REACh has passed on December 1st, 2010: the registration dossiers for high-volume substances (> 1,000 tons p.a.) have successfully been submitted.

DyStar, as a leading producer and importer of textile and leather chemicals has registered successfully its biggest textile dyes C.I. Reactive Black 5 and Indigo, as well as most important process chemicals used in dyestuffs’ synthesis and products’ formulation.

Now we are fully concentrating on the next tonnage band 100 - 1000 t/a, a range where the registration of a significantly higher number of dyes will have to be managed before mid 2013.

Besides the activities in relation to obligations on dyes which already have been placed on the market before REACh, DyStar keeps being innovative. New substances invented by our very active Research & Development Department have successfully been registered and products based thereon were officially launched!

View our latest updated ECHA candidate list for the REACh consultation of chemical substances (SVHC).

Interview with Dr. Clemens Grund, Vice-President Technology, DyStar

The registration phase for the high volume chemicals ended on December 1, 2010. What are DyStar's experiences of this first round?

Registration under REACh is even more time consuming than expected. Both the administrative work in the SIEF and the very sophisticated IUCLID software require expertise. Additionally the tools for risk assessments and the rules for downstream user communication are more onerous than our expectations. The next major challenge will be to manage the large number of substances in the lower tonnage bands successfully.

What will be the next steps? Textile dyes and auxiliaries are mainly specialty chemicals with lower production volumes, at least in Europe. Almost all really important dyes are in the next tonnage band. Until June 2013 our teams will have to work even harder to complete the required registrations of many more individual chemicals. That requires priority setting, time management and team play within DyStar as well as support by service providers.

The registration requirements are high. What is the strength of DyStar?

DyStar has a great team of experts. They have successfully completed registrations of new chemical substances according to both existing and new chemical regulations worldwide. We are owners of a comprehensive archive of toxicological testing reports. And last but not least we know the business and our customers.

These are the critical success factors in allowing us to find a very rational approach to complete the IUCLID dossiers. The toxicological expertise enables us to use the two principles of waiving and read-across to avoid unnecessary animal testing, which saves both animals and money. This expertise is also needed to use risk assessment tools such as the ECETOC TRA, EUSES and other newly developed computer programs for computational molecular modelling such as QSAR and CHESAR.

Based on this in-depth understanding of the principles of risk assessment and risk reduction mechanisms we can support our downstream users by covering as many of their intended uses of our products as possible.

Does REACh affect textile producers outside Europe as well?

REACh means that textile producers have far greater responsibility for all stages in their supply chain. Non-European manufacturers who export to the EU have to comply with REACh if they do not wish to put their business at risk. We offer our support to our customers worldwide. By using DyStar products our customers can have confidence that textiles imported into Europe are REACh-compliant.

How can DyStar support textile producers and retailers?

We have a very comprehensive product range, backed up by more than 150 years experience of textile dyes. We also have a very good knowledge of the applications of our products, which are now subject to registration. This detailed knowledge of chemical processes and their ecological and toxicological implications for our products is one of DyStar's strengths. We make this knowledge available to our customers and business partners through our econfidence™ program. For example, we ensure that our products do not contain any substances that could prove to be critical with regard to Annex XIV (List of Substances Subject to Authorisation) of the REACh Regulation.

How is DyStar informing downstream users?

We would like to take this opportunity to stress that supply chain communication is one of the major challenges of REACh. We provide an online service portal to our customers where they can inform us of their intended uses and to enable them to report on applications currently not covered. This use mapping is intended to consider all our customers' uses for inclusion in our registration dossiers.

To safeguard our long-term success, we will continue to offer environmentally compatible products and technologies that contribute to the sustainable manufacture of textiles. With DyStar as their partner, our customers can look ahead confidently to the future.

Related information on REACh

If you are interested in substance information exchange please fill up the SIEF Request form.

Customers and business partners who have questions on REACh can contact us at the following address: REACh@dystar.com.