EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 22.7.2021

SWD(2021) 201 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

European Union Implementation Plan for the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

Accompanying the document

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

on the review and update of the third European Union Implementation Plan in accordance with Article 9(4) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants

{COM(2021) 408 final}

Preface

This document presents the fourth revised and updated European Union (Union) implementation plan required by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (“POPs”), of which the European Union is a Party. This document also details the work undertaken by the Union towards the Protocol to the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) on POPs 1 and Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European Parliament and of the Council (“POPs Regulation”) 2 , which replaces Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council 3 . The implementation plan sets out the Union's regulatory framework for POPs and persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) substances, and what have been identified as the key challenges facing the Union within Part I (Party Baseline). Part II subsequently sets out the Union’s response to these key challenges and what actions need to be undertaken to help achieve the overall aims of protecting human health and the environment from exposure to POPs.

The first plan, titled the ‘Community Implementation Plan’, was developed in 2007 (SEC(2007)341). The implementation plan was updated with a ‘Union Implementation Plan’ published in 2014 (SWD(2014)172 final) 4 , and further updated with a third implementation plan in late 2018 (SWD(2018)495) 5 . The further review and update of the third implementation plan is needed to reflect developments both within the policy environment (i.e. further addition of new POPs to the Convention and the Union legislation) and scientific environment (i.e. where new research furthers the understanding of POPs).

The updated implementation plan will be submitted to the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention and published on the website of the European Commission.

This document can also be read alongside the triennial synthesis reports on the implementation of the POPs Regulation that were developed on the basis of information submitted by the Member States of the European Union pursuant to Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 regarding progress towards the objectives of the Regulation, Convention and Protocol.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.Introduction

1.1.Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

1.2.International agreements addressing POPs

1.2.1.UNECE Protocol on POPs

1.2.2.Stockholm Convention

1.2.3.Coordination and cooperation among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions

1.3.Purpose of the Union Implementation Plan on POPs

2.PART I – Party Baseline

2.1.Key Union Legislation and Policies related to the Union’s Obligations under the Stockholm Convention and UNECE Protocol on POPs

2.2.Legislative instruments

2.2.1.Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 (First POPs Regulation)

2.2.2.Recast of the POPs Regulation ((EU) 2019/1021)

2.2.2.1.Introduction

2.2.2.2.Institutional changes for the role of ECHA and the Commission

2.2.2.3.Changes related to Member States reporting

2.2.2.4.Changes related to waste and waste management

2.2.2.5.Changes made to terminology to build greater alignment to REACH

2.2.2.6.POP specific changes (notably for PCBs and PBDEs)

2.2.3.European Union chemicals legislation

2.2.3.1.REACH

2.2.3.2.CLP

2.2.3.3.Regulation on Plant Protection Products

2.2.3.4.Biocidal Products Regulation

2.2.3.5.Regulation on the export and import of hazardous chemicals

2.2.3.6.PCB Directive (Directive 96/59/EC)

2.2.4.Other environmental legislation with POP relevance

2.2.5.Legislation on food and feed and on the protection of public health

2.2.6.Information exchange between the Commission and the Member States on POPs in food and consumer products

2.2.7.Food monitoring within the European Union

2.2.8.Emission monitoring legislation

2.2.9.Public access to environmental information

2.3.Strategies, policies, and programmes

2.3.1.Sustainable development

2.3.2.Substitution of substances for intentional use

2.3.3.Environment Action Programme

2.3.4.The Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection

2.3.5.Strategies for control of pesticides and chemicals

2.3.6.OpenFoodTox database for pesticide residues in food

2.3.7.Environment and Health Action Plan

2.3.8.Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)

2.3.9.Monitoring efforts of the Union

2.4.Financial instruments

2.4.1.Funding instruments for the Union

2.4.2.Funding for neighbouring and partner countries

2.4.3.Multilateral programmes funded by the Union

2.5.Research and Development and the Framework Programmes

2.5.1.European Research Institutions including the JRC

2.5.2.Supporting co-operation, co-ordination and networking

2.5.3.Future research and innovation

2.6.Information Exchange, Public information, awareness and education

2.6.1.Overview

2.6.2.Stockholm Convention Regional Centres

3.Overall Assessment of the POPs issue in the Union

3.1.POPs regulated before 2009 (“old POPs”)

3.1.1.Manufacture

3.1.2.Use and placing on the market

3.1.3.Import, export and intra-Union shipments

3.1.4.Stockpiles and waste

3.2.POPs regulated from 2009 (“new POPs”)

3.2.1.Endosulfan

3.2.2.POP Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (POP PBDEs)

3.2.3.Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether

3.2.4.Hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether

3.2.5.Decabromodiphenyl ether

3.2.6.Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds

3.2.7.Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride

3.2.8.Pentachlorobenzene (PeCB)

3.2.9.SCCPs – short chain chlorinated paraffins

3.2.10.HCBD – hexachlorobutadiene

3.2.11.PCN – polychlorinated naphthalenes

3.2.12.Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD)

3.2.13.Pentachlorophenol (PCP)

3.2.14.Dicofol

3.3.Unintentionally produced POPs

3.3.1.Estimation and monitoring of emissions

3.3.2.Addressing industrial sources

3.3.3.Addressing domestic sources

3.4.Information on the state of knowledge on stockpiles and contaminated sites

3.4.1.PCB contaminated sites and deposits

3.4.2.HCH contaminated sites and waste deposits

3.4.3.Other POPs Pesticides

3.4.4.Contaminated sites from unintentionally formed POPs (PCDD, PCDF, PCB, HCB, PeCB, PAHs)

3.4.5.PBDE contaminated sites

3.4.6.PFOS contaminated sites

3.4.7.Hexachlorobutadiene contaminated sites

3.4.8.Hexabromocyclododecane in waste stream

3.5.Emerging risks from POPs

4.PART II – Implementation Plan

5.Implementation of the basic obligations of the Stockholm Convention

5.1.Elimination of intentional manufacture and use of POPs (Article 3(1))

5.1.1.POP pesticides, plus decabromodiphenyl ether, HBB, HBCDD, HCBD, PeCB, PCNs, and SCCPs.

5.1.2.PCBs

5.1.3.POP-PBDEs (tetra-, penta-, hexa-, hepta- and decabromodiphenyl ether)

5.1.4.C-DecaBDE uses

5.1.5.DDT

5.1.6.Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOS)

5.1.7.Perfluorooctanoic acid, its salts and related-compounds (PFOA)

5.2.Elimination of import and export of POPs - Article 3(2) of the Stockholm Convention

5.3.Prevention of the manufacture and use of new chemicals exhibiting characteristics of POPs - Article 3(3) of the Stockholm Convention

5.4.Assessing and controlling chemicals in use - Article 3(4) of the Stockholm Convention

5.5.General exemptions

5.6.Reduction of total releases from unintentional production - Article 5 of the Stockholm Convention

5.6.1.Obligations and implementation

5.6.2.Analysis of implementation

5.6.3.Pentachlorobenzene (PeCB)

5.7.Identification and environmentally sound management of stockpiles and wastes

5.7.1.Obligations and implementation

5.7.2.Analysis of implementation

5.7.3.Disposal and destruction of POP-PBDE containing materials

5.7.4.Disposal and destruction of PFOS, PFOA and related PFAS-compounds

5.7.5.Disposal and destruction of POPs Pesticides

5.7.6.Destruction of PCB and PCB containing materials

5.8.Identification of contaminated sites (Annex A, B and C Chemicals) and if addressed then remediation in an environmentally sound manner

6.Implementation of the obligations on supporting activities

6.1.Information exchange

6.2.Public information, awareness and education

6.3.Research, development and monitoring

7.Implementation of other commitments

7.1.Technical assistance

7.2.Financial Assistance

7.3.Reporting

7.4.Effectiveness evaluation

7.5.Addition of Future Chemicals to the Stockholm Convention

8.EU research projects since 2007 with references to POP issues

9.Obsolete actions from previous UIP

List of tables

Table 1Overview on POPs regulated at international level; the new POPs under the Stockholm Convention (since 2009) are highlighted in grey

Table 2Union chemicals legislation relevant for POPs

Table 3Further environmental legislative instruments with relevance on the use and disposal of POPs (including unintentionally produced POPs)

Table 4Food & Feed related legislation with relevance to POPs

Table 5New POPs added to the Stockholm Convention since 2009

Table 6Overview on the new POPs (ESWI 2011 + additional references where indicated)

Table 7Breakdown of commercial PBDE products on the Union market

Table 8Results of analysis for POP-PBDE congeners from ELVs and white goods in Irish (2015) and UK (2016) studies

Table 9Amended text of Part I of Annex A to the Stockholm Convention listing PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds, and specific exemptions

Table 10New listing of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (CAS No. 1763-23-1), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (CAS No. 307-35-7) in part I of Annex B to the Stockholm Convention as set out in the decision SC 9/4 of the COP-9

Table 11Releases of unintentionally produced POPs according to the E-PRTR (PCDD + PCDF as TEQ) (for the EU27)

Table 12BAT associated emission levels for waste incineration in Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2010

Table 13Research Projects with references to POPs funded under Horizon 2020

Table 14Research Projects with references to POPs funded under FP7

Table 15Research Projects with references to POPs funded by LIFE+

List of figures

Figure 1Overview of the main chemical and environmental legislation related to POPs

Figure 2DecaBDE emissions to European environment under the realistic scenario ERealistic (Earnshaw et al. 2013)

List of abbreviations

AFFF – Aqueous film forming foam

ABS – Acrylonitrilebutadiene styrene

AMAP – Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme

ASR – Automotive Shredder Residue

BAT – Best Available Technologies

BREF – BAT Reference Document

BFR – Brominated flame retardant

BRS – Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions

CBC – Cross-Border cooperation

CLP – Classification, Labelling and Packaging

CLRTAP – Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution

COPHES – Consortium to Perform Human Biomonitoring on a European Scale

COP – Conference of the Parties

BDE – Brominated Diphenyl Ethers

BEP – Best Environmental Practices

CLEA – Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment

DDT – Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane

EAF – Electric arc furnaces

EASIS – Endocrine Active Substances Information System

ECHA – European Chemicals Agency

EEA – European Environment Agency

EEE – Electrical and electronic equipment

EFSA – European Food Safety Authority

EHBMI – European Human Biomonitoring Initiative

ELV – Emission Limit Values

EMEP – European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme

ENI – European Neighbourhood Instrument

ENP – European Neighbourhood Policy

ENRTP – Thematic Programme for Environment and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources

E-PRTR – European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register

ERA – European Research Area

ESIS – European Substance Information Systems

EU – European Union

FAO – Food and Agriculture Organisation

FP – Framework Programme

GEF – Global Environment Facility

GEOSS – Global Earth Observation System of Systems

GENASIS – Global Environmental Assessment Information System

GPGC – Global Public Goods and Challenges

HBB – Hexabromobiphenyl

HBCDD – Hexabromocyclododecane

HBM – Human Biomonitoring

HCB – Hexachlorobenzene

HCBD – Hexachlorobutadiene

HCH – Hexachlorocyclohexane

HIPS – High Impact Polystyrene

IED – Industrial Emissions Directive

IPCheM – Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring

IPA – Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance

IPPC – Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control

JRC – Joint Research Centre

KBBE – Knowledge Based Bio-Economy

LCD – Liquid Crystal Display

LRTAP – Long- Range Transboundary Air Pollution

NIPs – National Implementation Plans

OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PAHs – Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

PBDE – Polybrominated diphenyl ether

PCBs – Polychlorinated Biphenyls

PBT/vPvB – Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic / Very Persistent and Very Bioaccumulative

PCDDs – Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins

PCDFs – Polychlorinated dibenzofurans

PCN – Polychlorinated Napthalenes

PCP – Pentachlorophenol

PeCB – Pentachlorobenzene

PFAA – Perfluoroalkyl Acids

PFAS – Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

PFOA – Perfluorooctanoic Acid

PFHpA – Perfluoroheptanoic acid

PFOS – Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid

PFOSF – Perfluorooactane sulfonyl fluoride

PM – Particulate Matter

PMT/vPvM - Persistency, Mobility and Toxicity (PMT) / Very Persistent and Very Mobile (vPvM)

POP – Persistent Organic Pollutant

PPP – Plant Protection Products

PXDD/PXDFF – Polyhalogenated dibenzo‐p‐dioxins/ Polyhalogenated dibenzofurans

QSAR – Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationship

REACH – Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals

RMOA – Regulatory Management Option Analysis

RoHS – Restriction of Hazardous Substances

SAICM – Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management

SCCPs – Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffins

SMEs – Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

SVHC – Substances of Very High Concern

UN – United Nations

UNECE – United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

UPOPs – Unintentionally Produced POPs

1.Introduction

1.1.Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are chemicals that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate and pose a risk of causing significant adverse effects to human health or the environment. These pollutants are transported across international boundaries far from their sources and even accumulate in regions where they have never been used or produced. POPs pose a threat to the environment and to human health all over the globe, with the Arctic, Baltic and the Alpine regions being examples of Union sinks of POPs. International action has been deemed necessary to reduce and eliminate manufacture 6 , use and releases of these substances. The substances addressed in the international legal instruments on POPs are listed in Table 1 .

At Union level, significant progress towards the elimination of POPs has been achieved. Manufacture and use of all POP chemicals is prohibited with some minor time limited exemptions that are phased-out over time. A main challenge for the Union is to eliminate POPs from the waste cycle and remaining stockpiles as these still present a major emission source.

1.2.International agreements addressing POPs

1.2.1.UNECE Protocol on POPs 7

The Executive Body to the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) adopted the UNECE Protocol on POPs on 24 June 1998 in Aarhus, Denmark. The UNECE Protocol on POPs focuses currently on a list of 16 substances comprising 11 pesticides, 2 industrial chemicals and three unintentional by-products.  In 2009, Parties adopted decisions to list seven new substances. However, those decisions did not yet enter into force. The ultimate objective is to eliminate any discharges, emissions and losses of these POP substances. The POPs Protocol has been approved by the European Union and 23 Member States 8 .

The UNECE Protocol on POPs bans the manufacture and use of some substances outright (aldrin, chlordane, chlordecone, dieldrin, endrin, hexabromobiphenyl, hexachlorobutadiene, hexachlorocyclohexane (technical HCH), hexaBDE, heptaBDE, tetraBDE, pentaBDE, pentachlorobenzene, polychlorinated napthalene (PCN), mirex and toxaphene). Others are scheduled for elimination at a later stage (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs)). In addition, the latest version of the UNECE Protocol on POPs, adopted in December 2009, severely restricts the use of gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (lindane) 9 . 

The Protocol includes provisions for dealing with the wastes of substances that are banned and it obliges Parties to reduce their emissions of dioxins, furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and HCB below their levels in 1990 (or an alternative year between 1985 and 1995). For the incineration of municipal, hazardous and medical waste, it lays down specific emission limit values.

On 18 December 2009, Parties to the Protocol on POPs adopted decisions 2009/1, 2009/2 and 2009/3 to amend the Protocol to include nine new substances (taking the total to 26). Furthermore, the Parties revised obligations for DDT, heptachlor, HCB and PCBs as well as certain emission limit values (ELVs) from waste incineration, sinter plants and electric arc furnaces for secondary steel manufacture. Parallel to this, with a view to facilitating the Protocol’s ratification by countries with economies in transition, the Parties introduced flexibility for these countries regarding the time frames for the application of ELVs and best available technologies (BAT). Finally, the Parties adopted decision 2009/4 to update guidance on BAT to control emissions of POPs in Annex V and turn parts of it into a guidance document (ECE/EB.AIR/2009/14 10 ). The amendments for Annexes V and VII entered into force on 13 December 2010, while the 2009/1 and 2009/2 amendments have not yet entered into force.

The Union formally accepted the amendments on 24 June 2016, based on Council Decision (EU) 2016/769 of 21 April 2016 on the acceptance of the Amendments to the 1998 Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

1.2.2.Stockholm Convention 11

The Stockholm Convention on POPs was adopted in 2001 and entered into force in 2004. The overall objective of the Stockholm Convention is to protect human health and the environment from POPs. It promotes global action on POPs and requires Parties to take measures to eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment. Specific reference is made to a precautionary approach as set forth in Principle 15 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. This principle is implemented by Article 8 of the Convention, which lays down the rules for including additional chemicals under the Convention.

At the time the Stockholm Convention entered into force in 2004, a total of 12 substances were listed within Annexes A, B and/or C comprising nine pesticides, one industrial chemical and two unintentionally created substances with no commercial value (dioxins and furans). Since 2004 additional substances have been added at subsequent Conferences of the Parties (COP). On 26 August 2010 (following COP-4) a further nine substances were added, including a new Annex C substance (pentachlorobenzene). At COP-5 (held in 2011) the pesticide endosulfan was added to Annex A with specific exemptions (SC5/3). At COP-6 (held in 2013) the flame retardantant hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) was added to Annex A of the Convention with specific exemptions for manufacture as allowed for the parties listed in the register of specific exemptions and for use in expanded polystyrene and extruded polystyrene in buildings. At COP-7 (held in 2015) a further three substances were added to the Annexes (Hexachlorobutadiene and pentachlorophenol (PCP) and its salts and esters were added to Annex A, while polychlorinated napthalenes (PCN) were added to Annexes A and C). At COP-8 (held in 2017) the decision was made to amend Annexes A and C of the Convention by listing Decabromodiphenyl ether (commercial mixture, c-decaBDE) and short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) in Annex A with specific exemptions as well as further extending the listing of hexachlorobutadiene to both Annex A and C. These additions made in the period 2011 (COP-5) to 2017 (COP-8) took the total number of substances regulated under the Convention to 28.

Additionally during the discussions of the fifth Conference of the Parties (COP-5) in 2011, a work plan (following decision SC-4/19) was put in place to limit and reduce the emissions to the environment of the four Stockholm Convention homologue groups of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (POP-PBDEs) from wastes and also to help close the knowledge gaps for PFOS. COP-5 was also used to promote closer ties between the Stockholm Convention and the related policy instruments covered by the Rotterdam Convention and Basel Convention.

At the COP-9 meeting, held in April/May 2019, further decisions were made to add dicofol (no exemptions) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA related compounds (with specific exemptions) to Annex A of the Convention (see Sections 3.2.6  and 3.2.14  for further details).

In addition, under Annex B of the Stockholm Convention the manufacture and use of DDT (a pesticide still used in many developing countries) and PFOS (a surfactant) are severely restricted. The continued use of DDT has been the subject of review and assessment at COP-5, COP-6, COP-7 and COP-8. When PFOS was listed under Annex B of the Stockholm Convention in 2009, the listing included eight acceptable purposes (non-time limited exemption) and twelve specific exemptions (time limited). At COP-9, the number of exemptions for PFOS was substantuially reduced, and additional requirements for Parties to register for remaining specific exemptions were put in place (see Section  3.2.7 ).

The generic exemptions allow laboratory-scale research, use as a reference standard and unintentional trace contaminants in products and articles. Articles containing POPs manufactured or already in use before the date of entry into force of the relevant obligation are also subject to an exemption provided that Parties submit information on the uses and a national plan for waste management for such artifcles to the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention.

Releases of unintentionally produced by-products listed in Annex C, including polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), PCBs, pentachlorobenzene (PeCB), HCB, PCNs and hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), are subject to continuous minimisation with the ultimate objective of total elimination, where feasible. According to Annex C, Parties shall promote and, in accordance with their action plans, require the use of best available techniques for new sources within their major source categories identified in Part II and Part III of Annex C of the Stockholm Convention.

The Stockholm Convention also foresees identification and safe management of stockpiles containing or consisting of POPs. Waste containing, consisting of or contaminated with POPs shall be disposed of in such a way that the POP content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed so that it does not exhibit POPs characteristics. Where this does not represent the environmentally preferable option or where the POP content is low, waste shall be otherwise disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. Disposal operations that may lead to recovery or re-use of POPs are explicitly forbidden. With regard to shipment of wastes, relevant international rules, standards and guidelines, such as the 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, are to be taken into account.

In addition to control measures, the Stockholm Convention includes several general obligations. All Parties are obliged to develop and endeavour to implement National Implementation Plans (NIPs), facilitate or undertake the exchange of information and promote and facilitate awareness and public access to information on POPs. The Parties shall also encourage or undertake appropriate research, development, monitoring and co-operation pertaining to POPs, and where relevant, to their alternatives and candidate POPs. They shall also regularly report to the COP on the measures taken to implement the provisions of the Convention.

The Stockholm Convention recognises the particular needs of developing countries and countries with economies in transition and therefore specific provisions on technical assistance and on financial resources and mechanisms are included in the general obligations.

Table 1    Overview on POPs regulated at international level; the new POPs under the Stockholm Convention (since 2009) are highlighted in grey

*    Lindane, Alpha- and Beta hexachlorocyclohexane, as well as Chlordecone and Hexabromobiphenyl are new POPs under the Stockholm Convention but have already been covered under the POP Protocol and the POPs Regulation.

1.2.3.Coordination and cooperation among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions

The Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions are multilateral environmental agreements, which share the common objective of protecting human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals and wastes. These agreements can assist countries to manage chemicals at different stages of their life-cycle.

Recognizing the potential for synergistic work under the three conventions at the national, regional and global levels, the international community has worked over the past years on enhancing cooperation and coordination among the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention. These efforts culminated in the adoption of recommendations on enhancing cooperation and coordination among the three conventions by the three Conferences of the Parties held in 2008 and 2009, and the holding of simultaneous extraordinary meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions in Bali, Indonesia in February 2010, and in Geneva in May 2013. Furthermore, ordinary meetings of the Conferences of the Parties were held back-to-back in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

One of the first steps of the synergies process was the restructuring of the secretariats in a manner that strengthens organizational synergies while respecting the legal autonomy of each convention. Further steps taken at successive triple COP meetings resulted in aligning and integrating the work of the Stockholm, Basel and Rotterdam Conventions including cross-cutting measures for information exchange. Today, the enhanced coordination and cooperation resulting from the synergies process is a fundamental pillar of all the work that is done under the conventions in order to increase policy coherence and maximise efficiency and resources. The synergies are mainstreamed in all relevant activities, as appropriate, rather than being a separate activity. The COP-7 meeting in May 2015 introduced 17 new joint activities building on these synergies, and also broadened the remit of the global environment facility (GEF) to cover financing for projects on both chemicals and waste (BRS Secretariat, 2015 13 ). At the COP-8 meeting in 2017, reports on reviews of the synergies arrangements for the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions were discussed and the BRS Secretariat was requested to continue to seek opportunities for enhanced coordination and cooperation among the conventions (BRS Secretariat, 2017).

1.3.Purpose of the Union Implementation Plan on POPs

The Stockholm Convention lays down an obligation to all Parties, to develop and endeavour to implement a plan for the implementation of its obligations under the Convention. For the Union, this obligation is also transferred to the Article 9 of the POPs Regulation. The Union has in 2007 therefore developed an Implementation Plan on POPs (SEC(2007)341), which also covers the substances that fall under the UNECE Protocol on POPs 14 .

The overall purpose of the implementation plan is not only to fulfill legal obligations, but also to take stock of actions taken and lay down a strategy and action plan for further Union measures related to POPs included in the Stockholm Convention and/or in the UNECE Protocol on POPs.

The implementation plan therefore aims to:

·review the existing Union level measures related to POPs;

·assess their efficiency and sufficiency in meeting the obligations of the Stockholm Convention;

·identify needs for further Union level measures;

·establish a plan for implementing the further measures;

·identify and strengthen links and potential synergies between POPs management and other environmental policies and other policy fields; and

·increase awareness on POPs and their control measures.

In developing this implementation plan information and data has been taken from the following key sources:

·Union policy and legislative documents used to govern and manage the policy landscape on chemicals;

·Member States’ reports submitted to the European Commission as per Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004;

·Member States National Implementation Plans;

·Union databases on chemicals including:

oChemical databases held by the European Chemicals Agency as part of the REACH 15  and CLP 16  Regulations;

oEuropean Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR);

oUNECE EMEP database for POPs release estimates;

oEurostat;

oPesticides database 17 ;

oEuropean Substance Information Systems (ESIS) database;

oThe EFSA OpenFoodTox database 18

·Scientific journal literature;

·Input from key experts in the field.

Further detailed information can also be found within Member State national implementation plans, and triennial synthesis reports developed by the European Commission, which detail work undertaken within Union, including information on releases and monitoring of POPs.

2.PART I – Party Baseline

This section presents the Union’s baseline with regard to POP chemicals regulated under the Stockholm Convention and the Protocol on POPs. As such it includes at first an overview on the key Union legislation related to the implementation of obligations in the mentioned international frameworks as well as related Union strategies and programmes, followed by a description of existing financial instruments to support the implementation as well as research activities. In order to get a full picture of the status quo of the implementation, a description will be provided on what efforts are currently being undertaken by the Union to raise awareness and enhance communication. Furthermore, an overall assessment of POPs regarding their manufacture, their use, their placing on the market as well as with regard to existing stockpiles and the contamination of the waste stream will be described.

This Part I ‘Party Baseline’ presents the basic information on the Union situation and will be followed by an in-depth analysis in Part II regarding each single obligation of the Stockholm Convention. This analysis is followed by the identification of actions to improve the implementation.

2.1.Key Union Legislation and Policies related to the Union’s Obligations under the Stockholm Convention and UNECE Protocol on POPs

The Union has implemented a number of legislative measures that are related to POPs addressing both the aims of the Stockholm Convention but also the UNECE Protocol on POPs. The following figure gives an overview of the main chemical and environmental legislation relating to POPs and to which stage of the lifecycle it refers to. Details on the legislation related to POPs are described in the following sub-sections.

Figure 1    Overview of the main chemical and environmental legislation related to POPs

2.2.Legislative instruments

2.2.1.Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 (First POPs Regulation)

As signatory to both the Stockholm Convention and the UNECE Protocol on POPs, in order to implement the Union’s international obligation, the European Union legislators adopted the Regulation on persistent organic pollutants (hereafter called “Regulation (EC) No 850/2004”) to uphold the aims of the Convention and Protocol at Union level. This Regulation entered into force on 20 May 2004 and was directly applicable in all Member States, including those which are not yet Parties to the Stockholm Convention or the UNECE POP Protocol.

Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 contains provisions regarding manufacturing, placing on the market and use of chemicals, management of stockpiles and wastes and measures to reduce releases of unintentionally produced POPs. Exports of POPs are regulated under Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals. The exemptions to the prohibitions under the POPs Regulation are limited to a minimum. Furthermore, Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 contains provisions requiring the setting up of emission inventories for unintentionally produced POPs, national and Union implementation plans and monitoring and information exchange mechanisms. To a certain extent Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 goes further than the international agreements emphasising the aim to eliminate the manufacture and use of the internationally recognised POPs, notably this includes the development of legally binding thresholds for POPs within waste, which are detailed in Annex IV of the Regulation. Where the thresholds are exceeded, only certain disposal or recovery operations can be applied to the waste containing POPs in such a way as to ensure that the POP content is irreveribly transformed or destroyed. POP substances separated from waste cannot be recycled under any circumstance and have to be destroyed.

Concerning management of stockpiles, the Regulation provides that all remaining stockpiles for which no use is permitted shall be managed as waste. Stockpiles greater than 50 kg meant for permitted uses shall be notified to the competent authority and managed in a safe, efficient and environmentally sound manner. Holders of a stockpile consisting of or containing any POPs for which no use is permitted shall manage that stockpile according to the specified requirements.

With regard to wastes, producers and holders of waste are obliged to undertake measures to avoid contamination of waste with POP substances. Waste with POPs content higher than the above mentioned lower POP limits (under Annex IV) must generally be disposed of or recovered in such a way that the POP content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed. By way of derogation, wastes containing POPs below the limit values indicated in Annex V may be otherwise dealt with in accordance with a method listed in Annex V, part 2, subject to the conditions outlined in Article 7.4 (b) 19 .

2.2.2.Recast of the POPs Regulation ((EU) 2019/1021)

2.2.2.1.Introduction

Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 has been amended several times to take into account changes within the Convention and Protocol annexes as well as changes in other related Union legislation such as REACH. On 22 March 2018 the Commission adopted a proposal to recast the POPs Regulation 20 . The position of the European Parliament was adopted on 18 April 2019, and passed to the Council of the European Union in early May 2019. The recast of the POPs Regulation was adopted on 20 June 2019 and formally published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 25 June 2019 21 .

While the overall structure of the POPs Regulation is broadly similar to Regulation (EC) No 850/2004, there are a number of important changes included, which can be broadly grouped into five categories:

·Institutional changes for the role of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the Commission;

·Changes related to Member States reporting;

·Changes related to waste and waste management;

·Changes made to terminology to build greater alignment to REACH;

·POP specific changes (notably for PCBs and PBDEs).

2.2.2.2.Institutional changes for the role of ECHA and the Commission

The POPs Regulation provides a significant new role for ECHA in its implementation and development of technical and scientific dossiers. Article 8 of the POPs Regulation defines the new duties that are undertaken by ECHA (further supported by the Forum for Exchange of Information on Enforcement established under the REACH Regulation, hereafter referred to as “the Forum”).

In particular ECHA has a key role to support the Commission by assisting in identifying new substances that meet the criteria to be considered ‘POPs’, and development of the risk profile and risk management evaluation dossiers, which are to be developed for the review process under the Stockholm Convention. These changes also allow greater transparency in the process for identification of new POPs. Under the POPs Regulation ECHA is required to publish notice on its website that a proposal for the listing of a substance (screening dossier) will be prepared by the Commission and allow comments from all interested parties within eight weeks of the publication.

Furthermore, during the development of the risk profile and risk management evaluation dossiers, the POPs Regulation also allows input (and new data) from all interested parties, again with an eight-week window for commenting following publication on the ECHA website.

ECHA also has further duties to provide technical input (upon request from the Commission) to ongoing processes under the Convention, collation and publication of information reported by the Member States and maintain a section on the ECHA website dedicated to POPs.

The Forum has the role to establish a network of Member State authorities responsible for the enforcement of the POPs Regulation. This network will co-ordinate enforcement efforts carried out at Member State level and will also address waste and waste-related matters that fall under the POPs Regulation.

Article 16 of the POPs Regulation states that ECHA’s budget for this new role will be sourced through a combination of a subsidy from the Commission and donations from the Member States.

The POPs Regulation also grants new powers to the Commission for amendment of the Annexes. Under Article 15 of the POPs Regulation, the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts amending Annexes I, II and/or III. The European Parliament and the Council still have the right to object, but the use of delegated acts is intended to make the amendment of Annexes in light of changes under the Convention or the Protocol more efficient. The Commission also has a watching brief to monitor Annexes IV and V for any necessary amendments. The Commission is also (under Article 10) able to consider the need for mandatory monitoring of substances listed in Part B of Annex III. Additionally, under Article 7(5) of the POPs Regulation, the Commission may adopt implementing acts concerning waste management, in particular with regard to the format of information to be submitted by the Member States concerning exemptions from the prescribed waste disposal and recovery provisions set out in the Regulation.

2.2.2.3.Changes related to Member States reporting

Reporting is a key component of the POPs Regulation and builds upon the work completed at Member State level to tackle the issues posed by POPs. Under Regulation (EC) No 850/2004, Article 12 included obligations on Member States to report annually (on management of substances list in Annex I or II) and triennially (on the broader issues, including emission inventories) to the Commission. Additionally, Article 12 then also placed obligations on the Commission to produce a report every three years on the Union’s progress towards the aims of the regulation.

Taking into account the Commission Report on Actions to Streamline Environmental Reporting and its related Fitness Check, the POPs Regulation proposes a different approach to reporting. Under Article 13, Member States are obligated to develop reports on their progress to implement the regulation, including data on annual monitoring and statistics which will be published at national level. These reports are to be kept up to date, with annual updates for any new data, or if no new data is available, with an update at least once every three years as a minimum.

Under Article 17 of the POPs Regulation, the Agency, in cooperation with the Member States, specifies formats and software for the publication of data by the Member States pursuant to the Regulation and makes them available free of charge on its website.

Additionally, for monitoring data the POPs Regulation highlights the importance of the new Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring (IPCheM), and that all monitoring data should be provided to IPCheM, again with formats to be agreed between the Member States and ECHA.

2.2.2.4.Changes related to waste and waste management

The POPs Regulation provides a stronger focus on POPs wastes and waste-management. In particular, the POPs Regulation comments that for national reports and implementation plans Member States are encouraged to include any information on the identification of contaminated sites. Additional focus is also given to management of POPs within waste streams and traceability to avoid regrettable re-entry to the market through recycling. Recital 17 of the POPs Regulation specifically states:

“In order to promote the traceability of waste containing POPs and ensure control, the provisions of the record keeping system established in accordance with Article 17 of Directive 2008/98/EC should apply also to such waste containing POPs which is not defined as hazardous waste according to Commission Decision 2014/955/EU 22 ”.

This means that for wastes containing POPs, even when not classified as hazardous, the record-keeping obligations that apply to producers or installations managing hazardous waste, will also apply, including documenting the quantity, nature and origin of the waste and the destination of the waste. As a minimum this requires the holders of such waste to notify the competent authority of the POP content of their wastes.

The recast further comments that the Commission is assisted by the Committee established under the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) to ensure a consistent approach to how wastes are managed within the Union.

2.2.2.5.Changes made to terminology to build greater alignment to REACH

A number of smaller but important changes have been included within the POPs Regulation to help build closer alignment with other related Union legislation. In particular under Article 2 this includes the revision of terminology in a number of places to align more closely with REACH. For example, the Stockholm Convention refers to ‘production’, while the REACH Regulation refers to ‘manufacture’, covering the same set of activities.

2.2.2.6.POP specific changes (notably for PCBs and PBDEs)

The majority of the changes in the POPs Regulation affect functional elements of how the legislation works and roles and obligations for different bodies. However, there are a small number of changes which specifically affect certain POPs substances, with the two key changes of importance relating to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs):

·PBDEs: The POPs Regulation made provisions under Annexes IV and V for management of wastes containing PBDEs as a family defined by homologue groups (i.e. pentaBDE, hexaBDE, heptaBDE, etc.). By Commission Regulation (EU) 1342/2014 23 the Annex IV threshold (for low POP content) for wastes containing PBDEs as an aggregated sum was set at 1000 mg/kg (1000ppm). The POPs Regulation notes the advances made in analytical chemistry and states that within two years of entry into force (not later than 16 July 2021) the Commission should review that concentration limit and should, where appropriate and in accordance with the Treaties, adopt a legislative proposal to lower that value to 500 mg/kg.

Furthermore, under Annex I of the POPs Regulation a new clause has been added regarding the presence of PBDEs (tetra, penta, hexa, hepta and deca homologues) within new articles placed on the market. This sets a maximum threshold of 500 mg/kg for unintentional trace contamination of mixtures and articles with PBDEs.

·PCBs: Annex I part A of the POPs Regulation now includes the additional text for PCBs: “Member States shall identify and remove from use equipment (e.g., transformers, capacitors or other receptacles containing liquid stocks) containing more than 0,005 % PCBs and volumes greater than 0,05 dm3, as soon as possible but no later than 31 December 2025.” This incorporates the overall aim from the Stockholm Convention to eliminate the remaining use of PCBs within di-electric equipment by 2025.

The POPs Regulation also includes the addition of new terminologies, in particular the addition of ‘unintentional trace contamination’, which is defined as:

“'unintentional trace contaminant' means a level of a substance that is incidentally present in a minimal amount, below which the substance cannot be meaningfully used, and above the detection limit of existing detection methods to enable control and enforcement”.

2.2.3.European Union chemicals legislation

Other chemicals legislation complements the POPs Regulation in implementing the obligations of the Stockholm Convention and the POPs Protocol. As Table 2 shows, the other chemicals legislation particularly ensures that the export ban on POPs is implemented and that allowed imports and exports are in conformity with the rules of the Stockholm Convention, ensures that POPs are collected and irreversibly destroyed and prevents that the chemicals exhibiting POP characteristics are produced or marketed.

Table 2    Union chemicals legislation relevant for POPs

2.2.3.1.REACH

Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) inter alia includes provisions to ensure that industrial chemicals having POP characteristics are identified and prevented from being produced or imported in the Union. Furthermore under the authorisation and restriction processes, the promotion of innovation, use of safer alternatives and contribution to the goal of achieving sustainable development of chemical use are covered.

REACH requires Union companies which manufacture or import chemical substances in quantities of one tonne or more per year to register these substances and ensure that they can be used safely. This information is submitted in the form of registration dossiers to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) 24 . The submission contains a technical dossier and, for substances manufactured or imported in quantities of 10 tonnes per annum (tonnes p.a.) or above, a Chemical Safety Report (CSR). The chemical safety assessment detailed by the CSR has to cover:

(`)human health hazards;

(`)physicochemical hazards;

(a)environmental hazards;

(b)persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) properties. 

For hazardous substances (such as those assessed to be a PBT or vPvB), an exposure assessment and risk characterisation must be included in the Chemical Safety Report. For some of the substances identified as PBT or vPvB, an authorisation from the Commission is required for particular uses. This is the case when a substance meeting the requirements of the ‘substance of very high concern’ (SVHC) criteria 25 is included in Annex XIV of the Regulation and will then become banned once the set sunset date has passed unless an authorization is granted. Only specific uses for which a request for authorization has been made following specific requirements with regard to the assessment of the substance can be allowed. Prior to inclusion into Annex XIV the selected substances are part of the so-called Candidate List, which in itself already implies a number of obligations such as e.g. the obligation to deliver information on the content of a substance in an article.

REACH further includes the possibility to restrict the use, placing on the market or manufacture of substances by listing them in Annex XVII of REACH. This is another legal instrument that can be used to prevent manufacture and use of substances having POP characteristics.

With the above described measures REACH gives greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. This information has to be passed down the chain of manufacture. The REACH Regulation also aims to increase the knowledge of the chemicals properties and of the exposure through the required provision of specific documentation and to improve the risk management of chemicals.

2.2.3.2.CLP

The CLP Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 is the Union Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging of substances and mixtures 26 . The legislation introduces throughout the Union a system for classifying and labelling chemicals, based on the United Nations’ Globally Harmonised System (UN GHS). CLP is about the hazards of substances and mixtures and how to inform others about them. CLP does not contain a specific hazard class for PBT and vPvB substances, however Article 53(2) calls for the promotion at the UN level for the harmonisation of the criteria for classification and labelling of PBT and vPvB substances. However, the classification and labelling inventory 27 set up by the CLP Regulation makes available relevant information that can be used to identify new potential POP candidates and also provides classification and labelling of several POPs.

2.2.3.3.Regulation on Plant Protection Products

Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market 28 (PPP Regulation) prevents chemicals exhibiting POP characteristics from being used in plant protection products. This is achieved by the provisions according to which an active substance, safener or synergist shall only be approved for use in plant protection products where it is not considered to be a POP or if it is not considered to be a persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substance (PBT) or a very persistent and very bioaccumalative substance (vPvB). In addition, a substance may only be approved as a candidate for substitution if it meets two of the PBT criteria.

Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 on maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin sets the highest level of a pesticide residue that is legally tolerated in or on food or feed when pesticides are applied correctly. This includes MRL values for several POPs (see Section 2.1.5).

2.2.3.4.Biocidal Products Regulation

Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products 29  aims to promote substitution of substances that exhibit PBT characteristics in biocidal products for less hazardous ones. The use of PBT substances in biocidal products is only allowed if there are no alternatives available. This is achieved by the provision that an active substance that meets two of the PBT criteria as set out in Annex XIII of the REACH Regulation shall be considered as a candidate for substitution and shall be identified as such in a regulation approving an active substance under the Biocides Regulation. A similar process also exists under the PPP Regulation. The approval of an active substance that is considered as a candidate for substitution shall be renewed for a period not exceeding seven years. As part of the evaluation of an application for an authorisation (or a renewal of an authorisation) of a biocidal product containing an active substance that is a candidate for substitution, the Competent Authority shall perform a comparative assessment to evaluate whether there are other authorised biocidal products (or non-chemical control or prevention methods) which present significantly lower risk for human or animal health or the environment.

2.2.3.5.Regulation on the export and import of hazardous chemicals

The export of POP substances or articles containing POPs is regulated by Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 concerning the export and import of hazardous chemicals 30 . This Regulation implements the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade and provides for an export ban of POP substances listed in Annexes A and B of the Stockholm Convention and in the POPs Regulation. The decisions made at the COP-4 to the Stockholm Convention held on 4–8 May 2009 listing new substances 31 were implemented by Regulation (EU) No 214/2011. The fifth Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (COP-5) (April 2011) decided to list endosulfan in Annex A. That decision was implemented in the Union by Commission Regulation (EU) No 73/2013, which adds endosulfan to the list of chemicals that are banned for export. Under Regulation (EU) No 649/2012 substances listed in Annex I are as a minimum subject to the export notification requirements. For POP-PBDEs and PFOS listed in Annex I, this includes in addition explicit consent requirements (with the potential for exceptional waivers) from receiving non-EU countries.

2.2.3.6.PCB Directive (Directive 96/59/EC)

Articles containing PCBs already in use are covered by specific provisions laid down in Council Directive 96/59/EC on the disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated terphenyls (PCB/PCT) 32 . The directive aims for the approximation of the laws of the Member States on the controlled disposal of PCBs, the decontamination or disposal of equipment containing PCBs and/or the disposal of used PCBs in order to eliminate them completely. According to the Directive, Member States had to take the necessary measures to ensure that used PCBs are disposed of and that PCBs and equipment containing PCBs are decontaminated or disposed of in an appropriate manner.

Member States were obliged to compile inventories of equipment with PCB volumes of more than 5 dm³. These inventories were to be sent to the Commission by September 1999 at the latest. The equipment and PCBs contained in the inventories had to be decontaminated or disposed of by 2010 at the latest (deadlines are different for the new Member States). The inventories must supply the following data:

·the names and addresses of the holders;

·the location and description of the equipment;

·the quantity of PCBs contained in the equipment;

·the date and type of treatment planned;

·the date of the declaration.

Moreover, the Directive stipulates that any equipment which is subject to inventory must be labelled. Member States must prohibit the separation of PCBs from other substances for the purpose of reusing the PCBs and the topping-up of transformers with PCBs.

Concerning the appropriate waste management, Member States had to take the necessary measures to ensure that:

·PCBs, used PCBs and equipment containing PCBs which is subject to inventory are transferred to licensed undertakings, at the same time ensuring that all necessary precautions are taken to avoid the risk of fire;

·any incineration of PCBs or used PCBs on ships is prohibited;

·all undertakings engaged in the decontamination and/or the disposal of PCBs, used PCBs and/or equipment containing PCBs obtain permits;

·transformers containing more than 0.05% by weight of PCBs are decontaminated under the conditions specified by the Directive.

In accordance with the committee procedure referred to in Directive 75/442/EEC 33 , the Commission:

·had to fix the reference methods of measurement to determine the PCB content of contaminated materials 34 ;

·could fix technical standards for the other methods of disposing of PCBs;

·had to make available a list of the manufacture names of capacitors, resistors and induction coils containing PCBs 35 ;

·had to determine, if necessary, other less hazardous substitutes for PCBs.

The Commission completed the tasks mentioned above, as appropriate.

Within three years following the adoption of Directive 96/59/EC, Member States had to draw up plans for the decontamination and/or disposal of inventoried equipment and the PCBs contained therein and plans for the collection and subsequent disposal of equipment not subject to inventory. Furthermore, under the recast of the POPs Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 all remaining PCBs within di-electric equipment (above 0.005% PCB in volumes greater than 0.05 dm3) are to be irreveribly destroyed by 2025.

2.2.4.Other environmental legislation with POP relevance

In addition to the chemicals legislation, environmental legislation especially those targeting water, waste and products also cover POP-related issues.

Table   3 summarizes the most relevant legislation with POP relevance and indicates which POPs are regulated. The table also includes environmental legislation covering releases of unintentionally produced POPs. The legislation is presented in more detail in Part II if further measures for the implementation may be necessary.

In comparison with the first Implementation Plan, four new legislative acts have been adopted: Directive 2008/98/EC on Waste (Waste Framework Directive), Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 on shipments of waste, Directive 2010/75/EU on Industrial Emissions (including waste incineration), Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 on the EU Ecolabel and Directive 2006/11/EC on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment.

The most important legislation covering the release of unintentionally produced POPs is Directive 2010/75/EU, the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) 36 which since 7 January 2014 has repealed and replaced Directive 2008/1/EC concerning integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC Directive) and Directive 2000/76/EC on Waste Incineration (amongst others).

The purpose of the IED is to ensure a high level of protection of the environment taken as a whole. Industrial installations operating activities covered by Annex I of the IED are required to obtain an environmental permit from the authorities in the Member States. Emissions of all relevant polluting substances (including POPs), which are likely to be emitted in significant quantities, have to be regulated in the permit. The whole environmental performance of the installation is taken into account, covering e.g. emissions to air, water and land, generation of waste, use of raw materials, energy efficiency, noise, prevention of accidents, and restoration of the site upon closure. The conditions set out in this permit, in particular the emission limits, have to be based on the application of BAT.

The definition of BAT in the IED generally corresponds with the one of the Stockholm Convention. In order to identify BAT, the Commission organises an information exchange, where BAT is described and defined for the different industrial sectors in so-called Best Available Techniques REFerence Documents (BREFs). Where relevant, also for POPs, BAT Associated Emission Levels (BAT-AELs) are developed. Under the IED, the BAT conclusions is the part of the BREF that is formally adopted as Commision Implementing Decision. The BAT and BAT-AELs set out therein are to be used by the permitting authorities in setting permit conditions and emission limit values for permits. Emission levels set in the permits for certain pollutants should be within the BAT-AELs unless a derogation from BAT-AELs applies to the installation 37 .

Table 3    Further environmental legislative instruments with relevance on the use and disposal of POPs (including unintentionally produced POPs) 

2.2.5.Legislation on food and feed and on the protection of public health 

Regulations (EC) No 1881/2006 and 396/2005 and Directive 2002/32/EC set maximum residues levels for POP substances in food and feed. Regulation (EC) No 1883/2006 sets minimum requirements on methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in certain foodstuffs and Regulation (EC) 152/2009 sets minimum requirements on methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of levels of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in feed (see Table 4 ). 

EFSA conducts an annual monitoring programme for residues of pesticides in food. POPs formerly used as pesticides are covered by MRLs and are therefore included in the monitoring programme. EFSA is responsible for preparing an annual report 41 on pesticide residues based on an analysis of information submitted by Member States in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 396/2005.

In comparison with the situation when the first Implementation Plan was drafted, there are substantial changes in the Union food and feed legislation. These changes relate to the conversion of the maximum levels in feed and food for dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs, previously expressed in Toxic Equivalent Factors (TEF) 1998, into maximum levels expressed in TEF 2005. Furthermore maximum levels for non dioxin like PCBs (the so called indicator PCBs) have been established in feed and food. The POP Regulation requires the setting up of emission inventories for unintentionally produced POPs, some of which may enter the food chain via atmospheric deposition and bioaccumulation. More detail can be found in section 2.1.1.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) produced a report in May 2015 42 to evaluate the methodologies used internationally in deriving health based safety values for dioxins, furans and dioxin-like PCBs within food. This study aimed to better understand the methodologies used by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), US EPA, and Scientific Committee on Food (SCF). The study notes that, while the JECFA and SCF base assessments on animal data, the USEPA make use of human data. Further differences in the modelling approach for toxicology and accepted no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) between SCF/JECFA and US-EPA resulted in US-EPA values being three orders of magnitude lower than the SCF/JECFA values. EFSA have stated that these differences warrant a comprehensive risk assessment to further understand the relationship between animal and human toxicology data.

In June 2018 EFSA published a paper on the risk for animal and human health related to the presence of dioxins and dioxin‐like PCBs in feed and food 43 . The data from experimental animal and epidemiological studies were reviewed and it was decided to base the human risk assessment on effects observed in humans and to use animal data as supportive evidence. The study essentially led to a new health-based guidance value for dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCB) 44 .

Table 4    Food & Feed related legislation with relevance to POPs

2.2.6.Information exchange between the Commission and the Member States on POPs in food and consumer products 

The information exchange among the Member States authorities and the Commission on the presence of POPs in food and consumer products is ensured by the rapid alert systems. There are currently two Union rapid alert systems and both are publicly available. The legal basis for their establishment are provided in Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, Directive 2001/95/EC and Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.

The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) 47 was put in place to provide food and feed control authorities with an effective tool to exchange information about measures taken responding to serious risks detected in relation to food or feed. This exchange of information helps Member States to act more rapidly and in a coordinated manner in response to a health threat caused by food or feed. Notifications cover e.g. the contamination of food and feed with dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs or with PAHs.

The Rapid Alert System for non-food dangerous Products (RAPEX) 48 facilitates the rapid exchange of information between Member States and the Commission on measures taken to prevent or restrict the marketing or use of products (non-feed/non-food) posing a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers. Measures ordered by national authorities and measures taken voluntarily by producers and distributors are reported by RAPEX.

2.2.7.Food monitoring within the European Union

Routine monitoring of food and feed is an important aspect of early detection of contamination of food and feed by POPs. Under Regulation (EU) 2017/625 49 , a EU Reference Laboratory (EURL) was established in Freiburg, Germany 50 tasked with developing analytical standards for dioxins and furans and PCBs within food and feed. EURL is further complemented by national laboratories within the Member States, who have the role of carrying out analysis for routine monitoring. In order to ensure comparability between EURL and national reference laboratories, proficiency tests are conducted twice annually. These tests involve the use of the same sample, which is issued for analysis by all national laboratories. The results are then collated and assessed with any marked deviation from the average result requiring process amendment and further testing for any specific national reference laboratory. Representatives from the national reference laboratories and EURL meet twice annually to review and discuss any specific topics of interest for analysis.

Under Regulation (EC) 396/2005, Member States are required to share results of their official controls and other relevant information to the Commission. EFSA then prepares an annual report on pesticide residues in the Union, based on an analysis of this information (see Section 2.1.5).

2.2.8.Emission monitoring legislation

The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) Regulation 51 aims to enhance public access to environmental information. The E-PRTR replaced the European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER) in 2007 and includes additional pollutants and economic activities. E-PRTR covers 91 pollutants, and 65 economic activities which have to be reported by regulated facilities above set reporting thresholds. The E-PRTR also implements stricter threshold levels for a number of pollutants (including POPs) (see also sections 3.3.1 on emission monitoring and 2.3.9 on monitoring efforts of the Union) compared to previous EPER inventories.

The E-PRTR also collects and collates information on the transfer and management of waste, which includes total quantities of hazardous waste disaggregated to facility level. Further information on specific pollutants or concentrations of pollutants within hazardous waste is not a reporting requirement of the E-PRTR.

The European Commission launched an initative early in 2016 to aid access to monitoring data, which includes information on POPs, called the Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring data (IPCheM) 52 . The platform is managed by the Joint Research Centre in collaboration with a number of international and national bodies. It draws together monitoring data-sets in the form of ‘modules’, which are available publicly. IPCheM aims to support a more coordinated approach for collecting, storing, accessing and assessing data related to the occurrence of chemicals and chemical mixtures, in relation to humans and the environment. In the current version of the platform (IPCheM Version 5.0, March 2018), the portal was revisited and integrated with sections dedicated to end users and data providers. 

The POPs Regulation furthermore identifies the key role of the IPCheM platform for monitoring data. The POPs Regulation states that IPCheM will act as the main repository for POPs monitoring data developed and reported by Member States. It also states that the format of data and software to be used when developing and submitting data to IPCheM will be agreed between the Member States and ECHA to help maximise efficiency and comparability.

2.2.9.Public access to environmental information 

The Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information 53 guarantees the right of access to environmental information held by or for public authorities. This right is for any applicant (private individuals, organisations, etc.) and has to be granted without any justification. With regards to emissions, no request can be refused. Thus, this directive is a powerful instrument to gather emission data, also on POPs, and can be used supplementary to the above mentioned on E-PRTR.

2.3.Strategies, policies, and programmes

2.3.1.Sustainable development 

In 2001, the European Union adopted the Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS) to provide a long-term vision combining economic dynamism, social cohesion and high environmental standards 54 . In 2009, the European Commission Communication COM(2009) 400 final 55 reviewed the EU SDS to respond to the most recent economic and financial crisis from the perspective of a long-term sustainable development with the goal to further mainstream the EU SDS into the European policy fields. From the seven key challenges proposed, two contain POPs related issues though they are not explicitly mentioned, i.e. sustainable consumption and manufacture as well as public health.

The review reaffirms the position of the European Council about sustainable development as a fundamental Union objective under the Treaty of Lisbon. This follow-up of the Lisbon Strategy was adopted in June 2010 by the heads and governments of the Member States. In the Union, a key issue is to mainstream sustainable development thinking into various parts of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The EU SDS contributed to moving Europe out of the crisis and laying the foundations for a more sustainable future built on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. In monitoring progress under the EU SDS, the Commission (EUROSTAT) has produced bi-annual monitoring reports on sustainable development, most recently in September 2015.

Concerning sustainable development, the European Union had a key role during the UN negotiations on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the sustainable development goals (SDGs), which was adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015. There are 17 goals, which are to be achieved by 2030 56 and which include responsible consumption and manufacture; good health and well being; industry, innovation and infrastructure; life below water and life on land. The new European Consensus for Development frames the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in partnership with all developing countries, taking due account of the framework provided by the Lisbon Treaty. In particular, the European Union and its Member States undertake to promote resource efficiency and sustainable consumption and manufacture, including the sustainable management of chemicals and waste, with a view to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation and enable the transition to a circular economy. To help support these aims the POPs Regulation places a key focus on waste and sustainability. This includes increased traceability for all wastes that contain POPs and obligations on Member States to put in place measures to support the implementation of the Regulation to identify POPs within waste and their final destination. The Regulation already includes low-POP thresholds in its Annex IV at concentrations equal or above which wastes must not be recycled (although pre-treatment operation to separate POP substances or to sort out POP-containing waste are permitted), however, the new requirements for traceability will also cover below threshold concentrations for POPs in waste.

The Stockholm Convention and the POPs Regulation are intended to protect human health and the environment from those substances identified as POPs. Part of this work includes aspects around innovation and sustainability to ensure that one POP substance is not replaced by another POP. In the Union this is further controlled by the REACH Regulation under the authorisation and restriction processes.

2.3.2.Substitution of substances for intentional use

A fundamental component of sustainable development and elimination of POPs from goods intentionally placed on the market is the substitution of POPs substances by alternatives that do not have the characteristsics detailed under Annex D of the Stockholm Convention. Within European Union the REACH Regulation aims to identify substances which are persistent, bioaccumulating and/or toxic (in addition to those that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction or substances which give rise to an equivalent level of concern), termed ‘substances of very high concern’ (SVHCs) 57 . A key aim of the REACH Authorisation process is to ensure that SVHCs are progresively replaced with suitable alternatives. Action to restrict the use of certain PBT substances and require the use of alternatives, has also been taken through the REACH restriction process. Note that under the POPs Regulation, ECHA will take a central role in the development of scientific dossiers for new candidate POPs, allowing greater synergies between REACH and POPs on the international stage.

As part of the 7th EAP, the European Commission funded a pilot project to look at substitution with regard to brominated flame-retardants. The Enfiro project 58  was intended to help develop alternatives to brominated flame-retardants (including substances identified as POPs), as well documenting lessons learnt in order to help others successfully transition away from POPs based substances to safer alternatives. 

Alongside the Enfiro project the European Commission has aimed to promote collaboration in the field of substitution. The Executive Agency for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (EASME) (part of the programme to assist small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) for innovation (COSME)) has developed the Partnership Opportunities Database (POD) to help SMEs within the Union make contact with partner organisations to look at the issue of substitution, which includes the issue of substitution for SVHCs substances within commercial manufacture and goods. A number of other valuable resources are also open to industry including the information provided by the ECHA website 59 , Subsport 60 , and Medswitch 61 amongst others.

2.3.3.Environment Action Programme

The Union’s principal strategy for environmental policy is the Environment Action Programme (EAP), which is also relevant for this implementation plan.

In June 2013, political agreement was reached on the seventh Environment Action Programme (EAP), the 7th EAP. The 7th EAP sets out the priority objectives for European Union environment policy to 2020, set out in an ambitious longer-term vision for an inclusive, green and competitive European economy that safeguards the environment. The programme identifies three key objectives:

·to protect, conserve and enhance the Union’s natural capital;

·to turn the Union into a resource-efficient, green, and competitive low-carbon economy;

·to safeguard the Union's citizens from environment-related pressures and risks to health and wellbeing.

The priority areas can be found at: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/action-programme/.

The 7th EAP sets out a framework to support the achievement of nine priority objectives through development and better implementation of Union environment law, state of the art science, securing the necessary investments in support of environment and climate change policy, and improving the way that environmental concerns and requirements are reflected in other policies. The Programme aims to boost efforts to help EU cities become more sustainable, and improve the Union's capacity to meet regional and global environment and climate challenges.

Priority objective 3 of the 7th EAP "To safeguard the Union’s citizens from environment-related pressures and risks to health and well-being" specifically aims to tackle hazardous chemicals, including nanomaterials, and chemicals that interfere with the endocrine system. This will in particular focus on the assessment of the combination effects of substances and the effective management through relevant Union legislation.

In July 2018, a report was published on the study ‘Towards an 8th Environmental Action Programme – Local and regional dimension’ 62 . The purpose of the study was to inform the Committee of the Regions (CoR) in the preparation of its own-initiative opinion on the EAP, focused specifically on a possible 8th EAP. The study aimed to support the opinion through an analysis of the local and regional dimensions of a potential 8th EAP.

More recently in December 2019, the European Commission presented the European Green Deal 63 , setting out a roadmap for making the Union’s economy fully sustainable. As part of the roadmap the Green Deal also sets ambitions for eliminating pollution, including an action plan for zero-pollution and a new chemicals strategy for a toxic-free environment.

2.3.4.The Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection

The Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection was adopted by the European Commission in 2006. The purpose of the Strategy is to “protect the soil while using it sustainably, through the prevention of further degradation, the preservation of soil function and the restoration of degraded soils”. The four pillars of the Strategy are awareness raising, research, integration, and legislation.

The Strategy has resulted in an increased focus on soil issues, with this becoming the focus of many research projects. To date these have been primarily on issues such as soil degradation, impacts of agriculture, etc., rather than on POPs 64 . However, with soil protection and remediation of soil contamination falling under the Strategy, there is the potential for this to be the subject of future research, in particular on the consolidated harmonisation of soil monitoring for POPs and other contaminants. Indeed, the POPs Regulation now gives much greater onus on contaminated sites, encouraging Member States to include details of identified sites and work to identify contaminated sites within both national reports and national implementation plans.

2.3.5.Strategies for control of pesticides and chemicals

The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability 65 , which was adopted in October 2020, strives for a toxic-free environment, where chemicals are produced and used in a way that maximises their contribution to society including achieving the green and digital transition, while avoiding harm to the planet and to current and future generations. It envisages the EU industry as a globally competitive player in the production and use of safe and sustainable chemicals. The strategy proposes a clear roadmap and timeline for the transformation of industry with the aim of attracting investment into safe and sustainable products and production methods.

This strategy sets a pathway towards implementation of this vision through actions to support innovation for safe and sustainable chemicals, strengthen the protection of human health and the environment, simplify and strengthen the legal framework on chemicals, build a comprehensive knowledge base to support evidence-based policy making, and set the example of sound management of chemicals globally.

The Union Strategy for Dioxins, Furans and Polychlorinated Biphenyls adopted in 2001 (COM(2001) 593) 66  has the goal to assess the current state of the environment and the ecosystem and to reduce exposure from dioxins and PCBs to humans and the environment. In July 2007, the Communication of the Commission COM(2007) 396 final 67 provided the second progress report on the main achievements with regard to the implementation of the strategy during the period between 2004 and 2006, elucidating the several environmental measures on POPs which have been adopted in 2004 and the new maximum levels for contaminants in food and feed, which have been updated in 2006.

In October 2010, the Commission adopted the third progress report on the dioxin strategy for the period 2007 to 2009 (COM(2010) 562 final) 68 . The report concluded that the overall objective of the strategy, i.e. to develop an integrated approach in order to reduce the presence of dioxins, furans and PCBs in the environment as well as in feed and food, has been achieved to a large extent, bearing in mind the reduction of industrial emissions of these pollutants by about 80% over the past two decades. The report further concluded that additional sources should be targeted by national or local measures.

In December 2013, the Commission put forward Recommendation 2013/711/EU 69 for further reduction of dioxins and furans, and dioxin-like PCBs within food groups, as amended by Commission Recommendation 2014/663/EU of 11 September 2014. This Recommendation called for increased monitoring of these substances within free range eggs, organic eggs, lamb and sheep livers and sea food (particularly crabs). The recommendation also indicates acceptable levels for the presence of dioxins and furans, and dioxin-like PCBs, within food.

Further progress is expected within the framework of the Union Implementation Plan on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the relevant NIPs elaborated by Member States.

2.3.6.OpenFoodTox database for pesticide residues in food

Since the creation of EFSA in 2002, the authority has completed food-based risk assessments for more than 4,000 substances. For individual substances, a summary of human health (and depending on relevant legislation animal health and ecological hazard assessments) data and conclusions have been collated and summarised within a publicly available database called ‘OpenFoodTox’. This database provides high level summarised data on a substance-by-substance basis including details of outcomes for specific toxicological endpoints, and hazard reference values that have been developed and then adopted by different expert committees. This includes data on the safe limits for pesticide residues in food covering a number of the POPs covered by the POPs Regulation.

2.3.7.Environment and Health Action Plan

The Environment and Health Action Plan (EHAP) was launched in June 2004 to coordinate health, environment and research areas and to develop a system for integrated information on environment and health and to assess the environmental impact on human health more efficiently. In June 2007, a mid-term report was published in a Communication of the Commission (COM(2007) 314 final 70 ). It highlighted the growing links between environment policy and health policy. It showed, for example, that an important development in relation to the Strategy on Dioxins and PCBs was the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004. The progress report on the implementation of the EHAP of March 2010 (SEC(2010) 387) 71 presented the progress of activities after the mid-term review, assessed the results achieved since 2004 and suggested the follow-up for the Action Plan post 2010.

2.3.8.Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)

Many environmental problems transcend national boundaries and can only be efficiently handled through international co-operation. The European Union is a party in more than 40 international environmental agreements 72 , among them the Stockholm Convention, the Basel Convention, the Rotterdam Convention and the Minamata Convention.

Within the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), a number of useful documents that address the question of how to improve communication on chemicals in products and articles including POPs have been developed. The Chemicals in Products Programme (CiP Programme) was initiated by the Union in 2009 and welcomed by the SAICM Governing body at ICCM4, in September 2015. The finalised Programme and the accompanying guidance can be found on UNEP's web page 73 .

2.3.9.Monitoring efforts of the Union

Monitoring efforts in the Union cover monitoring of emission loads into the environment and monitoring of environmental concentrations.

The European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) is a scientifically based and policy driven programme for international cooperation under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). The EMEP provides scientific information about emission inventories and emission projections, atmospheric monitoring and modelling as well as an integrated assessment to help solve transboundary air pollution problems. This set of information is an important basis for developing further emission control strategies and implementing the Convention and its Protocols.

Several measures relating to the monitoring of POPs’ emissions have been taken by the Member States in order to identify and characterize sources and releases of these substances. Many of these measures are included in the NIPs and have benefited from the numerous national policy frameworks. Besides the national emission inventories for the release of unintentionally produced POPs into the air, water and soil, the EMEP emission inventory and the E-PRTR database are further available inventories of releases. Article 4 of the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC) also requires the development of inventories of discharges and losses for priority and priority hazardous substances (which includes some POPs). This information is intended to inform planning and reporting for river basin management plans (RBMPs), with the first cycle covering the 2009-2015 period. The fourth implementation report (2015) 74  included a review of progress in the implementation of the Programmes of Measures planned by Member States in their RBMPs. A Commission report on the assment of Member States’ second RBMPs is ongoing and is expected later in 2019. The EEA report on ‘European waters – Assessment of status and pressures 2018’ 75 , indicated that inputs from urban wastewater treatment plants lead to contamination of over 13,000 water bodies with polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mercury, cadmium, lead, and nickel being the dominated substances causing failure to achieve good chemical status. PAHs in particularly have been linked to atmospheric deposition from combustion of fuels, rather than direct release to water.

As regards the monitoring of environmental concentrations, there are several regional monitoring programmes established as part of regional conventions or initiatives that covers part of the Union and includes some of the POPs. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) analyses fluxes, pathways and environmental levels of POPs and presents an assessment of the Arctic environment contamination 76 . Other examples are the Trilateral Monitoring and Assessment Programme of the Waddensea (TMAP), the Monitoring Network in the Alpine Region for Persistent and other Organic Pollutants (MONARPOP) as well as sea conventions (such as e.g. HELCOM, OSPAR and MED POL).

The mission of the European Environment Agency (EEA) is to provide sound and independent information on the environment, with the goal to ensure that decision-makers and the general public are kept informed about European environmental data, knowledge and assessments. The Agency collects data on POP emissions and where available data on POP concentrations in the environment and analyses their trends 77 , 78 . Some of the Agency’s data on POPs originate from the monitoring of Priority Substances in water bodies conducted by Member States under the Water Framework Directive.

As mentioned in Section 2.1.5, for POPs present in pesticide residues, EFSA provides an annual monitoring report, based on an analysis of information provided by Member States.

2.4.Financial instruments

Using different funding instruments, the Union provides a significant amount of funding to environmental projects and programmes, both within the EU as well as in neighbouring countries and in developing countries. There are several financial instruments and programmes that can be relevant also for POP related projects.

2.4.1.Funding instruments for the Union

The LIFE programme supports environmental and nature conservation projects within the Union to protect the environment and limit negative anthropogenic effects. The programme was established in 1992 and operated through individual phases, each one running for 4 years.

The phase between 2007 and 2013 was called LIFE+ and had a budget of €2.1 billion, while funding was provided via three key areas: LIFE+ Nature & Biodiversity, LIFE+ Environmental Policy & Governance, and LIFE+ Information & Communication, where at least 78 percent of the budgetary resources was used for action grants to projects.

LIFE+ projects promoted synergies between different priorities under the 6th Environment Action Programme. Two projects in relation with POPs were funded by the LIFE+ programme: one to evaluate the extent of exposure of the general population, especially women of reproductive age 79 , and the second to evaluate emission exposure of PAHs in the population 80 . The LIFE+ programme was designed to complement other funding programmes for the environment which are described as follows.

LIFE programme has also supported investigations into the implementation of bioremediation techniques for the mitigating of soil contamination, with contaminants including PCBs, pesticides and PAHs (LIFE97 ENV/IT/000024 and LIFE03 ENV/IT/000321). 81

There are numerous other funds of the Union with different target groups that do not specifically refer to POPs, but which support the implementation of the environmental legislation or the supply of technical solutions (the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme 82 , for example, supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) innovation activities (including eco-innovation), while the NGO operating grants 83 inter alia promote the active participation of NGOs in the development and implementation of environmental policy).

On the 20th of December 2013 the LIFE 2014-2020 Regulation (EU) No 1293/2013 was published in the Official Journal (L 347, p. 185). The Regulation establishes the Environment and Climate Action sub-programmes of the LIFE Programme for the next funding period, 2014–2020. The budget for the period is set at €3.4 billion. On the 19th of March 2014, the LIFE multiannual work programme for 2014-2017 was adopted by Commission Implementing Decision (2014/203/EU).

The LIFE multiannual work programme for 2014-2017 set the framework for the first four years for the management of the LIFE Programme 2014-2020. It contains an indicative budget, explains the selection methodology for projects and for operating grants and establishes outcome indicators for the two LIFE sub-programmes – for Environment and for Climate Action. The total budget for funding projects during the period covered amounts to €1.1 billion under the sub-programme for Environment and €0.4 billion under the sub-programme for Climate Action.

The European Commission proposes to raise the budget of the LIFE programme to €5.45 billion between 2021 and 2027. The new LIFE programme would have four sub-programmes: nature and biodiversity; circular economy and quality of life; climate change mitigation and adaptation; and clean energy transition.

With regards to soil contamination, the Cohesion Funds have provided support to the regeneration of brownfield sites across the Union. In the period 2007-2013, around €3.1 billion of funding was allocated under the Cohesion Policy, with Hungary, Czechia and Germany allocated the most funding. Note that it is not known how much of this related to soil contamination by POPs. 84 More recently a range of additional projects have been launched to tackle the issue of soil contamination from POPs, including:

·LindaNET 85 which is a collaborative effort amongst regions to work towards the improvement of sites contaminated by HCH and Lindane. 

·DISCOVERED 86 which is project launched in the Aragon region of Spain to tackle lindane pollution. The project aims to develop a prototype pollution mitigation system based on in-situ chemical oxidation with alkaline activation to restore water quality.

·The JRC also reported in 2018 on progress with indicators for management of contaminated sites in the Union 87 .

2.4.2.Funding for neighbouring and partner countries

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was initially launched in 2003 and fully developed in 2004, as a foreign relations instrument to build ties with countries to the east and south of the Union. The main objective of the ENP is ‘avoiding the emergence of new dividing lines between the enlarged Union and our neighbours and instead strengthening the prosperity, stability and security of all concerned’. 88 The ENP applies to the Union’s immediate neighbours by land or sea, including, the 16 ENP countries being Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine. The ENP was reviewed in November 2015, in parallel with the the work conducted on the Union's Global Strategy.

The central element of the inititive are the bilateral ENP Action Plans agreed between the Union and each partner country. Aspects relating to environment, climate change, energy, transport and sustainable development are amongst the topics covered by the ENP Action Plans. Through the ENP, Union environmental policy acknowledges that many environmental problems go beyond the borders of individual countries and the Union, specifically noting the importance of acid rain, biodiversity, desertification, hazardous wastes, oil spills, persistent organic pollutants, the protection of the great rivers and seas as well as tropical forests.

The ENP’s financial arm is the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) and is worth €15.4 billion from 2014 – 2020. The ENI functions through 10 priority areas including Climate Change Adaption and Management of Natural Resources. The ENI provides the bulk of Union funding to the 16 ENP partner countries mentiond above, the vast majority of the ENI funding being used for bilateral cooperation.

The ENP follows on from the previous programme, the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), which targeted sustainable development and approximation to EU policies and standards –including the implementation of the POP Regulation– in neighbouring third Countries as well as through a strategic partnership with the Russian Federation. The ENPI operated for the period 2007-2013, with nearly €12 billion in Union funding available to support these partners’ reforms. The ENPI had 15 cross-border cooperation (CBC) programmes which receive a funding of €1.2 billion for the same period. The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) which replaces several programmes (e.g. the PHARE programme) and financial instruments for candidate countries (Iceland, Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) or potential candidates (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo) also provides nearly €12 billion.

2.4.3.Multilateral programmes funded by the Union 

The promotion of measures to address worldwide environmental problems is a key objective of the Union policy. The Commission thus provides funding to international and multilateral programmes.

The current instrument is the thematic programme on Global Public Goods and Challenges (GPGC), which covers the period 2014-2020 and replaces previous sectoral programmes funded by the Union, including the Environment and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources including Energy Thematic Programme (ENRTP). Some examples funded within the ENRTP:

·Support to the Secretariat of Stockholm Convention of about €1,000,000 in the period 2007 to 2011 to support Parties to implement their obligations under the Stockholm Convention, to further elaborate the dioxin and furan toolkit to better adapt the toolkit guidance to the needs of developing countries and to support the gathering of monitoring data on POPs.

·Support to the Secretariat of Stockholm Convention of €1,450,000 to support their 2012-2013 programme of work, including the technical assistance programme, the global monitoring plan for effectiveness evaluation, the programme on unintentionally produced POPs, the programme on endosulfan, the programme on new POPS and candidate POPs and support for participation of developing countries at COP-6.

·Further ENRTP support includes €4.5 million to FAO for the cleaning up of obsolete pesticides in the Africa Stockpiles Programme.

·Through ENRTP – phase III (2012-2017) of the global capability development under the Life Cycle Initiative was supported with €4 million, which focussed on promotion and training of life-cycle analysis approaches to improve sustainability and avoid regrettable substitution for POPs.

The GPGC Environment and Climate envelope provided financial support to the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions to implement the programme of work as agreed by the Conferences of the Parties, which also included the provision of technical assistance to developing countries and countries with economies in transition:

·Support to the Secretariat of Stockholm Convention of €2,000,000 to support their 2014-2015, 2016-2017 and 2018-2019 programmes of work, including the global monitoring plan, the programme on unintentionally produced POPs, the support of developing countries to establish their POPs inventories and to draw-up and review national implementation plans, and the development and revision of guidance, including on the BAT/BEP toolkit and on reporting.

Further support was provided to the following initiatives:

·the Quick Start Programme Trust Fund of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) 89 , which aims at supporting the sound management of chemical and waste in order to minimise significant adverse impacts on the environmnet and human health;

·the Special Programme to support the institutional strengthening at the national level for the implementation of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, the Minamata Convention and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (€17 million).

·the promotion and further development of the IOMC toolbox (phase III - €2 million), including training of users in developing countries.

·The programme for the period 2018-2020 of the GPGC Environment and Climate envelope will continue support to combat pollution and promote sound management of chemicals ands waste through the Switch to Green Flagship Initiative.

2.5.Research and Development and the Framework Programmes

Research and development is essential for the support of policies such as, inter alia, consumer protection or the protection of the environment. The Research Framework Programme (FP) is the main instrument for funding research and development in the Union.

The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), ran for the period 2007-2013 with a total budget of over €50.5 billion from which €1.9 billion was attributed to the relevant thematic areas of ‘Environment (including Climate Change)’, €1.9 billion to ‘Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology’ and €6.1 billion to ‘Health’. These thematic areas particularly supported research on projects related to POPs (see Table 13). The programmes ‘Ideas’ (€7.5 billion over 7 years) and ‘People’ (€4.7 billion over 7 years) of the FP7 also funded some projects with reference to POPs. The thematic areas and programmes are indicated in Table 13 in section 8 of this document. The primary aim of funding the 'Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology' research theme under the FP7 was to build a European Knowledge Based Bio-Economy, KBBE being the abbreviation for this thematic area.

Thirtyseven projects with POP relevance have been funded under the FP7 receiving around €143 million from the Union. Projects with POPs reference have especially been funded within the framework of the thematic area ‘Environment’ – 22 projects– as it included the environment and health sub-activity. This sub-activity funded research to support Union policy initiatives such as the European Environment and Health Action Plan 2004-2010, the Community Strategy for Endocrine Disrupters, and the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The projects funded deal with, inter alia, harmonising human (bio)monitoring and improving the understanding of environmental and human exposure to chemicals such as PCBs and perfluorinated compounds 90 and their potential health effects.

Within the thematic strategy ‘Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology’ / ‘Knowledge Based Bio-Economy’, nine large POP-projects were funded, focussing on food safety aspects such as sampling strategies and detection methods for specific foods and on quality and safety assurance of feed. Furthermore under this thematic area, projects are funded seeking alternative solutions to chemical pesticides.

In 2007, the Commission also saw the need to examine development of affordable alternatives to DDT to control malaria, e.g. by exploiting available biological knowledge on the mosquito vector. On the topic of “affordable alternatives for DDT”, no research project was granted within FP7. As for identification of substances that can be used as alternatives to POP, there is one research project on substitution options for specific brominated flame retardant.

Horizon 2020 has taken over from FP7 with a new body of research for the period between 2014 – 2020. The programme has an overall budget of about €80 billion euros. Key overall themes for Horizon 2020 include:

·the programme to assist small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) for innovation (COSME);

·a programme relating to consumer protection and products;

·the third health programme;

·a research programme for coal and steel;

·the justice programme relating to civil and commercial matters; and

·a programme for the promotion of agriculture products.

Research relating to POPs will feature in a number of these thematic areas with key work looking at monitoring of POPs in the natural environment 91 , work to assist with the de-pollution of the mediterranean 92 , and the management of ‘POPs’ substances within consumer supply chains.

2.5.1.European Research Institutions including the JRC

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) has been established as part of the European Commission in 1958. As the Commission's in-house science service, the Joint Research Centre's mission is to provide Union policies with independent, evidence-based scientific and technical support throughout the whole policy cycle. Working in close cooperation with policy Directorates-General, the JRC addresses key societal challenges while stimulating innovation through developing new methods, tools and standards, and sharing its know-how with the Member States, the scientific community and international partners. The Horizon 2020 budget dedicated to the JRC is around €1.9 billion (about 53% of the JRC budget), of which around €210 million is dedicated to operational research activities conducted through through its seven research institutes, specialised in different areas of research 93 . Some of these have relevant projects with POPs.

The JRC, for example, develops and provides testing methods and reference material also for POP substances. The JRC performs monitoring of POPs, supports the development and standardization of analytical protocols in the frame of the European Committee for Standardization and within the Water Framework Directive and supports the implementation of the Stockholm Convention at the Union level. The JRC provides access to several web-based information tools, for example, EASIS (Endocrine Active Substances Information System) which includes results from different scientific studies on chemicals related to endocrine activity (https://easis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) as well as IPCheM (Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring), which provides access to chemical occurrence data in various media (e.g. environment, humans, food/feed, indoor air and consumer products) ( https://ipchem.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ ), and will act as the main repository for POPs monitoring data under the recast of the POPs regulation (EU 2019/1021).

The JRC also elaborates the Best Available Techniques Reference Documents (BREFs) based on the IPPC Directive initially, and now based on the IED. BREFs have been created covering a wide range of industry sectors 94 , 95 ; with regular work to provide updates over time where needed 96 . Under the IED, the BAT conclusions of the BREF are adopted as Commission Implementing Decisions 97 . Several of the BREFs also contain information on POPs and related BAT as well as the corresponding emission levels associated with the application of BAT (BAT-AELs).

Furthermore, the JRC is involved in several research activities that include monitoring programmes and case studies for inland and marine waters, ambient air, soil including contaminated sites, sediments, sewage sludge, compost, food and biota, as well as multi-media modelling of POPs.

2.5.2.Supporting co-operation, co-ordination and networking 

Modern research in a global environment necessitates co-operation at different levels. The fragmentation of the Union's efforts cannot be overcome without determined actions. Taking up this challenge, the European Commission, Member States and the European Parliament, the scientific community and industry have created the "European Research Area" (ERA 98 ), this provides a framework for researchers and technologists to move freely within the Union, including promoting open access to results and gender equality. As of 2017, the ERA included a database of research positions covering 40,000 opportunities per annum and 250 service centres to help facilitate researchers resettling to new locations within the Union. Funding under horizon 2020 (€6 billion) and the European Research Council (€13 billion) have been provided to bring together the combined scientific knowledge across the Union as part of the European Research Area.

This effort was launched by a European Commission Green Paper in 2007 followed in 2008, by a new political partnership between the Member States and the Commission called the "Ljubljana Process", which aimed to overcome fragmentation and to build a strong ERA.

Additionally as part of the Horizon 2020 planning, the Union created The European Network for Observing our Changing Planet (ERA-PLANET) in January 2016, which includes a network of 38 partner organisations from 14 Member States, one European Economic Area country and one associated country aiming at strengthening the European Research Area in the domain of Earth Observation in coherence with the European participation to Group on Earth Observation (GEO) and the Copernicus. The partners will reinforce the interface with user communities, whose needs the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) intends to address. It will provide more accurate, comprehensive and authoritative information to policy and decision-makers in four distinct topics of the ERA-PLANET that reflect the key societal benefit areas reflected in both GEO and Copernicus: Smart cities and Resilient societies; Resource efficiency and Environmental management; Global changes and Environmental treaties; Polar areas and Natural resources 99 .

The domains will address, among others: chemical pollution by persistent contaminants, assessment of global change patterns, impact of long-range transport of air pollutants and their atmospheric deposition, challenging issues for cities and society such as urban growth, air quality, health and contaminated sites as well as resource efficiency and depletion. The current ERA-Planet project strives to strengthen the European leadership within the current GEO 2015-2025 Work Plan.

2.5.3.Future research and innovation

The ongoing discussion on the fate of newly listed POPs present in articles of everyday use and on the associated challenges with recycling and disposal of such articles will certainly result in identification of additional research needs. Such research could also make use of the documents that address how industry can improve information on chemicals in articles that have been developed under the Chemicals in Products Project (CiP) (see section 2.3.8 ).

Horizon 2020 and in particular Societal Challenge 1 “Health, Demographic Change and Wellbeing”, Societal Challenge 2 “Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Marine, Maritime and Inland Water Research and the Bioeconomy” and Societal Challenge 5 “Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials” provide new opportunities for Research and Innovation to develop new solutions to prevent and detect POPs contamination and toxicity to the environment and human health, including marine wastes, pesticides in agriculture and food products.

As part of Horizon 2020, the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (EHBMI) has been created. This is a new medium term European initiative whose full implementation under Horizon 2020 takes place between 2016-2021. The objective is to create a European joint programme for monitoring and scientific assessment of human exposures to chemicals and potential health impacts, building on previous activities undertaken at Union and national levels with a special focus on linking research to evidence based policy decision making.

The aim of this interdisciplinary initiative is to assess the exposure of European Union citizens to chemicals of concern through human biomonitoring (HBM), to link this information to data on exposure sources and epidemiological surveys and to promote research on the exposure response relationships in humans.

In addition, it should coordinate HBM activities at national and Union level, promote capacity building and the spread of best practice, provide a platform through which harmonised and validated information and data collected at national level can be accessed and compared and support research and innovation (improving underlying methods and procedures, biomarkers etc). Data generated will be included in the Information Platform for Chemical Monitoring Data (IPCheM platform) developed by the Joint Research Centre 100 .

The preliminary work in 2015 identified nine priority groups of chemical substances that were examined to develop factsheets covering substance classification, policy-related questions and research objectives to span the science-policy interface. In 2017 a further nine priority groups of substances were identified to undergo the same process. Upon completion of developing factsheets, the HBM4EU project has continued the research on the first nine priority substances, with results reported in 2019 101 , 102 . The HBM4EU groups of substances include PAHs, PFAS, and flame retardants (including POP flame-retardants) in the original (2015) list. The 2017 list further includes pesticides as a general grouping.

Further actions on research and innovation around POPs are being carried out by the Stockholm Convention Regional Cenres (see section 2.5.1).

2.6.Information Exchange, Public information, awareness and education

2.6.1.Overview

The Union institutions are committed to ensuring transparency and the involvement of stakeholders and the general public. This is stipulated in the Regulation 1049/2001 on public access to Union documents and transparency in the decision-making processes and in the communication from the Commission 2002/704 towards a reinforced culture of consultation and dialogue. The public access to environmental information is specifically laid down in Directive 2003/4/EC.

The main instruments for transparency and information access are the Europa website and a specific website dedicated to POPs hosted by ECHA 103 , 104 . In addition the European Commission hosts databases such as Eur-Lex, statistic databases of Eurostat, the E-PRTR 105 , the Union pesticide database 106 , and OpenFoodTox for pesticide residues in food, and databases of Union institutions on specific topics such as the The Chemical Lists Information System (CheLIST) 107 . The Directorate General for Environment maintains the POP-specific website containing information on Union legislation and POP-related research projects. As part of the POPs Regulation, ECHA now also has a key role to play on hosting information on POPs, including new elements on candidate POPs and the stakeholder consultation (which takes place over eight-weeks) during the preparation of a nomination and the review of a nominated substances 108 . Additionally, the European Environment Agency (EEA) publishes a substantial amount of information relevant to POPs 109 , and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has a role in communication of the risks regarding POPs in food.

Under the POPs Regulation, there is also a requirement for Member States to develop and publish reports on their progress against the Articles of the regulation. This includes statistical and monitoring data, and is required to be kept up to date, with revisions annually (or at least once every three years where no new data is available).

In addition the general public or any interested stakeholder can have access to certain information on the presence of SVHC substances 110 in articles in the context of the REACH Regulation. A request can be sent to the supplier of an article who has to provide a reply within 45 days 111 .

Within SAICM, the Union has actively promoted the development of the Chemicals in Products Programme, which is a voluntary initiative designed to assist all stakeholders throughout the product life cycle who are seeking procedures for the exchange of information on chemicals in products. Stakeholders include businesses, governments, intergovernmental agencies, recyclers, waste management actors, non-governmental organisations, and consumer groups. The programme document 112 explains the objectives of the Programme’s information exchange system and describes the roles and suggested responsibilities of stakeholders in respect of the exchange of chemicals in products information throughout the product life cycle. The Guidance for stakeholders on exchanging information on chemicals in products has been created to support the Chemicals in Products Programme. It is intended to guide those who are designing a chemicals-in-products information system or those seeking to participate in an existing system. It is also aimed at guiding stakeholders who require assistance in exchanging information on their chemicals in products by describing the steps that are commonly taken in scoping, designing, and building information exchange systems on chemicals in products.

Furthermore, as part of the revised waste framework that entered into force in July 2018, ECHA is required to establish a new database of information for Substances of Concern In articles as such or in complex objects (Products) (the SCIP Database) 113 . Those companies supplying articles and/or products containing SVHCs have to provide data to the SCIP Database, to help ensure that information on such articles is available throughout the whole lifecycle of products and materials, including at the waste stage. The information in the database is made available to waste operators and consumers.

Consultations with stakeholders are an integral part of the Union’s environment policy and provide the opportunity for authorities, civil society and individual citizens to provide input. Accordingly, the draft Implementation Plans are also subject to an open consultation process.

In keeping with the Union’s principle of subsidiarity, public information, awareness raising and education on POPs fall within the remit of the Member States, while the POPs Regulation urges the Member States to provide awareness programmes and public information. A summary of the activities at Member State level can be found in the second synthesis report, 114 with the third synthesis report expected later in 2020. 

The Commission and Member States exchange information at regular Competent Authority meetings where national representatives for POP issues meet. Core topics are: implementation of the Convention and the POPs Regulation, nomination of chemicals that exhibit POP caracteristics to the Stockholm Convention, exchange of information on occurrence and elimination of POPs and data gathering via reporting obligations under the POPs Regulation.

2.6.2.Stockholm Convention Regional Centres

The Stockholm Convention has established a network of 16 regional centres globally 115 with a mandate for knowledge transfer and awareness raising for the issues surrounding POPs. The network has an obligation to support information exchange on a global basis with individual centres working both at a level within their own regional geography but also to provide support to other areas of the planet where needed. Within the Union two such centres exist, one based in Czechia (RECETOX) and one based in Spain (The Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP-RAC)). Additionally under the Basel Convention a regional centre with similar obligations is also based within Czechia.

The two Stockholm Convention regional centres located in the Union have obligations to support knowledge exchange and raise awareness; they also work to ensure that duplication of effort is avoided 116 . This means that those two regional centres have different core interests and focus as well as promoting knowledge exchange and awareness raising. Details of the future work plans 2016 – 2019 for both centres are detailed on the Stockholm Convention website under the details for the individual centres 117 .

The Stockholm Convention Regional Centre for Capacity Building and the Transfer of Technology (SCRC) in Czechia has been established to promote chemicals management and management of wastes containing toxic chemicals in the Central and Eastern European region and worldwide by providing training, capacity building, expertise support in a number of fields. The Regional Centre is hosted by the Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX).

This is achieved primarily through the GENASIS (Global ENvironmental ASsessment Information System), a platform that disseminates information on POP levels in the environment and gives access to formation on individual POPs. GENASIS was created in cooperation of RECETOX with IBA MU, institutes of the Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia. GENASIS combines expertise, validated data from partner institutions, input from regular environmental monitoring programmes and provides a data repository, analytical tools and data management, providing the user with available up-to-date information on spatial and temporal trends in POPs concentrations in various environmental matrices (air, water, soil, biota and human tissues).

Experts from RECETOX between 2010-2014 in collaboration with UNDP, UNIDO and NATO built capacities in Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan; in 2013-2015 intensively and in long term cooperated with Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia; and in the years 2012-2016 for example, performed short-term training in Armenia, Brazil, China, Ghana, South Korea, Malaysia, Mali, Maldives, Seychelles, Ukraine and other countries.

The SCRC RECETOX 2016-2019 work plan has the following key goals: strengthening global capacities in chemical analyses of toxic chemicals, support in implementation of the Global Monitoring Plan to the Stockholm Convention by operating monitoring networks and training experts in sampling, and monitoring and data mining and management.

RECETOX has also supported knowledge exchange through a series of ‘international summer schools’ open to experts and general interest groups. The 14th Summer School on Toxic Compounds in the Environment (2018) focussed on contaminants in the environment, including modeling long-range transport, sampling and analysis, and use of GIS data. 118 The latest summer school (15th international summer school) held in June 2019 was organised in association with the HBM4EU programme and had a focus on human biomonitoring data.

The Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC) in Barcelona, Spain, is a centre for international cooperation with Mediterranean countries on development and innovation in the manufacture sector and civil society, based on more sustainable consumption and manufacture models. This centre undertakes activities in the Mediterranean region related to technical assistance and promotion of capability and information exchange in relation to resource efficiency, clean manufacture and pollution prevention. It also works on providing support related to the reduction of hazardous chemicals through BAT and BEP (Best Environmental Practices).

For example, the GRECO project is a Mediterranean initiative designed to promote green competitiveness in the region by showing the economic benefits that businesses can gain from an environmental approach. The SCP/RAC also support the identification of the assets and challenges for Green Entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean region and collection and dissemination of successful case studies of Green Entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the SWIM-H2020 SM Project (Sustainable Water Integrated Management and Horizon 2020 Support Mechanism 2016-2019) funded by the Union aims to contribute to reduced marine pollution and a sustainable use of scarce water resources in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East.

SCP-RAC acts as the Stockholm Convention regional centre for the Mediterranean covering all of the southern Member States, but also countries in northern Africa and countries at the far east of the Mediterranean area bordering with the Middle East. The core focus of the SCP-RAC centre is sustainability and the elimination of POPs from the supply chain. This includes review of both manufacture activities as well as the wider supply chain. SCP-RAC have supported this process with provision of information for substituition detailed on the subsport website 119 and input to the ‘SwitchMed’ 120 programme.

3.Overall Assessment of the POPs issue in the Union

At Union level, significant progress towards the elimination of POPs has been achieved. Manufacture and use of all POPs is prohibited with some exemptions that are decreasing. A main challenge for the Union is to eliminate POPs from the waste cycle and remaining stockpiles as these still present a major emission source. The following sections briefly introduce the situation in the Union for the different POPs.

3.1.POPs regulated before 2009 (“old POPs”)

The term “old POPs” covers the substances listed in the Stockholm Convention or the POP Protocol and regulated by Regulation (EC) No 850/2004 before 2008, i.e. before the new POP substances were listed in the Stockholm Convention or the POP Protocol in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 (cf. section 3.2 ). The data on old POPs presented in the following sections are based on the third synthesis report and draft version of the fourth synthesis report covering 2010 – 2013 and 2013 – 2015 respectively; which includes all annual reports and the 2010 – 2013 and 2013 – 2015 triennial reports of the Members States.

3.1.1.Manufacture

The old POPs are no longer manufactured in the Union.

The specific exemption of the use of DDT in dicofol manufacture has been withdrawn from the POPs Regulation. This notes that dicofol itself has been found to meet the Annex D criteria for consideration as a POP under the Stockholm Convention (UNEP/POPs/POPRC.10/3).  The Commission decided on the non-inclusion of dicofol in Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC and on the withdrawal of authorisations for plant protection products containing that substance (2008/764/EC) 121 in 2008. According to the Commission Decision, all existing authorizations for dicofol in plant protection products had to be withdrawn before 30 March 2009. National registration of dicofol was no longer possible after March 2009. Any transition period granted by the Member States expired by 30 March 2010. Up to the year 2006, dicofol has been produced by Montecinca SA. at Monzón, Spain. The yearly manufacture amounted to approx. 1500 t. Manufacture was discontinued in 2006, when the registration for Spain expired. Until 2009, dicofol 122 was furthermore formulated and used in Italy 123 .

3.1.2.Use and placing on the market

The use of the old POPs listed in Annexes A and B has been progressively phased-out in the Union. Remaining uses of old POPs are only in articles that were produced and placed on the market before the entry into force of the POPs Regulation and as standards for research purposes. Some illegal placing on the market of imported fireworks containing HCB has been reported by some Member States in the period 2010-2013 and again in 2013-2015. Other Member States also indicated the presence of SCCPs and/or HCB in items such as childrens toys, christmas lights, plastics bags, electric products and other articles in 2014 and 2015 which resulted in products being withdrawn from the market. The enforcing authorities of the relevant Member States have intervened to stop these illegal practices and ensured a proper disposal of the products, although no penalites were reported as a result.

3.1.3.Import, export and intra-Union shipments

Waste containing POPs (e.g. obsolete pesticides or contaminated equipments) has been shipped into some Member States for the purpose of its disposal and elimination. These shipments originate from EU and non-EU countries that lack adequate technology for proper disposal of such waste. These shipments, including imports are being undertaken in accordance with the provisions of the Stockholm Convention and they contribute to the overall reduction of POPs.  Slovenia, for example, indicated that there are no technical facilities for disposing of PCB and PCB equipment (with final disposal or destruction of PCB) in an environmentally sound manner in the country. Therefore the waste PCB and waste PCB equipment is shipped to other Member States, i.e. France, Germany and Austria, for disposal in an environmentally sound manner.

Some illegal imports of POPs embedded in products occurred in the period 2013-2015. Hexachlorobenzene was imported as part of fireworks, which also occurred during the 2010-2013 period, along with SCCPs found in plastic items including toys, electrical products and bathroom items. As mentioned in the sub-section 3.1.2, the enforcing authorities took appropriate measures to remove them from the market as soon as possible.

There is very little Union export of POPs. In the period 2013-2015, a few kilograms of the following substances have been exported under the exemption for standards for research purposes:

·Aldrin, Lindane, Dieldrin, Endrin, DDT, HCB, PCBs, heptachlor, HCH, endosulfan, and hexachlorobutadine

Conversely a review of the ECHA website for notifications on exports from non-EU countries to the Union showed that in 2019 the USA notified the export of the following substances:

·Endrin to Germany,

·PCBs to France, Germany and the UK,

·Pentachlorobenzene to Germany,

·PFOA to France and the UK,

·SCCPs to France, Germany and the UK.

3.1.4.Stockpiles and waste

Only one Member State (Spain) reported information on stockpiles of obsolete pesticides in their triannual reports covering the period 2013-2015. For comparison, in the third synthesis report (covering the period 2010-2012), four Member States were reported to have provided information on stockpiles of obsolete pesticides, i.e., Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania and the United Kingdom. The reported quantities varied between 88 kg in the United Kingdom to 200 tonnes in Hungary.

In the Member States NIPs no information on stockpiles of obsolete pesticides was reported for the period 2013-2015 and beyond or Member States indicated that all identified stockpiles have been disposed.

Issues have been identified with contaminated land at former sites of manufacture which in turn can generate waste which requires management during remediation works; this may be an issue in particular for sites where manufacture of lindane previously took place.

It is noted that, ‘in almost all Member States where lindane production took place, the elimination and de-pollution of soils, surface water and groundwater is needed’ and that ‘hot-spots’, with thousands, and often hundred thousands, of tonnes of lindane and HCH waste, are pending remediation activities in Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain 124 .

In their triannual report (2013-2015), Spain provided information on sites contaminated by HCH in four regions, i.e. Aragón, Castilla y León, País Vasco and Galicia. In the region of Aragón, lindane was manufactured between 1975 and 1989, with the generated solid and liquid waste disposed in the landfills of Sardas and Bailín. Many decontamination actions have been undertaken and actions are still planned, such as hydrogeological monitoring or further testing activities.

PCB disposal by end of 2010 (PCBs in larger equipment) and 2025 (all remaining PCBs)

The Stockholm Convention has set an objective to eliminate the use of PCBs in equipment by 2025 and to make determined efforts to achieve environmentally sound waste management of liquids and equipment contaminated with PCBs by 2028.

At Union level the aims of the Convention are incorporated into Directive 96/59/EC on the disposal of PCBs and PCTs (cf. section 2.2.3 ) and further in the POPs Regulation (cf. section 2.2.2 ). The PCB directive places a requirement on all Member States to develop registers of equipment containing more than 5 dm3 of PCBs and communicate the registers to the European Commission. Furthermore the PCB Directive required the Member States to take action to ensure that the equipment containing PCBs (of more than 5 dm3) in the registers were decontaminated or disposed of by 31 December 2010 at the latest.

Under the PCB Directive equipment smaller than 5 dm3, with concentrations between 0.05% and 0.005% PCB could still be included within the register, but could be marked as ‘PCB contaminated <0.05%’ and would therefore not be subject to the 31 December 2010 deadline. The POPs Regulation includes a provision under Part A, Annex I of the regulation that all remaining PCBs in-use for di-electric equipment (with greater than 0.005% concentration and 0.05 dm3 size) must be identified and removed from use by no later than 31 December 2025.

In compliance with the PCB Directive, inventories of PCB-containing equipment, as well as action plans for their disposal and collection were compiled by all Member States.

In December 2011, the Commission launched a survey to assess what progress had been made against this target, and requested the Member States to provide information about PCB wastes. Additionally in 2014 an ex-post evaluation of the PCB Directive 125 also assessed what progress had been made towards the 2010 target. Both the 2011 survey and 2014 evaluation identified that good progress had been made towards the identification of PCB-containing equipment and disposal of PCB wastes within the Union, with some Member States close to meeting the 2010 target. However, most Member States had not met the target of decontamtion or disposal of liquids and equipment contaminated with PCB on registers by 31 December 2010.

In order to better understand and complement the data on PCB-containing equipment, a request for information was sent out by the contractor to the Member State Competent Authorities in April 2017. Acknowledging the levels of uncertainty inherent to the estimates of PCBs in such equipment, the request asked for input on the quantities of PCB actively in use in di-electric equipment, both in 1990 and in 2015, as well as the quantities of PCBs that have been destroyed between 1990 and 2015. In total, 14 Member States responded to the request. The majority of the Member States reported that in 2015 <10% of the PCBs in-use from the 1990 reference year were still in use. Five of these Member States estimated a fraction of PCB in use below 1%. Croatia and Romania reported significantly higher PCB fractions still in use, 30% and 49%, respectively. It should be noted that their estimates were based on different reference years, i.e. 2008 for Croatia and 2005 for Romania.

A number of reasons have been cited for difficulties in achieving this target in both the 2011 survey and 2014 ex-post evaluation. In particular the survey highlighted issues with identification of PCB-containing equipment with a lack of reliable and comparable data in the Union. Reporting has been in some cases incomplete and in some cases, the number of pieces of equipment instead of the PCB content (expressed in kg or tonnes) were reported. Some Member States did not distinguish between equipment containing more than 500 ppm (500 mg/kg) PCB and equipment containing more than 50 ppm (50 mg/kg) PCB, as is listed in the Directive. Therefore analysis is required which can be costly. This is a position which can be further complicated where di-electric equipment containing heat transfer fluids that may contain PCBs are ‘topped up’ to replace lost fluids with non-PCB-based oils. This does not remove the contamination but only dilutes it.

The ex-post evaluation also noted that, for newer Member States e.g. Bulgaria and Croatia not benefiting from transition provisions in accession treaties, meeting the 2010 deadline was extremely challenging. However the ex-post evaluation also goes on to state that work is still ongoing towards the overall aims of of the PCB Directive, and the target of disposal and decontamination of PCB-containing equipment can be expected to be achieved by at least 90% of Member States in the coming years.

The POPs triennial synthesis report for the period 2010-2012, which is based on data from submissions by Member States under Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 850/2004, highlighted that work to identify, remove and dispose of PCB-contaminated liquids was still ongoing after 2010. However, since different approaches to quantify materials have been used, it is difficult to comment on total quantities that are still existing in use or stockpiles requiring disposal.

3.2.POPs regulated from 2009 (“new POPs”)

The new POPs are the substances that were listed in the Stockholm Convention at the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th COP meetings held in May 2009 126 , in April 2011, in May 2013, in May 2015, in May 2017, and in May 2019 respectively, and in the POP Protocol at the 27th meeting of the Executive Body of LRTAP Convention held in December 2009 127 and that were not listed in any of these instruments before. An summary of ‘new’ POPs added to the Convention since 2009 is provided in Table 5 below. 

Table 5    New POPs added to the Stockholm Convention since 2009

Prior to their listing the new POPs were subject to prohibition or severe restrictions in the Union. With the new amendments of the POP Regulation, certain restrictions go further than previously was the case in order to comply with the new international commitments. In this context it needs to be highlighted that HBCDD, POP-PBDEs and PFOS in contrast to the other new POPs will continue to challenge the management of certain waste streams due to the long life-span of the major product groups containing them (e.g. vehicles, electronics), and due to the fact that they are contained in products that are still in use (ESWI 2011 ).

The following table gives a first overview on the situation concerning the new POPs. Please, note that the figures from ESWI are estimates. Further information on the individual substances is given in the sections below.

Table 6    Overview on the new POPs (ESWI 2011 + additional references where indicated) 

* The limited use of chlordecone and hexabromobiphenyl within Europe means the potential risk for release to environment is equally low. Further discussion is not provided within this section.

** The manufacture and use of hexachlorohexane including Lindane was significant in Europe. However the greatist issue now posed by this substance relates to contaminated land. Further discussion of HCH and lindane is provided in section 3.4.2

***Details on manufacture and stockpiles based on EU risk assessments from 2001 and 2003 and REACH striction dossier (2014), information on waste and emissions based on Earnshaw et al, (2013).

****Details based on EU regulation, and Eurochlor dossier (1999).

3.2.1.Endosulfan

Endosulfan is an insecticide that has been used since the 1950s to control crop pests, tsetse flies and ecto parasites of cattle and as a wood preservative. Its manufacture in the Union stopped in 2006/2007. Export was allowed to continue until banned by Regulation (EU) 649/2012. Germany was the second-largest endosulfan producer after India (approximately 4,000 tonnes per year) while historic manufacture in Europe amounted to 10,000 to 50,000 tonnes per year 136 .

In the Union, the use of endosulfan in plant protection products was prohibited in 2005. However, by way of derogation from the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market under special circumstances a Member State may authorise for a period not exceeding 120 days the placing of plant protection products containing endosulfan on the market for a limited and controlled use. Some Member States have made use of this for e.g. the use as an insecticide for hazelnut (harmful organism – Curculio nucum), the use as rodenticide for rape, orchards, stalky cereals crops (harmful organisms – Microtus arvalis) or the use in plant protection products and in antifouling products.

As a consequence of listing of Endosulfan in Annex A of the Stockholm Convention, its manufacture, placing on the market and use has been banned by adding it to the appropriate Annex of the POP Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 2019/1021). Further information such as relating to endosulfan stockpiles in the Member States is not available. However, for imported food products, the EFSA OpenFoodTox database reports that in 2012 safe limits for residues within food (based on an acute reference dose (ARfD)) were calculated at 0.015 mg/kg bw/day.

3.2.2.POP Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (POP PBDEs) 

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers are a family of chemicals which have been used as flame retardants in a range of applications covering plastics, textiles, soft furnishings, adhesives, sealants, coatings and inks . A number of commercial products containing POP-PBDEs have been placed on the market in the Union (such as DE-71, Bromkal, Saytex 137 ), which are categorised based on their major homologue groups called “Commercial Pentabromo diphenyl ether (C-PentaBDE)”, “Commercial Octabromo diphenyl ether (c-octaBDE)’, and ‘Commercial Decabromo diphenyl ether (C-decaBDE)’. While the names for the commercial groups of PBDEs bear the name of the major homologue, in practice they are mixtures, which can vary depending on the specific manufacturer / product. La Guardia et al. (2006) (see Table 6) provides a further overview of the typical mixtures for c-pentaBDE, c-octaBDE and c-decaBDE based on analysis of DE-71, Bromkal and Saytex.

A growing concern for the environmental and health effects of PBDEs (based on a weight of evidence), particularly for lower order homologue groups, led to a ban of the C-PentaBDE and c-octaBDE in the Union in 2004 (by Directive 2003/11/EC ). Since June 2009, these restrictions for c-pentaBDE and c-octaBDE were included in REACH Annex XVII on restrictions on the manufacture, placing on the market and use of certain dangerous substances, preparations and articles by the Regulation 552/2009. Furthermore, in 2009 the chemical homologues tetra, penta, hexa and heptaBDE were added to Annex A (banned) of the Stockholm Convention at the fourth conference of the parties (COP-4).

Table 7    Breakdown of commercial PBDE products on the Union market

*Concentrations of c. decaBDE post 1995 expected to be aligned to OECD voluntary scheme.

While the c-pentaBDE and c-octaBDE were banned in 2004, the use of c-decaBDE was permitted to continue. The concerns eluded to regarding environmental and human health effects of lower order PBDE homologue groups were also identified in the OECD risk assessment, published in 1994. The discussions around the perceived risks, lead to a global voluntary agreement by manufacturers in 1995 not to produce other PBDEs than those already on the market and stricter control over the homologues used in commercial mixtures. For C-decaBDE this included an agreement that c-decaBDE should not contain less than 97% w/w of the decaBDE homologue.

Subsequently a growing weight of evidence has continued to develop around the environmental and health effects of decaBDE, in particularly its capacity to degrade within the environment to form lower order homologue groups through a process of debromination. Following a nomination by Norway (in 2013) decaBDE was added to the Stockholm Convention under Annex A (banned) at the COP-8 in 2017. In the Union, decaBDE was added to the candidate list for substances of very high concern (SVHC) under the REACH Regulation in December 2012. In 2014 the Norwegian Environment Agency submitted a proposal for decaBDE to be added to Annex XVII of REACH (Restriction). In February 2017 decaBDE was added to Annex XVII of REACH (by Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/227). This restriction prohibited the substance decaBDE from being used at greater than 0.1% w/w in the manufacture of or placing on the market in another substance as a constituent, a mixture, or an article or any part thereof after 2 March 2019. Finally, decaBDE was listed in the POPs Regulation in 2019, which further restricts the use in the Union in line with the Stockholm Convention and replaces the restriction in Annex XVII of REACH. Additionally the POPs Regulation sets targets for critical thresholds of PBDEs within wastes. This includes the aim to lower the critical threshold (Annex IV) within two years from entry into force from 1000 mg/kg to 500 mg/kg.

Further information on the homologues tetra and penta, hexa and hepta, and decaBDE (POP PBDEs) as added to the Stockholm Convention is provided in the following sub-sections.

3.2.3.Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether 

Tetrabromodiphenyl ether (tetraBDE) and pentabromodiphenyl ether (pentaBDE) were the main homologue groups found in C-PentaBDE. Since 1997, tetraBDE and pentaBDE have no longer been produced in the Union (ESWI 2011) but they continued to be used for some time after this in certain articles.

As indicated the use and placing on the market of c-pentaBDE was banned in the Union from 2004. Furthermore, the RoHS Directive 2011/65/EC, inter alia restricts the use of POP-PBDEs in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). The maximum concentration values in new EEE is 0.1% by weight (1,000 ppm) in homogeneous material and applies to the sum of PBDE congeners. Note, however, under Annex IV of RoHS, one exemption was granted for spare parts.

Further, relevant legal documents on Union level addressing PBDE is the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and the E-PRTR Regulation (EC) No 2006/166. An annually averaged EQS for inland surface waters has been established for the sum of PBDE congeners of 0.0005 µg/L and 0.0002 µg/L for other surface waters.

WHO (1994) estimates that total Union manufacture and consumption of PBDEs (all commercial mixtures) was around 10,000-11,000 tonnes per annum in 1989. The Union risk assessment report (2001) comments that approximately 10% (1,000 – 1,100 tonnes) of this was c-pentaBDE, usage rates of c-penta BDE began to decline from the mid-to-late 1990s, with quoted usage rates for 2000 (300 tonnes) and 2001 (150 tonnes) indicating the use in the early 2000s had declined significantly before use ceased in 2004.

The most common use of c-pentaBDE in the Union was in flexible polyurethane foam (95%) that was mainly used for upholstery and automotive applications, thus applications with long expected lifetimes of 10 – 20 years. For these two sectors the overall discharge of c-pentaBDE was estimated by ESWI 2011 to be 355 t/y with an overall distribution of the discharge of ~6% (21 t/y) as emissions and ~94% (334 t/y) for waste.

In 2013 the Ireland EPA had collected 50 samples from 22 end of life vehicles, which were tested for POP-PBDEs. Samples were taken from dashboards, headrests, seats, door panels and bumpers 138 . A further study by the United Kingdom (2016) 139 analysed plastic and foam from an automated treatment facility (ATF) based on 30 samples based on vehicles and white goods processed at the facility (samples were taken from final processed materials) POP-PBDE concentrations detected in the Irish and UK studies are listed in Table 8.

Table 8    Results of analysis for POP-PBDE congeners from ELVs and white goods in Irish (2015) and UK (2016) studies 

As for automotive applications, assuming a lifetime of 12 years and a phase out in 2000, the majority of c-pentaBDE in automotive applications should already have entered the waste stream. However, there may be some variability across the Union, for example, in Bulgaria over 57% of cars are over 15 years old. ESWI (2011) estimated the amount of c-pentaBDE present in automotive applications in the Union at 28 t in 2015. As for waste, ESWI estimated that of the 243.3 t of c-pentaBDE present in automotive waste in 2010, ~98.5 t was landfilled, incinerated without energy recovery, ~17 t was incinerated with energy recovery and ~ 29.0 t was recycled.

Additional information provided by Germany to support the Stockholm Convention suggested that the stockpile of vehicles manufactured prior to 2000 will decline gradually with a significant proportion of the waste from end-of-life vehicles being incinerated. The reuse of car parts in Germany is thought to be minimal and no recycling facilities were identified where potentially POP containing material can enter into newly formed products. Estimates of the mass flow of POP-PBDEs in the waste stream from the automotive industry in 2010 were 1096 kg for tetraBDE and 2109 kg for pentaBDE. Emissions resulting from this mass flow were estimated to be 69 kg and 127 kg for petraBDE and pentaBDE, respectively.

The accumulated amount of c-pentaBDE in upholstery applications for 2014 is estimated at 0 t, however in 2010 it was estimated to have been 321 t. The ESWI (2011) report stated that the upholstery sector contributed about 97 t/y, with approximately 91.3 t of c-pentaBDE in upholstery applications estimated to have been treated in the Union in 2010. The c-pentaBDE entering the waste stream in 2010 was landfilled (~61.3 t), incinerated without energy recovery (~18.4 t) and incinerated with energy recovery (~11.6 t). With an assumed lifetime of 10 years all c-pentaBDE in upholstery applications should have already entered the waste stream (by 2014).

Additional information provided by Germany to support the Stockholm Convention confirmed that 2004 was considered the latest time that POP-PBDEs would have been used in products. The mass flow of POP-PBDEs in EEE in the waste stream in 2010 were estimated to be 1.4 t, 2.2 t and 13.4 t for pentaBDE, hexaBDE and heptaBDE, respectively.

As regards the relevant exports, no further information is available.

3.2.4.Hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether

Hexabromodiphenyl ether (hexaBDE) and heptabromodiphenyl ether (heptaBDE) are the main homologue groups of c-octaBDE. Manufacture of these substances has ceased within the Union in 1996/98.

WHO (1994) estimates that total Union manufacture and consumption of PBDEs (all commercial mixtures) was around 10,000-11,000 t per annum in 1989. The Union risk assessment report (2003) comments that approximately 15% (1,500 – 1,650 tonnes) of this was c-octaBDE, usage rates of c-octaBDE began to decline from the mid-to-late 1990s, with quoted usage rates for 2001 (610 t) indicating the use in the early 2000s had declined significantly before use ceased in 2004.

The main historical use of c-octaBDE was as a flame retardant in Acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene (ABS) polymers with a concentration between 10-18% by weight (95% of its use in the Union compared to 70% globally). ABS in turn was mainly used for housing of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), typically office equipment and business machines. Throughout the 90’s c-octaBDE in ABS was increasingly replaced by alternative flame retardants such as Tetrabromobisphenol A. There was also a shift from ABS (1990s) towards PC/ABS and HIPS for outer casings.

Additional information provided by Germany to support the SC provided estimates of the mass flow of POP-PBDEs in the waste stream from the automotive industry in 2010. These were 479 kg for heptaBDE and 1208 kg for hexaBDE. Emissions resulting from this mass flow were estimated to be 23 kg and 32 kg for heptaBDE and hexaBDE, respectively.

The placing on the market of electrical and electronic equipment containing c-octaBDE is regulated under the RoHS Directive (2011/65/EU). Again, as with the other PBDEs one exemption was granted under Annex IV of RoHS for spare parts.

The annual amount of c-octaBDE mainly from electronics entering the environment in the Union was estimated by ESWI (2011) to be approximately 131 t in 2010, of which 128 t are contained in end-of-life equipment (corresponding to ~8 t/y of pentaBDE, ~8 t/y of hexaBDE and ~45 t/y of heptaBDE) and 3 t are emitted directly from the products. According to one scenario included in the ESWI study, out of these 128 t of c-pentaBDE wastes, 66 t were incinerated, 40 t were landfilled and 23 t recycled.

A significant amount of used and end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) is being illegally exported from the Union, most of it being declared as still functioning EEE. For instance, a study published by the German UBA and German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety indicates that in 2008 between 93,000 t and 216,000 t of used and/or end-of-life EEE were exported from the port of Hamburg (Germany) to non-European destinations. Other studies carried out in Ghana and Nigeria – two of the main destinations of these exports where approximately 85% of the EEE imports originate from the Union – suggest that a significant portion of these products are either repaired locally and reused as second-hand-products (70%) or directly recycled by informal scrap metal workers (30%). In both cases, end-of-life management is largely unregulated and frequently makes use of open fires to liberate copper from wire insulation or to reduce plastic waste volumes, generating significant amounts of POPs (Prakash and Manhart 2010 140 ; Manhart et al. 2011 141 ; Schluep et al. 2011 142 ).

In the Union, there are indications that only a few full scale e-waste recycling facilities separate plastics containing PBDE as required by Union legislation. For instance, one facility with automatic separation step for WEEE plastic containing halogens,including brominated flame retardants (BFRs) is known in Switzerland (UNEP 2011 143 ). Based on consultation with the European Electronics Recyclers Association (EERA) in 2018, it is estimated that there were approximately 30 specialised WEEE plastic recyclers in the EU 144 . This suggests that there is capacity to manage the flow of waste but that also the market is relatively small and specialised.

Furthermore, thermoplastics (i.e. mainly outer casings) separated from WEEE is also being exported on a regular basis, where it is used as recyclate for the plastics industry, which might in some cases lead to cross-contamination of products and thus unintentional POPs-manufacture through improper end-of-life treatment of these products (Manhart 2012 145 ).

Also, screening of plastic products in China has revealed that even sensitive uses like children toys (Chen 2009 146 ) along with household goods (Chen 2010 147 ) can be contaminated with PBDE and other BFRs. The PBDE concentrations in electrical or electronic toys were below the threshold limit (1000 ppm) required by Directive 2011/65/EU on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS), except for one hard plastic toy with a total PBDE concentration of 5.3 mg/g. Human exposure from the presence of POP-PBDEs in household products from the Pearl River Delta region of South China was estimated to be low when compared to exposure via the inhalation of indoor air.

BSEF (2020) 148 estimated that 55% of WEEE plastics entering WEEE plastic recycling facilities will be converted to regranulates for use as raw material in recycled plastic.

3.2.5.Decabromodiphenyl ether

Decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) is the main homologue of c-decaBDE. The REACH Annex XV restriction proposal (2014) 149 comments that from the 1990s there were nine major manufacturers of c-decaBDE globally (including three in the Union – The Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom), however, that manufacture ceased by 1999, after which the Union continued to import mixtures and articles containing c-decaBDE. Earnshaw et al. (2013) 150  comments that between 1970 – 2010 around 185,000 – 250,000 tonnes of c-decaBDE was placed on the market in the Union (from manufacture and import), with peak consumption at 9,000 t per annum (based on data from BSEF) in the late 1990s.

The US EPA (2010) 151 gave notice that remaining manufacturers of c-decaBDE would cease manufacture by 2012, with the only remaining manufacture continuing in China and Japan. Xiang et al (2007) 152 comment that manufacture of c-decaBDE within China was around 25,000 tonnes per annum in 2004. While manufacture in Japan was estimated at 600 tonnes per annum in 2013, with an import of a further 1,000 tonnes for use in vehicle seats (60%), construction materials (19%) and textiles (15%).

The Union risk assessment reports (2001 and 2003) comment that 75% of Union manufacture and consumption of all commercial PBDEs was c-decaBDE (7,500 – 8,250 t per annum) in 1989, with consumption continuing to increase in the 1990s. The REACH Annex XV restriction proposal (2014) comments that after manufacture ceased in 1999 the import of C-decaBDE declined from rates of between 9,000 – 11,000 tonnes per annum in 1999 (based on data from BSEF and Eurostat respectively) down to 3,600 t per annum in 2012, with a further 400 tonnes of c-decaBDE within imported articles.

Earnshaw et al (2013) comment that approximately 75% of C-decaBDE use would have been for polymer applications such as plastics (80% electrical goods, 20% non-electrical), with the remaining 25% of usage applied to textiles and foams. The REACH Annex XV restriction proposal (2014) comments that in 2002 around 80% of all c-decaBDE use in Europe had been for polymer applications, particularly plastics for electrical applications (based on data from the 2002 risk assessment report (RAR)), however, strong efforts to phase-out C-decaBDE from plastics commencing in the mid 2000s meant that by 2012 use was more evenly split (52% textiles, 48% plastics) (based on data from VECAP).

The REACH Annex XV restriction proposal (2014) highlights the in-use service life is the main phase for emissions to environment (87%) with manufacture (7%) and waste (6%) the other key points of release. Harrad et al. (2015) 153 highlights in particular the potential for release to indoor environments from dust contaminated with decaBDE through contact with treated soft furnishings and plastics. Ambient monitoring of indoor and outdoor decaBDE concentrations in air for the UK highlighted these significant differences, with indoor concentrations ranging from 48 – 4,000 pg/m3 and outdoor concentrations ranging from non-dectable to 1,500 pg/m3 in urban environments.

The REACH Annex XV restriction proposal (2014) followed the OECD methodology for emission scenarios and previous Union assessments from 2002, 2004 and 2007 to calculate potential annual emissions of decaBDE against assumed stockpiles and consumption rates. For 2014, the REACH Annex XV restriction proposal estimates annual releases of 1.46 tonnes to air, 2.32 t to water and 0.96 t to soil (total annual release of 4.74 t per annum). As an alternative estimate Earnshaw et al. (2013) used a life-cycle source-flow approach to map use of C-decaBDE with releases during, manufacture, and waste. Figure 2 provides an outline of emission pathways over time showing both the increase in emissions as use of C-decaBDE increased and then a decline from 2000 onwards as use also declined.

Figure 2DecaBDE emissions to European environment under the realistic scenario ERealistic (Earnshaw et al. 2013)

Earnshaw et al. (2013) highlights the atmospheric pathway as dominant, while the REACH Annex XV restriction proposal highlights water as the dominant pathway. However, review of both references highlights the importance of indoor dusts and exposure. Washing of textiles is identified as a key pathway to transfer indoor atmospheric emissions to the hydrosphere as releases to sewer and ultimate loss to environment from urban waste water treatment works. Earnshaw et al. (2013) also highlights the importance of sewage sludge disposal to agricultural land as a major pathway for environmental release of decaBDE to soil.

Waste handling is also highlighted as potential emission source, particularly the management of contaminated dusts during the breaking of electrical goods. Morf (2007) 154 comments on a study in Switzerland where samples from a plant processing small sized WEEE detected concentrations of decaBDE at 510 mg/kg. Whiting et al. (2016) 155 comments on a sampling study at an Automotive Shredder Residue (ASR) plant in the UK managing end of life vehicles and white goods. Pelletised plastics produced at the ASR had concentrations of decaBDE ranging from 30 – 270 mg/kg.

Earnshaw et al (2013) comments that the in-use stocks of decaBDE peaked at around 75,000 tonnes in 2000. Assuming a service life of 10 years, and phase-out by 2019 would mean final in-use stockpiles entering the waste stream in the late 2020s. Assuming a longer lifecycle of 15 years would mean final phase-out by the mid-2030s.

The REACH Annex XV restriction proposal also states that much of the material entering the waste stream may end up in landfill, meaning that environmental burden may be extended well beyond 2030.

Ramboll (2019) 156 estimate that, as of 2015, 1.2 million tonnes of plastics from waste electrical and electronic equipment was generated, containing 630 tonnes of decaBDE (estimated average concentration of 525 mg/kg). For those plastics containing decaBDE, Ramboll (2019) go on to estimate that 534.5 tonnes (84%) (519t high bromine fraction, 15.5t other bromine fractions) are destroyed via incineration. A further 89 tonnes (14%) is recycled and 6.5 tonnes (2%) is consigned to landfill.

It is important to note that decaBDE used within plastics for electrical applications will go through a designated waste stream compliant with the waste electrical and electronic equipment Directive (WEEE Directive, 2012/19/EU). DecaBDE was also used for textiles and soft-furnishings, particularly the treatment of back-coatings, Ramboll (2019) estimate that about 10% of total decaBDE use was used in these applications.

The management of bulky soft furnishings such as sofas, armchairs, mattresses, carpets, other commercial seating and soft furnishings (such as heavy curtains and drapes from public buildings, cinemas, schools, etc) may be an area where the detection and management of decaBDE is weaker as it falls within general muncipal waste streams. Ramboll (2019) comment that use of decaBDE was largely phased-out in the Union by 2014, with the assumed lifespan of the treated articles ranging from 10-15 years. This means that final phase-out and entry of decaBDE in textiles/soft furnishings to the waste stream would occur by the mid-late 2020s and mid 2030s.

Drage et al. (2018) 157 document a sampling survey of waste handling for soft furnishings in Ireland in 2018 (covering 122 samples), with mean avearage concentrations varying from 3.7 mg/kg (curtains) to 6,800 mg/kg (fabric coverings used in sofas and armchairs). Drage et al. (2018) comment that decaBDE was detected in 75 out of 122 samples analysed with 10 samples exceeding the current low POP content threshold (1000 mg/kg).

Based on the results of the sampling survey and national statistics for Ireland, Drage et al. (2018) estimate that annually 15 tonnes of decaBDE enter the waste stream from the textiles and soft-furnishings. Ramboll (2019) provide some further comment on final destinattion, stating that at Union level, 25% of treated textiles are destroyed by incineration, with 75% of treated textiles consigned to landfill. The Ramboll study assumes no recycling of decaBDE treated textiles from the soft furnishings sector.

3.2.6.Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds

PFOA and its salts are most widely used as processing aids in the production of fluoroelastomers and fluoropolymers. PFOA-related compounds have historically been used as surfactants and surface treatment agents (e.g., in textiles, paper and paints, fire-fighting foams) and for the manufacture of side-chain fluorinated polymers. PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds are used in a wide variety of applications and consumer products across many sectors (see UNEP/POPS/POPRC.12/11/ Add.2).

Releases occur from past and ongoing production, use and disposal. Direct releases to the environment occur from the production of the raw substances, during the processing, use and disposal of the chemical, and from treated articles and from products contaminated with PFOA (see UNEP/POPS/POPRC.13/3). Main emission vectors of PFOA and its salts are expected to be from wastewater and particles/aerosols.

In 2013, the ECHA Member State Committee, identified PFOA as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substance (‘PBT’) in accordance with REACH Article 57(d) and classified as toxic for reproduction category 1B in accordance with the CLP. 158 Subsequently, ECHA made the decision to include PFOA in the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (‘SVHC’) for possible inclusion in Annex XIV to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006. 159

In 2017, PFOA its salts and PFOA-related substances 160 were added to Annex XVII of the REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 161 . However, that listing in Annex XVII was removed in 2020 by Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/2096 162 after the listing of PFOA in the POPs Regulation for reasons of legal clarity.

PFOA was also previously included in Annex VI of the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008), by the Commission Regulation (EU) No 944/2013 of 2 October 2013 (index number: 607-704-00-2). PFOA has been classified as
Carc. 2 H351, Repr. 1B H360D, Lact H362, STOT RE 1 (liver) H372, Acute tox 4 H332,
Acute tox 4 H302 and Eye dam 1 H318.

In 2015, the Union submitted a proposal to list PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds in Annexes A, B, and/or C to the Stockholm Convention (UNEP/POPS/POPRC.11/5). At its twelfth meeting in 2016, the POPRC concluded that PFOA fulfilled the screening criteria in Annex D of the Convention (i.e., persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic to animals including humans). The POPRC recommended that PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds that degrade to PFOA are likely, as a result of their long-range environmental transport, to lead to significant adverse human health and/or environmental effects such that global action is warranted (UNEP/POPS/POPRC.12/11 /Add.2).

At the COP-9 meeting in May 2019, based on a consideration of the risk profile 163 , the risk management evaluation 164 and the addendum to the risk management evaluation 165 for PFOA, its salts and PFOA related compounds, the COP made the decision (UNEP/POPS/COP.9/CRP.14), to list PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds under Annex A of the Convention with specific exemptions for its production and use. These specific exemptions are outlined in Table 9     .

In addition, the COP added Part X to Annex A of the Convention, specifying that, where Parties have registered for a specific exemption for use of PFOA in firefighting foams, these Parties shall:

·ensure that fire-fighting foam that contains or may contain PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds shall not be exported or imported except for the purpose of environmentally sound disposal.

·not use fire-fighting foam that contains or may contain PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds for training

·not use fire-fighting foam that contains or may contain PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds for testing unless all releases are contained.

·by the end of 2022, if it has the capacity to do so, but no later than 2025, restrict uses of fire-fighting foam that contains or may contain PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds to sites where all releases can be contained.

·make determined efforts designed to lead to the environmentally sound management of fire-fighting foam stockpiles and wastes that contain or may contain PFOA.

On the use of perfluorooctyl iodide for the production of perfluorooctyl bromide for the purpose of producing pharmaceutical products, the COP agreed to review at COP-13 and at every second ordinary meeting thereafter the continued need for this specific exemption, which shall in any case expire at the latest in 2036.

Table 9    Amended text of Part I of Annex A to the Stockholm Convention listing PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds, and specific exemptions

The listing of PFOA under the Stockholm Convention has been implemented in the Union by adding PFOA, its salts and PFOA-related compounds to Annex I of the POPs Regulation through Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/784 166 . The listing in the POPs Regulation is more restrictive than the listing under the Stockholm Convention, however, some uses that cannot be phased-out immediately benefit from an exemption.

Furthermore, in March 2018, EFSA’s panel on contamination of food (CONTAM) revised the tolerable weekly intake for both PFOA and PFOS 167 . The panel commented that there was still insufficient data on concentrations within food but toxicological data was sufficient to lower the values. For PFOA the original limits set in 2008 of 1500 ng/kg bw per day (214 ng/kg bw per week) were proposed to be lowered to 13 ng/kg bw per week.

3.2.7.Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride

Perfluorooctane sulfonate is a fully fluorinated anion, which is commonly used as a salt or incorporated into larger polymers.

The use of PFOS, its salts and other derivatives has been restricted in the EU since 2008 by Directive 2006/122/EC 168 . These restrictions were later taken up in REACH Annex XVII by Commission Regulation (EC) 552/2009. Now, the manufacture, placing on the market and use of PFOS, its salts and other derivatives is regulated under the POPs Regulation. Exemptions initially granted by the POPs Regulation were significantly less numerous than in the Stockholm Convention, as alternatives were available for many of those uses. The derogations for PFOS were given for manufacture and placing on the market for the following uses until 26 August 2015 (a) wetting agents for use in controlled electroplating systems; (b) photoresists or anti-reflective coatings for photolithography processes; (c) photographic coatings applied to films, papers, or printing plates; (d) mist suppressants for non-decorative hard chromium (VI) plating in closed loop systems; (e) hydraulic fluids for aviation.

At the POPRC-14 meeting in September 2018, on the basis of reviewing an assessment of alternatives to PFOS 169 , the Committee made a number of recommendations regarding the current exemptions in place under the Stockholm Convention. Several of these relate to the exemptions also specified under the POPs Regulation. These recommendations include:

·Based on the steadily declining use of PFOS, its salts and PFOSF for semiconductors (photo-resist and anti-reflective coatings for semiconductors; etching agent for compound semiconductors and ceramic filters) and the commercial availability of alternatives, the acceptable purpose for the use of PFOS for photo-resist and anti-reflective coatings for semiconductors and as etching agent for compound semiconductors and ceramic filters should no longer be available under the Convention.

·Based on the assessment and the availability of alternatives and the withdrawal of a number of Parties from the register of acceptable purposes, the acceptable purpose for the use of PFOS for aviation hydraulic fluids should no longer be available under the Convention.

·Based on the availability of alternatives to PFOS for metal plating (hard metal plating) only in closed-loop systems and their assessment, and the fact that some Parties have indicated that the use of PFOS is either declining or has been completely phased out, while others have indicated a continued need for the use of PFOS, the Committee recommends that the use of PFOS, its salts and PFOSF for metal plating (hard metal plating) only in closed-loop systems be amended from an acceptable purpose to a (time-limited) specific exemption.

At the COP-9 meeting in April/May 2019, based on a consideration of the alternatives assessment report on PFOS and an evaluation report on PFOS 170 , the COP decided to revise the current listing of PFOS under Annex B, part I of the Convention. This revision removes a substantial number of the specific exemptions or acceptable purposes, previously allowed for the use of PFOS (e.g. for photo imaging, for photo resist and anti-reflective coatings for semi-conductors, for etching agent for compound semi-conductors and ceramic filters, in photo masks in the semiconductor and liquid crystal display (LCD) industries, in metal plating, in electrical and electronic parts for some colour printers and colour copy machines, in insecticides for control of red imported fire ants and termites, in aviation hydraulic fluids, in chemically driven oil production, and in certain medical devices), or converts previous acceptable purposes into time-limited specific exemptions (e.g. in fire-fighting foams and metal plating (hard metal plating) only in closed-loop systems). The revised listing in shown in Table 10.

At the COP-9, the decision was also made to to amend part III of Annex B to the Convention, outlining specific requirements for Parties registering for the specific exemption on firefighting foams. This includes the requirement to:

·ensure that fire-fighting foam that contains or may contain PFOS, its salts and PFOSF shall not be exported or imported except for the purpose of environmentally sound disposal;

·not use fire-fighting foam that contains or may contain PFOS, its salts and PFOSF for training or testing (unless all releases are contained);

·by the end of 2022, if it has the capacity to do so, restrict uses of fire-fighting foam that contains or may contain PFOS, its salts and PFOSF to sites where all releases can be contained;

·make determined efforts designed to lead to the environmentally sound management of fire-fighting foam stockpiles and wastes that contain or may contain PFOS, its salts and PFOSF as soon as possible.

Table 10    New listing of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (CAS No. 1763-23-1), its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (CAS No. 307-35-7) in part I of Annex B to the Stockholm Convention as set out in the decision SC 9/4 of the COP-9

In the Union, two acceptable purposes listed under the Convention before the COP-9 amendment in 2019 were reported to be used until 2018: i) photo resist and anti-reflective coatings for semi-conductors; ii) metal plating (hard metal plating) only in closed-loop systems. As of July 2019, only the use as mist suppressant for non-decorative hard chromium (VI) plating in closed loop systems is still allowed. Estimates of use within the Union for 2013-2015 are dominated by use in the metal plating industry (~ 4 tonnes in 2013, 7 tonnes in 2014, ~200 kg in 2015), the photographic industry (several tens kg/year) and the semiconductor industry. No Member States (between 2013-2015) mentioned its use in hydraulic fluids in the aviation industry. Germany have reported using the most PFOS in both 2013 and 2014, followed by the Netherlands and Sweden who have reported using 150 kg and 140 kg in 2013, respectively. During the 2013-2015 reporting period use has fallen in Sweden (from 140 kg in 2013 to 25 kg in 2016), however the Netherlands have not updated their reporting since so current use is unknown but it is expected to have decreased since 2009 (~390 kg). Germany indicate no further use of PFOS in 2015 howevery they are still producing approximtaely 9 tonnes per annum.

After expiration of the derogation for wetting agents for the use in controlled electroplating systems in 2015, the only specific exemption on the use of PFOS in electroplating applies to ‘mist suppressants for non-decorative hard Cr(VI) plating in closed loop systems’. During hard metal plating, a significant amount of gases may be released from the process tanks. The generated gases rise to the surface as bubbles and form aerosols. If no mist suppressant agents or other technology is used, aerosols consisting of process liquids containing for instance chromic acid may expose workers and the environment. Therefore, a closed-loop system needs to be utilized when using PFOS or PFOS-related substances as mist suppressants.

In the Union, it is obligatory to apply a closed-loop system when using PFOS-related substances as mist suppressants for non-decorative hard Cr(VI) metal plating. In addition, the Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU) is applicable to installations for surface treatment of metals or plastic materials using an electrolytic or chemical process where the volume of the treatment vats exceeds 30 m³. These installations must apply best available techniques (BAT) for the prevention and minimisation of emissions of PFOS described in the relevant BREF.

The definition of a closed-loop system has been much discussed in recent years and still plays an important role in individual cases for authorizations of new projects and for change of authorizations as well as regarding chromium(VI), for the authorization under REACH. However, so far, there is no harmonised definition for a closed-loop system regarding PFOS or Cr(VI). A recent industry survey commissioned by the German Environment Agency documented that there is a variety of processing equipment and many processes to manufacture for different end uses and that there is not a “one fits all” closed-loop-system for metal plating.

PFOS has also been present in fire fighting foams (90 t in stocks) although these stocks should have been destroyed by 27 June 2011. There are also historical stockpiles of PFOS from use in the photographic industry (1,280 kg) (ESWI 2011). In the past PFOS was used as a surface-active agent in different applications and products, in coatings and coating additives, in carpets and textiles, in rubber and plastics, in upholstery and in the leather industry. Such products with an expected long lifetimeare likely to eventually enter the waste stream i.e. carpets or (leather) upholstery.

The carpet sector dominates the major waste streams accounting for ~93% of the total PFOS generated from all sectors. The waste stream generated from use of fire fighting foams accounts for ~4% although all stocks should have been disposed of by 2011. Leather manufacture and the metal plating industry each account for ~1% of the PFOS waste stream with the remainder generated by the photographic industry and hydraulic fluids used in the aviation industry (ESWI 2011) 171 .

The majority of PFOS waste is currently disposed of to landfills for non-hazardous waste (63%) followed by non-hazardous incineration (31%). It is estimated that only 1.31% of all PFOS containing waste is currently reused or recycled. The remaining PFOS containing waste is destroyed in hazardous waste incineration plants (ESWI 2011) 172 .

Furthermore, in March 2018, EFSA’s panel on contamination of food (CONTAM) revised the tolerable weekly intake for both PFOA and PFOS. For PFOS the original limits set in 2008 of 150 ng/kg bw per day (21.4 ng/kg bw per week) were proposed to be lowered to 6 ng/kg bw per week.

3.2.8.Pentachlorobenzene (PeCB) 

Pentachlorobenzene (PeCB) was listed as new POP in Annex A and C of the Stockholm Convention in May 2009. It is now regulated by the POPs Regulation which bans its manufacture, placing on the market and use.

Therefore, it is not being intentionally produced or used anymore within the Union. Historic intentional uses comprised the application together with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in electrical equipment, as flame-retardant and as intermediate in the manufacture of the pesticide quintozene. ESWI (2011) estimated that the current most relevant source of PeCB manufacture and emission are incineration and combustion processes of different wastes/materials including coal 173 . Emissions of PeCB to the environment (mainly air and to a lesser degree soil) were estimated from ESWI to approximately 2,324 kg/y with the main contribution resulting from power manufacture from coal (ca. 83%) followed by domestic burning of solid fuels, wood and mixed wastes (8%).

Within the E-PRTR data-set only a limited number of sites across Europe report the emission of pentachlorobenzene to air for the period 2007 – 2017. For the years when data are reported, emissions have been linked to manufacture of iron and steel, particularly the manufacture of pig iron. The other reported minor sources were a waste water treatment works, and a plant for the processing of vegetable and animal matter.

The reported releases to air for pentachlorobenzene in the iron and steel manufacture sector range from 0.3 to 1.8 t per annum, based on three metal facilities reporting per annum for 2008 to 2010, and two in 2011. No emissions of PeCB to air have been reported to the E-PRTR after 2012.

A small number (five) of Member States report emissions of PeCB under the requirements of Article 12 . Overall emission estimates indicate the levels of PeCB in Member States vary from <0.01 kg/y to >50 kg/y.

PeCB releases to water reported in the E-PRTR (2007-2015) illustrate a small number of sources. Waste water treatment works, petroleum refineries, and hazardous waste treatment report in almost every year (oil and gas refineries were not reported in 2013 or 2015). However the inventory for the 2007-2015 period is dominated by one facility within the organic chemicals manufacture sector which reported releases of PeCB to water of 640 kg in 2009. From the E-PRTR information it could not be decided whether this release stemmed from current manufacture or from deposits of the site. However, the associated water release of 88 kg of HCH from the same site indicate that larger releases stem from deposits and thus most probably the PeCB releases also stem from deposits. It is known that organochlorine manufacture of certain solvents (tetrachlorometane, tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene) have generated and often deposited tonnes of HCB/PeCB waste (UNEP 2010) 174 .

The E-PRTR data show that these solvents are also being released from the same factory, which further supports the hypothesis that the reported case is a release of PeCB from a HCB/PeCB deposit from former tetrachlorometane, tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene manufacture.

The importance to inventory and to assess HCB/PeCB waste deposits was emphasised in the POPs inventory session at Dioxin 2011 in Brussels (Weber et al. 2011) 175 . These releases constitute most of the E-PRTR 2009 water releases and more than 50% of total E-PRTR 2009 PeCB releases. Furthermore, a recent review on the future relevance of POPs deposits highlighted the necessity to assess the impact of flooding risks of such sites in particular in the context of increased flooding in recent years and in future occurring in Europe triggered by climate change (Weber et al. 2011) 176 .This is also underpinned by a case from Czechia where the releases of HCB and PeCB have, and are, contaminating the river Elbe sediments (Heinisch et al. 2006) 177 . For this site the releases have not been included yet in the E-PRTR. The possible high impact of PeCB release from organochorine manufacture and deposits (in particular specific solvents) was also highlighted by a recent POP Reviewing Committee Document (UNEP 2010).

As a comparison to the reported release from organic chemicals manufacture, the emissions from waste water treatment works across the Union contributed between 15 and 88 kg of PeCB per year with an average of 56 kg per annum for the period 2007-2015. Petroleum refineries contributed between 2 and 120 kg per annum with an average of 40 kg for the timeframe 2007-2015 within the E-PRTR data.

3.2.9.SCCPs – short chain chlorinated paraffins

Short chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) are already regulated in the Union since 2002 by a restriction of the use of SCCPs for metal working fluids and fat liquoring as substances or as constituents of other substances or preparations in concentrations higher than 1% 178 . This restriction was taken up in REACH Annex XVII. Furthermore, SCCPs (Alkanes, C10-13, chloro) were included in the candidate list of REACH because of their PBT and vPvB properties. Following the inclusion of SCCPs in the POPs Protocol, SCCPs were listed in Annex I of the POPs Regulation (Commission Regulation (EC) No 519/2012 179 ).

Since July 2012, the manufacture, use and placing on the market of SCCPs is forbidden by the POPs Regulation. Uses for SCCPs have included application in paints, adhesives and sealants, plastics and rubber, flame retardants as well as textiles and polymeric materials (e.g. PCB substitute in gaskets).

There are on-going derogations contained in the POP Regulation, which include the on-going manufacture, placing on the market and use of substances or preparations containing SCCPs in concentrations lower than 1% by weight. There are also derogations allowing the use of SCCPs as fire retardants in rubber used in conveyor belts in the mining industry and in dam seleants. In order to make use of these derogations Member States have to report to the Commission by no later than 2015 (and every four years thereafter) progress to eliminate the use of SCCPs. The listing of SCCPs was amended in 2015 by Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/2030 180 , in order to further restrict their use.

The rubber industry (conveyor belt, gaskets, hoses) was the main application of SCCPs (1,254 t/y) followed by the sealants and adhesives sector (459 t/y) and by the paints and varnishes sector (337 t/y). The textile industry covered only a small fraction of the overall used amount of SCCPs (31 t/y).

The relevant waste flows have been established for all of the sections and the corresponding figure represents that the highest share of non-hazardous waste comes from landfilling (66%) followed by incineration with about 20%.

Also leather which has been impregnated with SCCPs in the past can enter the waste stream due to its long lifetime.

Additionally, concerns have been raised over the presence of SCCPs within recycled plastics, where SCCPs have been used in the past as a softener within plastic materials. Miller and Di Gangi (2017) 181 comment on a survey of plastic products from 10 countries (including two Member States) where SCCPs were detected. The study targeted in particular children’s toys based on 60 articles. For the Member State samples, concentrations ranged from 13 to 9,715 mg/kg (reported as ppm), noting that the LPCL for SCCPs within waste under the POPs regulation (2019/1021) is 10,000 mg/kg. The European Commission (2019) 182 review of LPCLs for POPs (including SCCPs) further noted that the legal limit for placing of new articles or mixtures on the market was 1% w/w. However, the report (by DiGangi (2017)) comments that SCCPs concentrations above the legal limits are regularly detected in various kinds of consumer products, largely through recycled materials in imported products. The study also commented that, even though a limit of 10,000 mg/kg could be adopted for SCCPs, it would not be possible to rule out exceeding this limit for some articles where POPs may be unintentionally in products that are recycled. 

The total SCCPs containing waste amount (without sewage sludge) sums up to about 44 kt/y.

The relative distribution of environmental emissions from investigated sectors in the Union is as follows: The most important source of emissions is volatile and particulate releases from sealants and adhesives (42% or 36 t/y) followed by rubber (31% or 25 t/y) as well as from paints and varnishes (21% or 17.4 t/y) and textiles (5% or 4.1 t/y) (ESWI 2011).

3.2.10.HCBD – hexachlorobutadiene

HCBD is listed as priority hazardous substance in the Water Framework Directive, for which discharge, emission or loss must cease or be phased out. Nevertheless, the inclusion of HCBD in the POPs Protocol has triggered the obligation to take up HCBD in the POPs Regulation which is however still to be implemented.

The intentional use and manufacture of HCBD has not occurred in Europe for many years (UNECE 2007). HCBD is mainly formed as an unintentional by-product during several industrial processes (as a solvent for rubber and other polymers, in heat transfer fluids, as a transformer liquid or hydraulic fluid). However available information about these industrial processes is scarce.

Nowadays, the most important source of HCBD is due to the manufacture of chlorinated solvents through chlorolysis of tri- and tetrachloroethene, tetrachloroethylene and tetrachloromethane. The estimated amount of HCBD produced during this process varies between ~0.7 kg/y up to possible ~500 kg/y (ESWI 2011).

Urban waste-water treatment plants are a second main source of HCBD (E-PRTR 2007 - 2017). The releases from urban waste-water treatment plants (based on E-PRTR) vary between 42 and 1,100kg per annum.

Unintentional manufacture and releases from the plastic (PVC) industry may be relevant, but specific data is not available yet.

HCBD is and has been produced as by-product of certain chlorinated solvent manufacture and is among the prime pollutants of “Hexachlorobenzene” wastes deposited in 10,000 tonnes scale from such manufactures in the past. Therefore such waste deposits can be considered to be the largest stock of HCBD (ESWI 2011).

3.2.11.PCN – polychlorinated naphthalenes

PCN was added to the POPs Regulation by Regulation (EC) 519/2012 which coincides with addition of PCN to the UNECE POPs Protocol. Wastes containing PCN are characterised as hazardous waste under Annex VIII entry A3180 of the Basel Convention. Furthermore as of 2014 Regulation (EC) 1342/2014 amending Annexes IV and V of the POPs Regulation sets in place critical thresholds for PCN to identify those wastes characterised as being POPs-contaminated and requiring destruction or irreversible transformation of PCN.

PCNs are a group of substances based on the naphthalene ring system and they are structurally similar to the PCBs. PCNs are no longer commercially produced in the Union. They were produced in the past as mixtures of several congeners and with different product names e.g. Halowax, Nibren Waxes, Seekay Waxes and Cerifal Materials (UNECE 2007) 183 . The main use of PCNs was in the electrical industry as separators in storage batteries, capacitor impregnates, as binders for electrical grade ceramics and sintered metals, and in cable covering compositions. They have also been used for impregnation of wood, paper and textiles to attain water proofness, flame resistance and protection against insects, moulds and fungi. Furthermore, they were used as additives in gear and cutting oils, in lacquers and underwater paints and as raw material for dyes 184 .

PCN are currently formed mainly unintentionally during various thermal processes (UNECE 2007). As PCNs exhibit similar formation properties as PCDD/Fs, unintentional manufacture during incineration processes as municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI), hospital waste incineration, domestic burning, or different metal processing steps such as secondary copper manufacture, secondary aluminium manufacture, magnesium manufacture as well as iron sintering and electrical arc furnace processes for iron manufacture are of relevance. Moreover, the accumulation in sewage sludge from diffuse sources is a relevant pathway (ESWI 2011).

The total waste amount is estimated about 3,200 kg of PCN (ESWI 2011). The main waste stream found its way into the recycling and recovery channel (about 90%). Emissions of polychlorinated naphthalenes to the environment amount to approximately 12 kg/year.

3.2.12.Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD)

HBCDD is a brominated flame retardant which has been in use since the 1960s, primarily within the Union for expandable polystryrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation boarding used within roof and cavity wall insulation (greater than 90% of the use). It has also been used as a flame retardant in the textiles sector (found in polymer-dispersion coating agents used in textiles for upholstered fabric, furniture, mattress ticking and for seating in vehicles accounting for 9% of all use). HBCDD also has been used (around 1% of total HBCDD use) as a flame retardant for use in high impact polystryrene (HIPS) used for mouldings and housings of electrical goods such as computer monitors and CRT based televisions.

Total global HBCDD manufacture in 2011 was 31,000 tonnes, with manufacture ongoing in Europe, the USA and China 185 . For Europe the REACH Annex XV report (2016) comments that in 2009, demand for HBCDD was 12,000 t (6,000 t imported and 6,000 t manufactured), with one manufacture site based in the Netherlands.

Following the Stockholm Convention review process for proposals to list substances, HBCDD was added to Annex A of the Convention in 2013 at the fifth conference of the Parties (COP-5) with full entry into force in November 2014. HBCDD was also listed in the POP Regulation by Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/293.

Furthermore under the REACH Regulation, HBCDD had already been identified as a SVHC at the time of its addition to the Stockholm Convention, and was subject to the authorisation process (Annex XIV), meaning permissions for specific applications were required for continued use in the Union. In January 2016 a time-limited authorisation was given to 13 companies for two specific applications for use as a flame retardant in expanded polystyrene boarding and use as a flame retardant in the manufacture of expanded polystyrene beads (Commission Implementing Decision C(2015) 9812 final). This authorisation expired in August 2017 after which no further legal use of HBCDD was permitted in the Union.

The Netherlands (2016) 186 comment that working concentrations for insulation boarding containing EPS were between 0.5 and 1% and for XPS between 0.8 and 2.5% w/w. The REACH Annex XV report (2016) comments that the demand for HBCDD in 2009 was 12,000 tonnes. Based on the working concentrations stated this equates to between 480,000 tonnes and 2.4 million tonnes of HBCDD insulation boarding placed on the market per annum in the Union. As a comparison, the Netherlands (2016) comments that in 2016, 62,500 tonnes of insulation boarding containing HBCDD (50,000 t EPS and 12,500 t XPS) was placed on the market in the Netherlands.

ECHA (2009) states that the service life of EPS and XPS can be several decades (greater than 30 years). Therefore a potentially significant stockpile of in-use materials may exist in the Union with ongoing waste management for many years to come. Annex IV and V of the [initial] POPs Regulation were amended in 2016 (by Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/460) to provide a low POP concentration limit of 1,000 mg/kg for HBCDD, above which all waste must be destroyed or irreversibly transformed.

Drage et al (2018) comment on a sampling and analysis study of PBDEs in waste in Ireland, including HBCDD. Based on analysis of EPS and XPS insulation materials (60 samples), HBCDD was detected in 100% of the samples analysed with mean average concentrations of 2,100 mg/kg in EPS and 27 mg/kg in XPS. The study goes on to estimate that annually 4,200 tonnes of EPS/XPS enter the waste stream in Ireland, containing 5.5 tonnes of HBCDD. Based on their analysis Drage et al comment that 23% of this (966 tonnes of waste) would exceed the low POP concentration limit for HBCDD.

Another important source of HBCDD within wastes identified by Drage et al (2018) is the former use of HBCDD within textiles and soft-furnishings. While these applications were only a secondary use (≤9% of all use 187 ), the analytical results from Drage et al (2018) suggest higher concentrations may have been used at time of application (five times greater than EPS/XPS). HBCDD was detected in 32 of the 122 samples of textile/soft furnishings analysed, with low POP concentration limits exceeded in 11 samples (six textile coverings and five foams). HBCDD was detected in textiles/soft furnishings with concentrations ranging from 1-400 mg/kg, with a median value of 4 mg/kg. Drage et al (2018) further comment that based on analytical results many samples below the low POP concentration threshold may represent migration and contact with treated articles in the waste stream rather than intentional treatment of the article itself. Where multiple different brominated flame-retardants (including those not listed under the POP Regulation or REACH authorisation) have been used on both construction materials and textiles/soft furnishings, this poses a challenge for waste handling operators to identify and appropriately manage HBCDD wastes above the low POP concentration limit. Schlummer et al. (2015) 188 highlights that analysis of specific species of brominated chemicals in demolition waste can be both expensive and time-consuming (analysis and provision of results at laboratory facilities taking days), and therefore a need for rapid analysis is necessary. The study undertaken by Schlummer et al. (2015) investigated the possibility of handheld XRF equipment to identify bromine as a proxy marker for HBCDD and means of assessing wastes for low POP content and suitable management. This assumes that if the concentration of bromine (assuming all brominated species present are HBCDD) is below the low POP concentration limit further action is not needed. If the bromine concentration exceeds the low POP concentration limit this could be due to HBCDD or due to a combination of brominated flame-retardants (including those that are not POPs), suggesting further investigation might be needed.

The study by Schlummer et al. further comments that, for the construction sector in particular, handheld XRF is a valuable screening tool based on the fact that HBCDD can be extracted from insulation foams while the polymeric bromine replacement for HBCDD cannot. This allowed extraction and XRF analysis for bromine (as a proxy for HBCDD) as a means of testing for HBCDD concentration in insulation boarding.

Jeannerat et al (2016) 189 provide details of an alternate approach to the separation and identification of HBCDD from polystrene insulation foams using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). During 2013/14 field studies used laboratory analysis to place samples under liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy (LC-MS), which demonstrated different HBCDD isomers (α/ γ) for EPS and XPS, but also highlighted cases where handheld XRF detected bromine and LC-MS demonstrated no presence of HBCDD. NMR was then used to further determine which brominated flame-retardant species were present.

Sharkey et al. (2018) 190 provides a further study on the wider application of handheld XRF for POP BFRs (including HBCDD). The study took 555 samples from a waste handling facility in Ireland, which included plastics, textiles, foams and insulation materials and completed analysis by both handheld XRF and mass spectroscopy (MS) for POP-PBDEs, HBCDD, and tetra tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBP-A). The results showed a strong correlation between XRF and MS as a linear regression for waste plastics used in electricals. However, the results also showed that for plastics, textiles and foams XRF may over-estimate concentrations (by a factor of up to 1.9) likely due to matrix effects influencing the XRF. However, for HBCDD used in insulation boarding a stronger correlation between XRF and MS was seen, possibly due to fewer bromine based compounds in use for this application. Even where over-estimation of brominated POP flame-retardants was identified (based on bromine content of the sample), the study results showed of the 555 samples analysed, the XRF approach only mistakenly identifies 6% (34/555) of samples as exceeding the limits. Therefore the use of handheld XRF may prove a valuable tool (particularly for HBCDD in construction and demolition) as a ‘pass/fail’ screening tool for low POP content in wastes.

However, one further issue highlighted by a 2019 industry paper 191 is that, while good advances are being made in the development and refinement of XRF as a screening tool, standards for laboratory practice are still needed. The paper asserts that currently only ISO or DIN standards for laboratory analysis of HBCDD exist for water and textiles. Further work is needed to develop and agree standards for foams and plastics, with industry currently implementing a range of analytical methodologies.

3.2.13.Pentachlorophenol (PCP)

Pentachlorophenol was first produced as wood preservative as early as the 1930s, but has been used as a biocide, pesticide, disinfectant, defoliant, anti-sapstain agent, and anti-microbial agent in the treatment of wood since that time (UNECE, 2010 192 ). Furthermore, the ester pentachlorophenyl laurate (PCP-L) has had application as a biocide and pesticide for textiles, particularly heavy textiles such as tent canvass, where it was used to prevent mold and fungus, particularly for military applications. The Stockholm Convention risk profile (UNEP/POPS/POPRC.9/6) highlights that once released PCP-L degrades to form PCP as does the sodium salt of PCP (NaPCP), hence the listing under the Stockholm Convention covers PCP, its salts and esters.

Globally, manufacture and use peaked at around 50,000-60,000 tonnes per annum in the mid-1980s before declining (UNEP/POPs/POPRC.9/6). The manufacture of PCP and its sodium salt (NaPCP) ceased in the Union by 1992, although import of PCP and NaPCP, primarily for timber treatment and synthesis of PCP-L continued after this period (OSPAR, 2004 193 ). In 1996, 378 tonnes of NaPCP and 30 tonnes of PCP were imported into Europe from the USA, primarily into France, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom (OSPAR, 2004).

Restriction on the use of PCP within the Union entered into force in 1991 under Council Directive 91/173/EEC and a ban was placed with respect to the use of PCP as a synthesising or processing agent in industrial processes (including use a wood preservative) under Commission Directive 1999/51/EC. Since 2008 PCP has been controlled under the REACH Regulation with a restriction limiting the placing on the market of PCP as a constituent, mixture or in articles above 0.1 % w/w.

While the use of PCP, its salts and esters has ceased in the Union now for over a decade, the Stockholm Convention risk management evaluation (RME) for PCP (UNEP/POPs/POPRC.10/2) highlights that the service life of treated timbers can be up to 50 years. This includes primarily utility poles, but also railway sleepers, with those goods treated in the 1980s the most likely to contain PCP.

Treated timbers can also emit PCP during their service life, this includes both emissions directly to air, but also contamination of rain water which can then reach ground. The UNECE (2010) suggest that in the first 12 months after treatment as much as 30% of the PCP used in treatment can be volatised to air as equilibrium is reached, after the 12 month period the rate of emissions slow down considerably.

Pohlandt et al (1995 194 ) comments on a sampling study within the Union of waste wood from a variety of sources. In total 207 samples were analysed with the highest concentrations of PCP found in window frames (163 mg/kg) and interior wood structural materials (11 mg/kg). The remaining wood types (fences, pallets, recycled wood chips, and wooden beams) ranged from 0.4 – 4.4 mg/kg of wood.

End of life options for timber treated with PCP include landfill, incineration or re-use (e.g. the use of railway sleepers for ornamental purposes in domestic gardens). The Stockholm Convention RME highlights the potential risk of dioxin and furan emissions linked to incomplete combustion of wood treated with PCP. ESWI (2011) provides some further comment that wood treated with PCP in Sweden and Germany is primarily disposed of via incineration as concentration limits prevent disposal via landfill. No information is available on how PCP is primarily managed in other Member States.

No current manufacture or use of PCP, its salts or esters exists within the Union, while stockpiles of treated timbers and textiles mainly from the mid-1980s to early 1990s can be expected to be declining. Appropriate management of waste materials contaminated with PCP may still pose an issue, particularly for incomplete combustion and re-use, particularly where identification of PCP treated wood in waste streams poses challenging. However, no available data on potential quantities has been identified.

3.2.14.Dicofol 

Dicofol is an organochlorine miticidal pesticide, that has been used since the 1950s to control mites on a variety of crops including fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, field crops, cotton, tea, and Christmas tree plantations, as well as on non-agricultural outdoor buildings and structures.

Dicofol is chemically related to another Stockholm Convention POP, DDT. Production of the commercial dicofol mixture contains two isomers, o,p’dicofol (15-20%) and p,p’dicofol (80-85%), along with variable levels of DDT as an impurity. However, since 1998 agreements under the FAO limited DDT concentrations to no higher than 0.1%.

At its twelfth meeting the POPRC concluded that dicofol is likely, as a result of its long-range environmental transport, to lead to significant adverse human health and environmental effects such that global action is warranted. At the COP-9, in its decision (UNEP/POPS/COP.9/13), the COP decided to amend part I of Annex A to the Stockholm Convention to list dicofol without exemptions.

In Europe dicofol usage was estimated to have decreased from 317 t to 32 t between 2000 and 2009 195 . According to estimated emission data 196 , the major consuming countries in Europe in 2000 were Spain, Italy, Turkey, Romania, and France. However, data regarding current concentrations in different environmental vectors is lacking due to the lack of regular monitoring of dicofol concentrations.

The permitted use of dicofol for plant protection products in the Union expired by 2010 at the latest according to Commission Decision 2008/764/EC. In addition, all non-agricultural uses were prohibited according to the Biocidal Products Regulation (EU) No 528/2012.

In 2020, dicofol has been listed in Annex I to the POPs Regulation by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1204 197  in order to implement the decision adopted under the Stockholm Convention. The POPs Regulation prohibits all manufacture, placing on the market and use of dicofol in the Union.

Dicofol is also included in Directive 2013/39/EU as a priority hazardous substance in the field of water policy. This sets environmental quality standards for dicofol, for inland surface waters (1.3 × 10–3 μg/l); other surface waters (3.2 × 10–5 μg/l); and biota (33 μg/kg wet weight). Additionally, because dicofol is a priority hazardous substance there is an obligation under the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC) for cessation of all discharges to the environment, which goes beyond the EQS target thresholds.

Data taken from the EFSA OpenFoodTox database indicates that in 2012 safe limit values for pesticide residues of dicofol (based on an accute reference dose (ARfD)) were calculated to be 0.15 mg/kg bw/day.

3.3.Unintentionally produced POPs

Releases of unintentionally produced POPs (UPOPs) remain an important POP source in the Union. Where regulation and policy have identified and reduced the emissions from industrial sources over the past two decades, diffuse sources linked to for example domestic combustion or open burning of waste become increasingly important UPOPs sources.

However such sources can be more difficult to monitor and tackle. Reduction and phase out of these emissions is complex, indeed impossible in the case of most thermal sources and of emissions from open burning. Furthermore, the sources of unintentionally produced POPs are rather disperse and thus measures cannot be as targeted as for intentionally produced and used POPs.

Member States extensively reported monitoring data for the release of unintentionally produced POPs into the air, water and soil using three methodologies: Stockholm Convention’s emission inventories, E-PRTR's and EMEP's. A remarkable amount of information is available on air and water emissions, in particular from the E-PRTR and EMEP databases that are standardised, user-friendly and are readily available in electronic form for analysis. Yet, however, there have been comparitively fewer cases of Member States reporting data using the Stockholm Convention methodology. One possible reason for this lack of reported data may relate to the difficulty in accurately accounting for activity data in diffuse sources e.g. quantity of waste burnt on open fires for an entire nation. The Stockholm Convention has aimed to assist inventory compilers through the provision of guidance material such as the dioxins and furans toolkit 198 .

3.3.1.Estimation and monitoring of emissions

The regulated emissions to air, water and soil of the unintentionally produced POPs listed in Annex C of the Stockholm Convention or in Annex III of the POP Protocol (hexachlorobenzene, pentachlorobenzene, polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinadetd dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) are registered in the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR). Furthermore, EMEP is monitoring and modelling UPOPs levels in air for the EMEP region and is compiling the air inventories (EMEP 2011) 199 . This inventory data for the air vector is made publically available through the webdab database: http://www.ceip.at .