Tag Archive for: Supply Chain Management

Verdant Proudly Sponsors Prop.65 Clearinghouse's Green Chemistry Conference

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Green Chemistry:

Verdant is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the Prop.65 Clearinghouse Green Chemistry Annual Conference.  This year’s conference will be held on Tuesday, April 9, 2013, at the The City Club of San Francisco, 155 Sansome Street.

  • Verdant attorney, Philip Moffat, will present on “REACH 2013.”
  • Verdant attorney, Catherine Lin, will present on “Supply Chain Management.”

More information about the conference is available here and an agenda is available here.   A copy of Mr. Moffat’s presentation is available here [PDF].

China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) Releases Regular Reporting Requirements for Four New Substances

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China:

On January 4, 2013, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) released regular reporting requirements for four new substances under its chemical registration regime. Two of the newly certified compounds are classified as hazardous and the other two as dangerous.  Under China’s new chemical registration regime, the “Provisions on the Environmental Administration of New Chemical Substances (MEP Decree No. 7),” companies with certificates must file annual reports to the Chemical Registration Center (CRC) of the MEP.  The reports detail activities that occurred with the registered chemicals.

This announcement marks the sixth set of chemicals to be certified under China’s registration program for new chemical substances. More details on the affected chemicals, as well as reporting deadlines and contact information with the Chemical Registration Center of the MEP, are available in the MEP’s original notice (in Chinese).

California DTSC Releases Public Comments on Informal Draft Green Chemistry Regulations

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Green Chemistry Regulations:

The public comment for the latest informal draft version of California’s “Safer Consumer Product Regulations” closed on December 30, 2011.   On January 20, 2012, the implementing agency, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), posted the comments on its website.  DTSC received ninety submissions from a range of stakeholder interests.  More information about the regulations is available here.

US EPA and California DTSC Form Green Chemistry Partnership

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Sustainable Products/Green Chemistry:

On January 12, 2012, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) announced their Green Chemistry Partnership.  The agencies’ agreement is memorialized in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines principles by which the agencies will cooperate to reduce toxic chemicals in consumer products, create new business opportunities in the emerging safer consumer products economy, and reduce the burden on consumers and businesses struggling to identify what’s in the products they buy for their families and customers.

The agrement supposedly will allow DTSC and EPA to minimize duplication of effort and promote consistency in their assessment methodologies, potentially providing increased environmental protection. The agreement sets up a framework for the agencies to collaborate on Green Chemistry issues so that California’s innovative “Green Chemistry” program can grow.

Jim Jones, EPA’s acting assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention said:  “This partnership will build and harmonize common tools and practices used to conduct alternative assessments to promote safer products ….  These alternative assessments inform and speed the adoption of safer chemicals for use in products, homes, schools, and workplaces, which produce significant environmental and economic benefits.”

In its press release, EPA said:  “The agreement represents a major advance for Californians looking to buy safer children’s toys, personal care products, household cleaners and other products. By shifting the question of an ingredient’s toxicity to the product development stage, concerns raised by … consumers can be addressed early on. The approach results in safer ingredients, and provides an opportunity for California industry to once again demonstrate its innovative spirit by making products that meet consumer demand throughout the world.”

EPA and DTSC signed the agreement in a ceremony at California’s Kaiser Permanente Sidney R. Garfield Health Care Innovation Center in San Leandro. Kaiser Permanente is nationally recognized as an industry leader in safer products, using its purchasing power and a sustainability scorecard to press suppliers for safer chemicals in medical products. 

Philip Moffat Will Speak About Sustainable Packaging at the 2011 ASC Sustainability Summit

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Sustainable Products/Green Marketing:

Verdant is pleased to announce that Philip Moffat will speak at the 2011 ASC Sustainability Summit in Rosemont, Illinois (O’Hare) on July 26 – 27.  Mr.  Moffat will discuss green marketing and enforcement trends, the tools available to regulate green marketing in the U.S. and elsewhere, and the legal risks attending the marketing of “sustainable” packaging in the absence of universally accepted metrics and definitions.

The Adhesive and Sealant Council (ASC) and ASTM International (formerly known as the American Society of Testing and Materials) are co-sponsoring the event.  Representatives from well-known organizations such as Dow Corning, John Deere, HP Fuller, the America Chemical Society’s Green Chemistry Initiative, USEPA, and many others will be presenting on timely topics ranging from Green Chemistry to Green Marketing.  A copy of the preliminary agenda is set out below.  The conference brochure is available here.


Tuesday, July 26

Keynote Speaker………………………………………………………………….8:00 – 8:45 am
Dr. Bob Peoples, ACS

Adhesive Panel Discussion (focused on transportation)…………….8:45 – 10:15 am
Moderator: Sandra Niks, ASTM

Sealant Panel Discussion (focused on building construction)…….10:30 am – Noon
Moderator: Ken Yarosh, Dow Corning

Lunch Keynote Speaker……………………………………………………….Noon – 1:00 pm
FEICA – The EU’s perspective on sustainability
in the adhesive and sealant space

Adhesive Panel Discussion (focused on packaging)……………………1:15 – 2:45 pm
Moderator: John Kalkowski, Packaging Digest Magazine

Break Out Session – Adhesives………………………………………………3:30 – 4:30 pm

Break Out Session – Sealants…………………………………………………3:30 – 4:30 pm

Tour of a LEED Silver Building………………………………………………..4:30 – 5:45 pm

Reception…………………………………………………………………………..6:00 – 7:00 pm

Wednesday, July 27

Adhesives Group Key Findings……………………………………………….8:00 – 8:45 am
Presented by Adhesives Group Leader

Sealants Group Key Findings………………………………………………….8:45 – 9:30 am
Presented by Sealants Group Leader

ASTM Future Initiatives & Roadmap………………………………………9:45 – 10:00 am

ASC Future Educational Initiatives ………………………………………10:00 – 10:15 am

Closing Keynote Session……………………………………………………10:30 – 11:30 am
Rik Master, USG Corp.

Leading Consumer Products Companies Explain How and Why They Share Chemical Data Along the Supply Chain

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Green Chemistry/Sustainable Supply Chain Management:

The Green Chemistry and Commerce Council (GC3) recently published a report titled, Meeting Customers’ Needs for Chemical Data: A Guidance Document for Suppliers.  The Guidance Document is designed to improve supply chain communication between suppliers and their customers concerning chemical identities and health and safety data.  In the report, leading companies such as HP, Johnson & Johnson, Method, Nike, SC Johnson, and Wal-Mart explain why they want such data and how they interact with their suppliers to obtain it. 

Readers unfamiliar with GC3 should know that it is a business-to-business forum for members to discuss and share information and experiences relating to the advancement of green chemistry, design for the environment, and sustainable supply chain management.  GC3, which began in 2005, is a project of Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.  GC3 prepared the Guidance Document with two goals in mind: “(1) to advance the efforts of companies trying to obtain the chemical data needed for regulatory and corporate sustainability programs and in response to market demands, and (2) to advance the efforts of suppliers to provide chemical data needed by their customers.”

The Guidance Document is a response to the growing demand for increased transparency concerning chemical-related data. Companies attempting to bring “green” or “safer” products to the market need chemical identity and health and safety data at the product design phase.  Access to this information enables them to evaluate and manage market, regulatory, and tort liability risks, as well as respond to requests from their customers, including consumers, wanting more information.

The Guidance Document should prove helpful to suppliers less familiar with the trend toward greater transparency, the rationale supporting it, and the techniques used to sustain it.  The document explains why fabricators and formulators are requesting chemical data, what chemical data are being sought, how suppliers can benefit from sharing data, why Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) often provide inadequate data, how companies are handling confidential business information, how fabricators and formulators collect data from their suppliers and what they are doing with the data, and where suppliers can obtain the data being requested.  In addition to describing the chemical data collection practices of different companies, the Guidance Document also provides customizable letters and forms that companies can use to facilitate their communications. 

More information about GC3 is available here.