EU silicon industry starts work on four REACH consortia
EU ferro-alloys trade association Euroalliages has taken the first steps towards setting up four consortia to register four forms of silicon.
The planned consortia cover:
Silicon metal: An exploratory meeting was held with downstream users - producers of silicones, photovoltaic cells, semi-conductors and aluminium alloys – earlier this year. Silicones manufacturers have confirmed they are ready to let Euroalliages take the lead on registration discussions for silicon metal. The silicones industry is also cooperating with chlorinated solvents producers as they prepare for REACH registration (Chemical Watch 7 September 2007)
Euroalliages says all of its members have agreed to work jointly to register silicon metal. It has also received expressions of interest from one of Japan’s largest producers of polycrystalline silicon and a Brazilian metallurgical silicon manufacturer.
Last week the trade association asked participating firms to sign a preliminary consortium agreement due to be returned by mid-September. A formal consortium kick-off meeting is scheduled for October to draw up a work-programme in time for pre-registration next year.
Silica fume: A by-product of silicon and ferro-alloys manufacture, the most common use of silica fume is as a mineral admixture for concrete production. Euroalliages has planned a first meeting on 17 September to which members of the cement, construction chemicals and ceramics are invited.
Ferrosilicon alloys: The industry is interpreting the REACH Regulation to mean that the components of these alloys will need to be registered separately. To handle this, it envisages the creation of a platform within the silicon metal consortium to coordinate cooperation with the ferro-alloys working group of a planned iron consortium.
Ferrosilicocalcium alloys: Euroalliages has entered into a service agreement for REACH registration with producers who are in the process of creating their own trade association – the international CaSi Institute. The alloys are used in iron and steel production.
Euroalliages’ priority is to prepare firstly to register the substances likely to be designated “substances of very high concern” based on REACH criteria. It sent out a health and safety evaluation form to all its members last year to gauge what data are already available.
The body’s scientific expert Nadia Vinck says external expertise is now being sought to analyse the returns. She notes that there are many studies available for silica fume due to its well-known occupational health risks but she describes silicon metal as a “data poor sector” compared with other metals.
Euroalliages is also contributing to the development of guidance on how alloys should be registered under REACH. Recital 31 of the Regulation states that the European Commission in close cooperation with industry, Member States and other stakeholders will develop guidance on how to fulfil the requirements for preparations including metal alloys. This work is due to be completed “before the application of the Regulation”, which is taken to mean mid-2008 when pre-registration begins. It is supposed to take full account of other guidance being developed through the REACH implementation projects (Chemical Watch REACH toolkit).
The trade association held a first workshop on the issue even before REACH was adopted and further work was undertaken by the European Industry Metallic Alloys Groups (EIMAG), which Euroalliages helped to found. Continuing work on the guidance is to be undertaken jointly by EIMAG, Eurofer, Eurometaux and the International Council on Mining and Metals.
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