The pre-registrations for the non-stabilizing additives in NATPET's polypropylene are also in progress.

REACH  is the Regulation for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals.  It entered into force on 1st June 2007 to streamline and improve the former legislative framework on chemicals of the European Union (EU). REACH places greater responsibility on industry to manage the risks that chemicals may pose to the health and the environment. In principle REACH applies to all chemicals: not only chemicals used in industrial processes but also in our day-to-day life, for example in cleaning products, paints as well as in articles such as clothes, furniture and electrical appliances.

The aims of REACH are:

• To improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risk that can be posed by chemicals

• Enhance the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry

• Promote alternative methods for the assessment of hazards of substances

• Ensure the free circulation of substances on the internal market of the European Union.

SUBSTANCE IDENTIFICATION SUMMARY GUIDANCEE

• REACH defines the substance to be registered as:
   “a chemical element and its compounds in the natural state or obtained by any manufacturing process, including any additive necessary to preserve its stability and any impurity deriving from the process used, but excluding any solvent which may be separated without affecting the stability of the substance or changing its composition.

• Reach classifies substances into two main groups:
  “well defined”: substances with a defined qualitative and quantitative composition like:Linear Alkyl Benzene, Benzene
  “UVCB”:  substance of unknown or  variable composition, complex reactions products or biological materials. Most petroleum products fall into this category.

POLYMER

Polymer themselves are exempt from REACH registration requirements. However, as regards polymer imported into the EU, the monomer substance(s) or any other substance(s) that have not already been registered an actor up the supply chain must be registered if both the following conditions are met:

• The monomer substance(s) or other substance(s) in the form of chemically bound monomeric units and chemically bound substance(s) comprise at least 2% (w/w) or more of the polymer material

• The total quantity of such monomer substance(s) or other substance(s) makes up 1 tonne or more per year.