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Council of the European Union

The Council of the EU

The Council and the Parliament reached a provisional deal concerning the revision of annexes to the persistent organic pollutant regulation in order to set further restrictions to the presence of these substances in waste.

Persistent organic pollutants are particularly harmful chemicals. Although they are generally no longer used in new products, they can still be found in waste coming from some consumer products such as waterproof textiles, furniture, plastics and electronic equipment. In order to reach a circular economy, where waste will be increasingly used as a secondary raw material, limiting the presence of persistent organic pollutants in waste is crucial.

The Council and Parliament therefore agreed to introduce new chemicals on the list of persistent organic pollutants and to restrict their presence in waste by strengthening the concentration limit values.

The terms of the provisional agreement were the following:

The proposed regulation aims to bring the EU’s legislation into line with its international commitments, particularly under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. To achieve this, it will add some substances to annex IV of the POPs regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants) and update the concentration limit values for some substances in annexes IV and V of that regulation. The proposal concerns mainly the following substances:

The Commission submitted the proposal for a regulation to the European Parliament and the Council on 28 October 2021.

In the Council, the provisional political agreement found today will first be submitted for endorsement by the Committee of permanent representatives. A formal adoption procedure will then be launched.

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